Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to start off by congratulating Mr. Antoine and Mr. Roland in their successful bids for election yesterday to their respective positions. To the people who were not successful, including myself, better luck next time.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to reflect a little bit about our terms here. Mr. Speaker, it was at times very difficult and at other times exciting and a good place to be. Some of the difficulties that I have had, of course, I lost an uncle, my wife also lost an uncle and very recently now we have two uncles that are seriously ill with cancer. Other than personal challenges, we, as a legislature, had to face severe challenges as well that no other Assembly has had to face. I would think, our budget was slashed by 20 percent. We had to cut programs and services. We had to lay off countless civil servants. We had to deal with creating two new territories. We tried to agree on a constitution for the west. Mr. Speaker, through all of this I am glad that I was here before division. I am glad I was able to experience this with my eastern colleagues, to learn how they think and feel about things and to benefit from their experiences and wisdom. Mr. Speaker, when I look back today I wonder who else could have stayed the course to balance the budget other than Mr. Todd?
--Applause
Thank God, he has a thick skin. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.