Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon. Mr. Speaker, I would like to tell the House today about a former resident of Rankin Inlet and now a resident of Yellowknife Frame Lake. Mr. Speaker, Sam Perrino is a young man of 21, who started dog mushing at age 15 and opened his own kennel two years later. He ran the 10-dog World Championship held in The Pas, Manitoba when he was 17 and was named Rookie of the Year.

Mr. Speaker, Sam has just represented the Northwest Territories at the International Rocky Mountain Stage Stop Sled Dog Race in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and he finished in fourth position. Mr. Speaker, in this race, he was racing against seasoned mushers from Colorado, Montana, Ontario, Alaska, Minnesota and Wyoming, including Jeff King who is a two-time Iditarod winner from Denali Park, Alaska and Hans Gatt, originally from Austria and now living in BC, who has competed in the 150-mile Canadian Championship Dog Derby in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, the race in Jackson Hole is a 10-day stage race which started on January 28th. In this race the mushers raced between nine different communities with the distance varying each day from 2.5 to 72 miles.

Mr. Speaker, when he is not mushing, Sam is an apprentice electrician in Yellowknife. I am sure that Members of this House would like to express with me, congratulations to Sam Perrino on his fine showing in this international dog race.

--Applause