Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night I had the privilege of attending the Commissioner's Award Ceremony here in the Great Hall, with about 200 people present. There were two presentations last evening, Mr. Speaker. The first was a bravery award to a young Yellowknife man, Brennan Debassaghe, who fought off a large dog in order to save his cousin who had become entangled in the dog's chain.
--Applause
The second presentation was to Justice Mark de Weerdt for exceptional public service over the course of his 40 years in the north and I want to acknowledge that Justice de Weerdt is here with us this afternoon.
--Applause
I can think of no one more deserving of this honour than Mark de Weerdt and I was pleased to be able to participate in the ceremony. He has been an inspiration and role model for two generations of northern lawyers. His skill, compassion, integrity and honesty complement his knowledge of the law. Some of his finest work over the years has been outside of the courtroom, helping to make this sometimes unwieldy court system more understandable and open to all. In the early years, his wife Ann was often left to raise their four children on her own, while Mark was flying around the north in a single otter for weeks at a time. Ann also found time to develop the CNIB here in Yellowknife and worked with the YWCA. Both of the de Weerdts gave a lot back to our community and the northern communities in terms of volunteer activity and in that respect, the Commissioner's Award really goes to them as a team.
With Mark's retirement last year, we bid farewell to the last of the original three justices of the northern court, but as Yellowknife demonstrated last night, out of sight is not necessarily out of mind. We will once again have the honour of having Justice de Weerdt's presence on the bench from time to time in the north. He was sworn in this morning as Deputy Judge of his old court, so he can return north for flying squad duty on circuits, just like in the old days. I want to thank Justice de Weerdt for making the trip back to Yellowknife for the award ceremony and I especially thank the committee for choosing him and young Brennan Debassaghe as recipients of this award. As I said before, I can think of no two people more deserving. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause.