Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today as we all know is the first day of our spring session. I would like to welcome my colleagues back to this House. I hope everyone has had a very restful and enjoyable visit to their home, families and communities.

As you may recall, prior to closing the last sitting I pushed to get the Department of MACA to recognize that Rae-Edzo is a unique community and does not fall within the typical Municipal Funding Formula. Today, I would like to inform this House as well as thank the Minister of MACA for recognizing the unique situation Rae-Edzo is in. This, of course, is just a start in rectifying the total problems that have occurred and I hope that work will continue through the normal funding review process.

As in all funding formulas of this type, one will never make everyone happy. However, by assisting my community, at least we are not the lowest funded with the largest population, as was the case before we started this exercise. I, again, would like to welcome my colleagues back to this Chamber and thank Ms. Thompson for her assistance to the community of Rae-Edzo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause