Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is the last opportunity we have to speak in this legislature and I want to take this time to make a short statement. The lucky 13th Assembly, as I have always referred to us, was an eclectic collection of mostly rookie MLAs from diverse regions, backgrounds and perspectives. Although each others' strengths and talents were not completely obvious to us when we first arrived, as time passed and we worked on committees and issues together, these attributes surfaced. It is regrettable that in the process of trying to find our place in the collective group we did not always afford each other more opportunity to really flourish in the area of our strengths. Individually, I believe, that we all had a lot to contribute. I want to stress the fact that I said we all had a lot to contribute. Collectively, I do not think that we really quite got it together in a way that could have resulted in accomplishing even more and achieving more of our potential than we did. That is not to say that things did not get done and I do not mean to diminish what we did manage to do.

These were difficult times of restraint and reorganization and responding to realities which were not always within our control. However, I remain very much an optimist about the future of the Northwest Territories, if perhaps not quite the idealist that I was when I arrived here four years ago. The experience of the past four years, in fact, makes me no less enthusiastic about tackling the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, perhaps just a little more pragmatic about the dispatch with which we can proceed. Very little of my previous experience could have prepared me for what I have encountered in this past four years. Being here in living colour is very different from the armchair vantage that I enjoyed on territorial politics before jumping in at the deep end. I would like this term of office to be remembered as being served by me with fairness, impartiality, conviction and sensitivity to the issues of the people. Although I absolutely have no regrets, I hope that the highly publicized and protracted effort on behalf of openness and accountability in government will not obscure many other issues that I attempted to address.

On a personal note, this is a time at which many of us are doing some soul-searching as to our goals and our priorities. I look at my life, which I might add has been very dramatically changed by this foray in politics and I have to take inventory. I am 42 years old, a mother, a wife, a business partner and a 25 year veteran of various degrees of political involvement in the North. I know at this age what brings me genuine satisfaction and pleasure. They are simple things. Watching my children grow up in response to the guidance and love that we give them and seeing the evidence of them adopting the same values and beliefs that our parents taught us. I love the comfort of my home and enjoying the smallest of detail of attending to its atmosphere and its appearance. I love art and good music, I like to write and I would like to have more time to pursue things that interest me.

I have to ask myself, what do all of these simple joys and pleasures have to do with packing up clothes and files every few weeks, travelling to Yellowknife, allowing almost all creative energies to be zapped by the seemingly endless demands and agendas set before us. Agendas created from within the bowels of the elusive and complex government. The offering of yourself to unrelenting public scrutiny and comment, the sometimes counterproductive and even ruthless rivalry amongst Members to get to the front of the pack, and the patience needed to listen to others viewpoints, while wondering if anyone is listening to yours and if they are hearing, are they understanding.

The next and obvious step in the sole-searching is to determine if the rewards outweigh the sacrifices. The rewards for me, as Mr. Steen earlier stated, so far all relate back to my role that I play in my own community. The interaction with constituents, whether at a community function, one and one on an issue pertaining to them personally, addressing larger issues and initiatives or just catching up with people at the checkout counter at the grocery store. Therein lies the satisfaction and reward for me. To know that you have the ability to speak for, advocate on behalf of and respectably represent the voices of the people in your community and know that they appreciate you for it, is the only thing that brings the measure of sense to this job that would induce anyone in their right mind to come back for more.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues of the 13th Legislative Assembly. It has been a sharp learning curve for most of us. I hope that many of you will have the opportunity to put what you have learned to good use in another term of office.

I know that the staff cannot wait for us to leave today. I thank them for their good work. Enjoy the break and we shall return all too soon I am sure. I would also like to thank many Yellowknifers who have welcomed the out of town MLAs so warmly into their community. We have spent almost half of our time here over the past four years, and I personally needed to have a life while I was here, outside of this building. I have truly enjoyed the kindness and support of the people of Yellowknife.

I also want to thank my husband Rick, my boys, Jordan and Jeffrey, and my daughter, Jillian, and my sister, Janet, who was here with me for a time. As Mr. Roland did yesterday, I too, do thank God for providing the wisdom and guidance that we collectively and individually prayed for here everyday.

Last but not least, I want to thank the good people of Enterprise and Hay River for this unique opportunity to serve. To my confidantes, advisors, mentors, supporters and even my critics, I have done my best under what were sometimes very unusual circumstances and I have always had the interest of Hay River and Northerners at heart. I would not have missed this chapter on politics in my memoirs for anything. I am confident that in some capacity it would be safe to end this statement with the caption, to be continued. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause