Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Tonight, Mr. Speaker, at 7:00 o'clock in the city hall chambers, the City of Yellowknife will be swearing in a new council. They have eight councillors and a mayor. This new council was elected by the residents of Yellowknife last month and will serve our city for the next three years.
Residents of Yellowknife elected Mr. Gord Van Tighem to serve as mayor for our city. City council is represented by the following incumbents; Mr. Blake Lyons, Mr. David McCann, Mr. Ben McDonald, Mr. Kevin O'Reilly and Mr. Alan Woytuik. New councillors elected are: Ms. Wendy Bisaro, Mr. Robert Hawkins and Mr. Dave Ramsay.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate these individuals on their election and wish them well as they serve Yellowknife for the next three years. Along with my fellow Yellowknife MLAs, including yourself, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to extend our welcome to this new council. We look forward to working with them on common issues and concerns in our community.
At this time, I believe it also important to recognize the other candidates who put their names forward to represent Yellowknife. We are very fortunate to have a choice for representation at the municipal level. I would like to thank the following individuals. Candidates for mayor, Ms. Cheryl Best, Mr. Bob Brooks and Mr. Dave Lovell. Candidates for council, Mr. Travis Armour, Mr. Wayne Bryant, Mr. Bruce Coomber and Mr. John Murray. As Members of this Assembly are well aware, it is not an easy task to run in an election and I would like to thank these individuals for their hard work and dedication. Residents not only of the Northwest Territories, but all of Canada are fortunate to live in a democracy where we have the right to vote for and elect who we want to represent us in government.
We will soon have another opportunity to exercise our right to vote with the federal election on November 27th. I hope all eligible voters take this opportunity to choose their federal representative. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like again to acknowledge Yellowknife's new council and mayor and say we look forward to the coming three years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause