Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize a well-known member of our community, yet it is with sadness that I deliver this message today. This week, the family members of Mr. Mike Piro mourned the death of their husband, father and grandfather. As well as the family, there are many people in the city of Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories and elsewhere who have learned of his passing, both with sadness and recollections of their memories of Mike over the more than 50 years he called the North his home.
Mr. Speaker, the contributions of Mr. Piro, his accomplishments and endeavours are almost too numerous to mention, but I will name a few. Mr. Piro was an organizer of the precursor to the Northern Frontier Visitors Association, an organizer of the World Championship Dog Derby, a founding and lifetime member of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he was a member of many clubs and organizations, the Rotary, the Legion, the Yellowknife Lions Club, Spirit YK, and the Seniors Society.
Mr. Piro also had many occupations and business interests, from Frame and Perkins, a garage and bus line, to the Prospector, a restaurant and bed and breakfast, where one could recently often find him sitting and enjoying the view.
All of these things would have surely kept a person busy. Mike always found time to fly. Flying was a passion. One of his hobbies was flying to and discovering old mines and artifacts, his goal being not only to locate, but also to preserve these historical sights.
Mr. Piro was surely an interesting and generous man, and the city of Yellowknife was fortunate that he chose here, of all the places he had been, to call home. He will be missed by many. I have asked an old friend of his if he had any special stories or recollections about Mike. He said, "Stories, I have lots. Recollections...what can I say? He was a great guy. A really, really great guy." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause