Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I wish to make a statement on the recent IRC Native Hockey Tournament. This is an annual event sponsored by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to encourage teamwork, sportsmanship and competition in the Inuvik region.
This year, the event took place February 22nd to February 25th in Inuvik, and consisted of two divisions. Five teams participated in the B division. They were the Paulatuk Wolverines, the Old Dogs and Youngbloods of Inuvik, the Tuk Red Warriors and for the first time, a team from Holman called the Holman Flyers.
Mr. Speaker, although the Holman Flyers put out an excellent performance, they were defeated in the finals by the Tuk Red Warriors. The score was 9 to 3 in favour of the Tuk team. In the A division, five teams competed as well, and consisted of the Deline Chiefs, the Paulatuk Storm, the Inuvik Huskies, the Posse and the E. Gruben's Transport team from Tuktoyaktuk.
Again, Mr. Speaker, the out-of-town teams made it to the finals with the Deline Chiefs going down in defeat to E. Gruben's Transport from Tuktoyaktuk by a score of 11 to 3.
On behalf of my constituents, I wish to thank the sponsors and all of the athletes who participated. In particular, the Nunakput teams from Tuktoyaktuk, Holman and Paulatuk, who put on such a strong performance. My congratulations to the Tuk team for bringing home the trophies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause