Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to advise the House and my constituents that I will be away from the House for the rest of the session. This is because I have accepted a personal invitation from the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to take part in the 640th Wilton Park Conference, entitled Democracy, Parliament and Electoral Systems, which will be held between June 11th to 15th in the United Kingdom.

Arranged by the CPA in conjunction with the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, this conference will be attended by approximately 50 invited delegates from 41 countries around the world. There will be politicians, diplomats and academics from every continent and from countries such as Nigeria, Spain, Russia, Israel, Switzerland, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

Mr. Speaker, not only as a parliamentarian but as co-chair of the Special Committee on the Implementation of Self-Government and the Sunset Clause, I know I will learn a lot from this experience. More importantly, it is my strong belief that we live in one of the most unique places in the world in terms of our geographical, political and constitutional landscape. I would not hesitate to say that we have a lot to tell and teach the rest of the world about how we work out issues here. I will tell them of how proud we are of the fact that we handle, on a daily basis, world-class challenges and opportunities. We have a unique form of consensus government. With a peaceful division of our Territory only two years behind us, we are working through land claims and self-government negotiations at seven tables. All of this for 42,000 people in 33 communities, while at the same time, we work through a number of megaprojects in diamond mining and oil and gas.

Mr. Speaker, may I add that this is the first time the NWT branch has been invited to this conference, which is steeped in history and convention. It is my understanding that the discussions from the Wilton Park conferences are well-documented and referenced around the world. I look forward to making them available on my website once they are finalized following the conference.

For the record, I would also like to note that the expenses of my travel and accommodations will be covered by the CPA.

Finally, I...