Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are hearing more and more about our health care system, Mr. Speaker, and how many of the programs are unaffordable or unsustainable in the long term. It seems that we have two answers; find more money to keep on fixing the problems or stop creating the problems.

What I am talking about here, Mr. Speaker, are those of us who kind of do damage to ourselves. We inflict harm on ourselves through the lifestyles that we lead. We are couch potatoes who do not get enough exercise. We are junk-food junkies. We have...(inaudible)...where alcohol and drug abusers hurting our brains and our bodies, and perhaps most commonly, Mr. Speaker, we are smokers.

We need to assume, Mr. Speaker, a greater responsibility for our own lives. Our very health and well-being is at stake. Forty-two percent of adults in the NWT smoke. There are at least 575 of us who agree that we need to do something and we can do something about it. These are the people, and 50 of them are teenagers, Mr. Speaker, who have joined the Canadian Public Health Association's Quit and Win contest. I am pleased to say that, at least in this case, I am a quitter and I am proud of it.

-- Applause

Thank you. I hope I can last. It is no fun. I have a 30-year addiction, but my kids are proud of what I am doing. I get a lot of support and sympathy from my friends and colleagues. I figure that in the 52 days that I have been smoke-free, I have saved about $200. You know, I do not have to look at those disgusting pictures on cigarette packages anymore. Twenty-five percent of all of the deaths in the NWT are caused by smoking. So much more needs doing.

I want to recognize that in this Quit and Win contest, the efforts of the Canadian Public Health Association -- there are some people in the gallery whom I will introduce later, Mr. Speaker -- and others like the Canadian Cancer Society, Sport North, our own Department of Health and Social Services and Health Canada. I want to recognize a former Olympian of the NWT, Sharon Firth, for her advocacy. Corporate sponsors like Canadian North, Mack Travel, Inkit, Paramount Resources, and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation have made a difference. To my fellow quitters, I say do not stop quitting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause