Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Two weeks ago, a family in Yellowknife and my constituency lost a son through a tragic accident. Chris Argue was 25 years old. He was the brother of Mike, a competitor at the national ski level. He was the son of Marsha, an advocate and well-known champion of the rights and the situation of disadvantaged women in the NWT. He was the son of John Argue, as you know, Mr. Speaker, my constituency assistant and a friend and colleague of all of us in this Legislature and across the Government of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, where John worked for, I think, some 30 years.
Mr. Speaker, when tragedy strikes, a family loses not only a son or a daughter, a parent or grandparent, the community loses something too. The community loses a friend, a companion, perhaps a co-worker, a competitor and a leader. When life and love is lost at such an early age - Chris was only 25 - that loss seems unbearable. However, here in the North, tragedy strikes often, too often, but our communities come together.
The celebration of Chris' life a week ago was, for myself, my wife and hundreds of other Yellowknifers who attended, a remarkable event in the love that it expressed for Chris and for the family, for the courage that was shown in speaking at a very difficult time, and, Mr. Speaker, in the gratitude that was shown for those who were with Chris and who knew him for his short time with us.
It happens in all our communities. We come together to somehow help make the loss, if not acceptable, at least more manageable and perhaps a bit easier to understand.
Mr. Speaker, I reflect on the words of one of Chris' very well-known and very dear friends, Jesse Allen, that we should never take for...