Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that the Honourable David Krutko, of the electoral district of Mackenzie Delta, do take the Chair of this House as Speaker.

Merci beaucoup, mes amis. Honourable colleagues, drin gwinzii and good afternoon. I wish to express my gratitude for the confidence you have demonstrated by choosing me as your Speaker. It is with a great deal of pride that I accept the honour of being your Speaker for this, the 15th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

My first obligation is to give you my commitment to ensure that the rights and privileges of all Members will be upheld and to ensure you are each able to carry out your duties.

The most important and fundamental right is the freedom of speech in your debates and freedom from interference in carrying out your duties.

I can assure you that I will do my best to ensure that these rights are upheld, as well as all the other rules and procedures that this House has adopted.

At this time, I would also like to acknowledge the efforts and steady hand of my predecessor, Mr. Tony Whitford...

---Applause

...who has set a very high standard for me to follow. It was a very great pleasure and a privilege to have served as Deputy Speaker to Mr. Whitford, and for a short time to Speaker Sam Gargan in the 13th Legislative Assembly.

I am sure you will all join me in extending our thanks to Mr. Whitford for the many years of dedicated effort and service he gave to his constituents and particularly for the admirable performance of his speakership duties within this Chamber.

On a personal note, I would like to take the time now to thank the constituents of Mackenzie Delta who were the first to place their trust in me by electing me to the 13th, 14th and now the 15th Legislative Assembly and who even now, I am confident, will support me in my new role and responsibility as Speaker.

I want to assure them that my accepting the position of Speaker will in no way diminish my efforts to serve each and every one of my constituents. I want them to be aware that I will carry that out to the best of my ability.

I would like to acknowledge the people most important to all of us: our families; our wives, husbands, partners and children. We must all strive to strike that balance between our work here at the Legislative Assembly and our families at home, and we would certainly not be here today without their support.

On this first sitting date of the 15th Legislative Assembly, I am pleased to note that this year also marks the 10th anniversary of our Legislative Assembly building we are presently in. It's truly a place of the people that all northerners can be proud of.

As we begin our business on behalf of our people, I wish to ask all Members to pause and reflect on the tasks before us. We are still a new and vibrant territory, in a new century and a new millennium.

We are fortunate to be here as the chosen representatives of our constituents. It is an honour that is bestowed on so very few people. As a legislature, we are facing many critical decisions in the days and years ahead. There aremany decisions made in this House. We may not always agree on these decisions, however, we must remember to always treat each other with respect, dignity, compassion and understanding.

On your behalf, I would like to thank the Right Reverend John Sperry for being our chaplain today. It is always a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you.

I would also like to acknowledge the fine performances of the Detah Drummers and Sir John Franklin High School Choir led by Mr. Bill Gilday.

In conclusion, my ability to preside over this House ultimately rests in your hands and I will continue to work hard to maintain the trust and confidence that you have placed in me today.

Mr. Clerk, is Her Honour the Commissioner prepared to enter the Chamber and address the Assembly?

---Singing of O Canada

Orders of the day. Item 3, Ministers' statements. Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Nahendeh.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) I'm very thankful and grateful to the people for electing me as their MLA, and I would like to say...(Translation ends)

...to the very important office of Speaker. I also want to congratulate all the new and returning Members. It has been a pleasure to get to know you over the last few days. In particular, congratulations to Premier-elect Mr. Handley and other Members of Cabinet. I look forward to working with you over the next four years. Some of you mentioned open-door policies in your speeches yesterday, and you can be sure I will be taking you up on that.

I am very honoured to be here today as the elected representative of Nahendeh. To my constituents who put their trust in me by sending me here, I would like to express my sincere gratitude. Throughout the campaign I spent a lot of time visiting with you and hearing your concerns, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas with me. I have not forgotten what I heard from you, but if I do I'm sure you will be quick to remind me. It is a privilege for me to be your MLA and I will do my best to use my strength and abilities to represent you.

To my family and friends and all the hard-working people who put a lot of effort into my campaign answering phones, handing out buttons, putting up posters and giving me your support, thank you for believing in me. I also express gratitude for the candidates that were not successful but had the courage and strength to pursue the seat of this riding.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the people of Nahendeh, I would also like to thank Mr. Jim Antoine for his three terms of service dedicated to us as an elected MLA.

I send my greetings to the residents of Jean Marie River, Trout Lake, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Wrigley and Fort Simpson. I look forward to seeing you again soon and wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 4, Members' Statements. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Zoe.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. (Translation) Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my constituents of Behchoko, Gameti, Wekweti and Wha Ti for electing me as your MLA. I would like to thank them. As I stand here today I will represent you and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

When I went into your communities, you heard what I had to say. The things that I promised to work on, I will work on them for you for the next four years. Not only that, but when I campaigned in the communities, I had mentioned that my door will always be open and that will be the same as I promised.

Mr. Speaker, not only that but there are a lot of people who supported me from my communities by travelling with me to communities and putting up posters and signs. I would like to thank every one of them. I would also like to thank my fellow Members of the Legislative Assembly for electing me yesterday to be a Cabinet Member. I would like to thank you for supporting me and trusting me to do the job.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my family, my wife and my daughter. They stood by me through the election. I would like to thank my wife and my daughter with my heart. I want to express my sincere thanks...(Translation ends)

Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

The Member is requesting unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? No, there aren't. You have unanimous consent.

(Translation) Thank you. As Christmas is approaching, I would like to wish everyone in my constituency and fellow Members and Mr. Speaker a very Merry Christmas. I would say thank you, Merry Christmas and thank you very much.

---Applause

The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a few minutes to speak about the 15th Assembly and those who will serve in it.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to thank the constituents of Hay River South for electing me to serve for this my third term in the Assembly. I want to tell them that I'm here to serve everyone.

It's been a busy few days since we gathered back here, welcoming former Members, meeting new Members and selecting colleagues to serve in positions of leadership. I would like to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on your election and I wish you well in your new role. I would like to congratulate the honourable Member for Weledeh in his successful bid for Premier, and I wish him and his new Cabinet a productive and rewarding term.

I'm impressed with the new Members who were elected to this Assembly. It's a relatively young group and already I see much promise and potential. The average age of the Assembly seems to be getting younger all the time, or maybe it's just that I'm getting older all the time.

---Laughter

I'm looking forward to the next four years. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but it promises to be an exciting time in the history of the political, economic and social development of the North. I'm looking forward to exploring ways of working effectively together. Within the context of consensus government there is room for creativity, innovation and putting this Assembly's own signature on how we want to accomplish our objectives on behalf of the people of the North. There are some emerging themes about the style that I briefly want to mention and hopefully will find support to develop more in the days ahead. Everyone elected to this Assembly is a leader in their own right. Everyone comes with unique backgrounds, experience and skills, and I want this Assembly to display respect for these talents and abilities through true consensus and inclusive leadership. We are only 19 Members, we need to harness and engage the energy and enthusiasm of all Members to achieve the best outcomes for our people. I want to see us embrace this inclusive leadership. We need to set an example of it amongst ourselves and further extend it to the way in which we work with other governments and community leaders. When we do this, Mr. Speaker, the potential for the Northwest Territories will be unlimited. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Item 4, Members' statements. Mr. Ramsay, Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very honoured and excited at being here with all of my colleagues and the folks in the gallery on opening this First Session of the 15th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

I want to start off my Member's statement by saying thank you to my family: my mom, my dad, my fianc‚e Amanda, and my brothers who are all very supportive. I would also like to thank the constituents of the riding of Kam Lake for their vote of confidence in me to do this job on their behalf. It was an interesting and hard-fought campaign. I wanted to thank Mr. Bill Aho and Mr. Steve Petersen for running in this election and participating in this important democratic process. I also wanted to thank my campaign manager, Mr. Brian Desjardins, and my official agent, Mr. Brad Anstey, and all my campaign workers and supporters for all their help. Without them it wouldn't have been possible.

To Mr. Krutko, Mr. Handley and the new Cabinet-elect, congratulations. Congratulations are also in order for all the new Members and returning Members to this House on becoming Members of this new Legislative Assembly.

I am certainly looking forward to working and learning from each and every one of you to ensure that we govern this territory to the best of our ability. I'm looking forward to a prosperous four-year journey with you, my colleagues. When we all give our best and do our part, we will see some positive results. We cannot afford to get off track. We have momentum on our side and what we do with that momentum will be up to us.

I would also like to thank the outgoing Member for the riding of Kam Lake, Mr. Tony Whitford. I know he served in the capacity as Speaker in the last Legislative Assembly. Those are big shoes to fill and I certainly am honoured to be the representative for Kam Lake, to get to work for the constituents that live in this riding.

I also wanted to thank the staff -- Mr. Mercer and his professional team -- for inviting us, especially the new Members, into the Legislative Assembly with open arms. Much appreciated and thank you very much. Also again I just wanted to say thanks again to the constituents of Kam Lake. I certainly promise to do this job to the best of my ability and look forward to a very prosperous four years. Thank you very much and Merry Christmas.

---Applause

Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start as well by congratulating everybody on becoming Members of the 15th Legislative Assembly. I would like to send a big heartfelt thank you back to all the constituents of Inuvik Boot Lake for returning me to this Assembly for the third time, and to my family for their support. I just want to let the Members of Inuvik Boot Lake know that even though I will take on a different role in the 15th Legislative Assembly, I intend to continue to work hard on their issues that they bring forward, ensuring that we continue to work on all the issues that are brought forward in a fair and effective manner. I would like to again wish all those back home a very Merry Christmas, and I hope to see them there as I return home, hopefully tomorrow. Thank you.

---Applause

Item 4, Members' statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to congratulate you, too, on your appointment as the Speaker of the House. I would also like to thank and congratulate the Premier-elect, Mr. Joe Handley and his new Cabinet. I'm sure they will do a good job in the next four years and I'm looking forward to working with them all.

I would like to acknowledge the fine performance of the Detah Drummers and the St. Pat's Choir.

I would like to start off by thanking all my constituents, my campaign team for the good job that they did, and especially my family for instilling the confidence and trust and having faith in me to be the representative for Tu Nedhe in the 15th Legislative Assembly.

During my campaign, I had the opportunity to speak with many of my constituents, listen to their concerns and, more importantly, seek their advice on how to make their lives better and the lives of everybody in the NWT. During the 15th Legislative Assembly, I intend to work hard toward resolving the issues that have been raised by my constituents and by the Members-elect over the past week in working toward improving the lives and the quality of life of all the residents and constituents of the NWT. I realize that in order to accomplish this we all have to work together and take a unified approach in resolving issues that are of common interest to us all. Things like housing, education, health, economic development, not to mention partnerships with aboriginal governments, land claim negotiations and devolution which are all a common interest to all Members of this Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, I am confident that we, the 15th Legislative Assembly, as diverse and distinct as the regions we all represent, can and will plan, construct and build a vision for the NWT that supports and works toward a prosperous future; a vision that has the support and the consent of all our aboriginal governments, community governments and the federal government. A vision that encourages everyone full participation in the exercise of our independence and wealth, so that at the end of the day we can all be proud of our accomplishments and realizing our commitments to our constituents, to the people of the NWT and Canada.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, again I have to say that I look forward to working with all my colleagues over the next four years. I am optimistic that we are all going to prosper from the vast knowledge and the respect and the privilege that we all share for one another. I also want to wish all my constituents...

Excuse me, Mr. Villeneuve. Your time has expired.

I seek unanimous consent to finish off my three words.

---Laughter

The Member is asking for unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You have unanimous consent to conclude.

Thank you. Again, Mr. Speaker, just to finish off, I just want to wish everybody in the gallery, especially my constituents, the Legislative Assembly Members and staff and the NWT residents a very Merry Christmas and a happy, prosperous New Year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause