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