Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to quickly say a few words. I'd like to first off welcome the many people from my riding to the Legislative Assembly. It's good to see. It's not very often I have people in the audience that are here and watching us as we conduct our business. I want to start off also by saying thank you and congratulations to you, Mr. Speaker, and also to our new Premier Joe Handley, who's already setting a tough agenda. We really have our work cut out for us. Also, congratulations to all the new Ministers who were elected and to all the people that put their names forward. It's not an easy decision to go out there and put your name forward and I commend their effort.
I want to take the time, also, to thank the people in the riding, in the communities, that were working with me on my campaign team. I also have to acknowledge Mr. Mike Nadli who ran against me. He brought a lot of credibility and came to the table with a lot of credibility and brought many issues forward. I want to wish him all the best.
Once again, I also have to thank my family for their support and for dealing with a lot of the stress that comes with running a campaign and going through an election period; my wife Joyce, my son Kevin, my daughters, Robyn and Shawna.
I also have to thank all my colleagues here today for all their support in electing me into a Cabinet position.
I never really had a chance to publicly thank my official agent, who's here today, Albert Lafferty. Also, a couple people who went out of their way to support me during my campaign, Mr. Rocky Simpson and Mr. Wally Shuman.
So, once again, I want to thank the many people in the audience and say Merry Christmas to all the people in my riding from Kakisa, Hay River Reserve, Enterprise and Fort Providence. I'm looking forward to working with all the Members of this House for all the people out there in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause