Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to express my sincere congratulations to you, the Premier and the new Cabinet on being elected to your offices. I look forward to working with you. I would also like to congratulate all the new and returning Members.
Mr. Speaker, I'd like to use this, my very first statement of this Assembly, to also thank the constituents of Range Lake for sending me back here the second time around. I'm sure I speak for all Members, Mr. Speaker, in this House when I say what a singular honour and privilege it is to be elected by the public at large and to be given the mandate to serve them in this honourable place. As I walk through the halls of this great place of meeting, I continue to hear the voices of my constituents which have guided me before and I'm sure will guide me throughout the days and months to come.
Mr. Speaker, there are so many voices out there that we need to hear -- voices of small and large business owners, voices of women and men, elders and youth, aboriginal and non-aboriginal, the weak and the sick -- whose voices we must hear and act upon. I understand my mandate, Mr. Speaker, for the next four years is to bring life to these voices and to work with my colleagues in and out of this Chamber to develop solutions to their concerns. I also appreciate that behind you, Mr. Speaker, and the 18 Members of this House sit some 43,000 other voices of our territory which also must come to life and be acted upon.
As I begin this task once again in earnest today, it is with the firm belief that it is our collective task to set the course and path for our future toward unity and prosperity, not necessarily because we have a common interest in all issues, but because it is in our common interest to work together for solutions.
The last thing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to also acknowledge a lot of people who gave me support to bring me back here and I also would like to thank my family, including my mother, for their support always. Thank you very much.
---Applause