Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as Minister Miltenberger indicated in his statement, this is National Seniors' Week. The motto, "Respect Our Elders - They Deserve It," was very fitting. The community which I represent has a very active, vocal and vibrant seniors' society. Their meeting agendas and activities encompass many issues of importance to seniors, from recreation and social activities to housing needs. Through their president, Mr. Lloyd Brunes, they also have a voice on matters of relevance to all seniors in our territory, through the Northwest Territories Seniors' Society.

The Northwest Territories Seniors' Society has also been very active through their toll-free support and information number for seniors, public service announcements and recently workshops convened on the important topic of seniors' abuse, just to name a few of their activities.

With this being National Seniors' Week we are very honoured to have the members of the National Advisory Council on Aging holding their meeting here with representatives from across our country. This council has been in existence for 23 years and this is the first time that they have convened one of their meetings in the Northwest Territories. I would like to thank our Northwest Territories representative publicly, Mr. Lloyd Brunes, for inviting this distinguished group to our territory. I hope they felt welcomed by the Premier's attendance at their gathering this morning and by the reception here in the Great Hall at noon. We hope that they will have productive meetings, and when they return home they will feel that they better know and understand the seniors and the people of the Northwest Territories.

Finally, I would like to recognize and thank all the volunteers, including the seniors themselves in the Northwest Territories who have contributed so much and who work tirelessly to enrich the lives of our seniors. I encourage everyone to especially take note of seniors around them this week and honour them in tangible ways and acknowledge them for who they are, and especially today I would like to send greetings and good wishes to all the seniors of my community in Hay River. Thank you.

---Applause