Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin, I would like to say that after the swearing in of the 15th Assembly, I indicated to the Premier that I would show no more emotions. However, with the situation ongoing in Tuktoyaktuk, I became emotional yesterday. I would like to thank my colleagues for the moment of silent prayer. Thank you to my colleague, Mr. Dave Ramsay, for concluding my Member's statement.
Mr. Speaker, yesterday my colleague from Nahendeh talked about the tour he conducted with the Ministers. I, too, at this time would like to thank Premier Joe Handley, Ministers Roland, Bell, Krutko, McLeod, Dent and Miltenberger for touring the riding of Nunakput in June and August, respectively. During the tour, there were many common themes raised for these meetings. Issues were raised for education, health, social services, municipal services, policing services, transportation, and global warming; for example, erosion. Mr. Speaker, many of these issues raised by my constituents will be brought up during the life of the 15th Assembly.
Members may remember that Prime Minister Paul Martin and Ethel Blondin-Andrew visited our beautiful community of Tuktoyaktuk and, although the visit was brief, the mayor and council and myself briefly highlighted some of the issues, such as the all-weather road between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik and the erosion problem. Although the Tuktoyaktuk-Inuvik highway is not the responsibility of the GNWT, I will continue to pursue this matter with the Minister of Transportation, Mr. McLeod.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, once again, thank you to the Premier and the Ministers for taking the time from their busy schedules to visit my riding of Nunakput. There is a lot of work ahead during the next three years and I will continue to pursue and accomplish some or all of the issues raised by my constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause