Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope the seniors of the community will forgive me if I speak about something that is not related to seniors this day.
Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend the good luck send off for the Skills Canada NWT/Nunavut team that are currently, as we speak, competing for the NWT in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mr. Speaker, this year, the team consisted of 20 gold medal winners from the NWT and six from Nunavut. I have, over the years, enjoyed observing and partaking in some of the events that they have held. I have watched a lot of territorial games, and I hope that someday I get to go to the national games and cheer them on. I believe that this is a very, very important initiative, and it goes a long way in developing all kinds of trades and skills among our youth. Given the vibrant economy we have, this is more important than ever.
Mr. Speaker, I might also add that even though we are a very small population, Nunavut as well as the NWT have done exceptionally well in past years in these competitions. We have won many gold medals, and second and third places, and personal bests among all of our participants. So on behalf of this assembly, I would like to wish every competitor the very best, and I know that they will do the NWT proud.
I would like to take this opportunity to just recognize by name all of the participants from the NWT: Stephanie Bourgeois in restaurant services from St. Patrick's High School; Mike Broussard in electrical wiring from GAP Electric; Maggie Butz in hairstyling, she works for Essentials 98; Brett Fehr in auto services, he works at Kingland Ford; Chris Fournier for Web page design, he goes to Sir John Franklin High School; Dale Johnson in carpentry, he works for Clark Builders; Mandy Lyons in prepared speech from St. Patrick's High School; Lance Lennie in carpentry from St. Patrick's High School; Olivia Patterson in hair styling from Sir John Franklin High School; Tyler Provincial in TV video productions from Diamond Jenness School in Hay River. Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement?