Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have known Mr. Zoe for a while. We served together in the 12th Assembly. Shortly after the election I met with Mr. Zoe, we went for a coffee and talked about our aspirations. He told me at that time that he wanted to be on Cabinet. Mr. Speaker, I told him that things have changed, and that attitudes towards alcohol use had changed significantly, that there was no longer any tolerance for alcohol abuse by Cabinet Members. I told him that I expected to hear from him that he understood that things had changed, and that he could live with these new rules. He told me that day, Mr. Speaker, that he would. I made it clear, Mr. Speaker, what my position would be if he showed that he had a problem with alcohol.

Last week Mr. Zoe admitted that he does have a problem with alcohol. Some people have talked about other things here, but I want to leave it limited to the one issue that Mr. Zoe has talked about. He did admit that he had a problem with alcohol, and that he made unacceptable comments about people from Newfoundland while under the influence of alcohol. So, Mr. Speaker, I warned Mr. Zoe early on what my position would be, and I was clear that he only had one chance in order to prove himself. So I had hoped that we would not get to the situation that we are in today, but, Mr. Speaker, since it has come to pass as a result of a situation that I have warned Mr. Zoe about, I feel that I must support this motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.