Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the RCMP special constables. It is with great pride -- great pride -- for a special group of people, that I rise in this Assembly today. I wish to talk about the RCMP special constables.

For more than a century, the national force has hired local aboriginal people in our communities to assist them in their work. In 1874, when the force started, they hired 20 Metis as guides to help them to what is known in the RCMP history as "The March West." In the early days, the true value of "the specials," as they came to be known, was truly recognized. In 1905, constables were paid the sum of $1 per day, and the specialists got $1.50. There have been many dozens, if not hundreds, of special constables in the Northwest Territories in the last century.

There are three special constables whom I wish to recognize here in the House today: Victor Menacho, Alfred Lennie, Archie Lennie. Victor is now in the hospital. I know all Members in this House will take a few minutes to recognize him and all those special people.

Mr. Speaker, of all the true special constables I wish to talk about, for a moment, I wish to recognize service to our people in our communities. These fellows all travelled in our regions where they worked by dog team in the winter, and by boat with an eight-horse kicker in the summer. Victor Menacho was a special constable with the Fort Norman detachment from 1956 to 1962. He took care of many dogs, as many as 52 dogs a year, on a year-round basis. He fished to feed the dogs. While he was hired, he was paid $62 a month and was given food rations of canned meat, flour, sugar, and lard. In 1957, when Victor married Charlotte Yakeleya, his food ration was doubled, and he got a raise to $85 a month.

Alfred Lennie worked in Tulita for the force from 1946 to 1950. He took care of detachment dog teams, and he was paid only $2 a day when he was hired, plus he got a ration of canned meat, flour, and sugar. When he married his wife, Julie Menacho, in 1947, he got a raise to $3 per day and double rations. But with the clawbacks of that double ration, his pay was reduced back to $2 a day.