Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very quickly, we had 10 great statements from this side of the House and I personally applaud every one of them because they were all decent, as ever.
---Laughter
Now this is the eleventh. Mr. Speaker, let me tell you a story. I had a friend who was addicted to drugs. He decided he thought he could fly and he jumped off a bridge. It's a sad story. Addiction to drugs was the tragedy.
I had another friend, as I was growing up, who thought he could swim. I never saw him swim a day in his life. The day he decided to swim was it.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you another story again about a friend who drank a lot when he was a youth. He decided he should drive with a bunch of people in the truck. I can tell you one of the people that was with him in the truck, and it wasn't me, is now blowing through a tube, Mr. Speaker, and can't walk on their own.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you another story by saying some brothers were drinking and had an argument and shot their sister. The sister isn't around.
Mr. Speaker, how many times do we have to raise this flag in saying we need attention to this matter? This is a serious matter and I appreciate the Minister of Finance saying they are listening very carefully. That is very touching.
It troubles me because I remember a lot of these stories when I was a kid growing up in Fort Simpson and I remember them here in Yellowknife when I came to school to live at Akaitcho Hall. I am sure all Members on this side of the House can tell you stories. Actually, it's really bothering me, now that I am thinking about it.
The fact is, Mr. Speaker, status quo has become the norm and I think we need to end the cycle. It's a troubling issue when I think of those people right now, and there were more. The crisis is out there. I don't need to finish this. The crisis is out there. The fact is we are asking this side of the House, can we do something. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause