Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to congratulate all the women in the Northwest Territories and around the world because today is being recognized as their day. I think for myself every day is to be recognized as women's day.

---Applause

With all the work that they do. Mr. Speaker, I thought about it this morning as I was having my cup of coffee at 6:00 in the morning. Mr. Speaker, I thought about the women in my life, the women who had pushed me forward in my leadership. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, I thought about my grandmother when she was young. I thought about the work that she did and the sacrifices that she made for us young men in my family and the men in my community. The sacrifice she made to...She was a midwife. She brought over 250 babies into our community. She was taught by a blind lady at 14 years of age. That's why I support the midwife program in the Northwest Territories. I thought about her wisdom and how gentle and quiet and how she ruled the house very quietly, and you respected women.

I thought about my mother recently, who told me stories of the strength of the women and the compassion they had for their people and how she brought me up, and the sacrifice she made so I could stand here and be in this House, and the joy on her face when she saw the first

time that I was elected by my own people. It was the women that are the true leaders of my people. It is the women that give life to our young boys and girls, our grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, then I thought about my wife and the joy I had when I was in the birthing room with her and I saw my little son breathe life for the first time. He's five years old. I saw the sacrifice of this young woman, how sacred they are and how sometimes we have such a disrespect for our women here. I thought the beauty that she's given life to my child, our child. It's women like that all over in the Northwest Territories that we really have to honour.

Especially every day, we should honour. They are hard-working women and they are the ones that are truly the leaders, no matter if it's in...(inaudible)...in the regions in our communities, they are really the ones we should really be careful how we speak about them because they're our sisters, our nieces...