Mr. Speaker, today, during this busy budget session, on a somewhat lighter note I wanted to take time to speak about the presence of two grade 6 classes in the visitors’ gallery.
It is becoming a tradition for Hay River students to come to the Assembly. Earlier this week we had the grades 5 and 6 classes from École Boreale. Today we have two grade 6 classes from Princess Alexandra School in Hay River. This annual event requires quite a bit of planning on the part of Speaker Delorey’s and my constituency assistants, Mrs. Mageean and Mrs. Morgan. It is also supported by sponsorship from a couple of organizations that I would like to thank.
The students here today arrived in Yellowknife via a bus charter with Frontier Coachlines, driven by the owner of that company, Mr. Joe Gagnier. The cost of the charter was sponsored by the Hay River Elks Club. I know Mr. Gagnier does a little extra to make sure the kids have a good chance to have a look at Yellowknife.
The students are staying at the Yellowknife Ski Club. They’ve been swimming at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool, sponsored by Northland Utilities in Hay River, and they have been to the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre. They have been to the Prince of Wales museum, where they were fortunate to hear northern wildlife brought to life by local naturalist Jamie Bastedo. We are very proud of these young people.
Just a little story in keeping with school trips that the Members might find humorous. I grew up in Ontario, where every grade 8 student in our small town made a pilgrimage to the Ontario Legislature in Toronto. I lived only 120 miles from Toronto. I set out on a trip with my classmates, but I only made it to the nearest village of Tavistock, where I
convinced the bus driver to let me off the bus. I called my dad to come and get me. I lived in a little town like Hay River, but I didn’t want to go to the big city of Toronto. So I’m very proud of all these students, because at their young age I was too timid and shy to make it all the way on a school trip to Toronto. I may say I’ve changed.
Laughter.
This is a very educational experience for these students, and I’d like to thank Minister Jackson Lafferty for taking a few minutes to speak with our visiting classes from Hay River today. I hope they will go home well informed about our Legislative Assembly and have a new interest in the role of the government in the North. Also, I’d like to thank the parents and chaperones for taking time out of their schedules to escort our students here.