Mr. Speaker, this evening the francophone population of the Northwest Territories will honour their own with the first Francophone Entrepreneurial Awards. These awards will not only identify outstanding francophone businesses, but will highlight the importance of French entrepreneurs in developing the economy of the Northwest Territories.

French entrepreneurs have been active in the North for over 300 years. It is good to see that their efforts are being acknowledged. The event will be held here in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly and hosted by Counseil de developpement economique des Territories du Nord-Ouest, also known as CDETNO.

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Entrepreneurs will be honoured in four different categories. The first one is a special category for the Northwest Territories arts business, then commercial services, business services, and micro business. Winners in the commercial services, business services, and micro business categories will be submitted to a national competition that is being held in 2009. You may remember this is the competition that Pierre LePage of Le Frolic won in 2005.

The host for the event will be CDETNO. This francophone organization offers a multitude of services to businesspeople in the Northwest Territories who speak French as their first language. A non-profit organization, CDETNO works to promote, encourage, and support economic development and employability of French speaking residents of the Northwest Territories.

I congratulate all the businesses that have been nominated for the awards and, to use the words of Simon Lamoureux, president of CDETNO, “This is a recognition for the important contribution made by

French entrepreneurs to the economy of the Northwest Territories.”

Merci beaucoup, Mr. Speaker. Later today at the appropriate time I will be recognizing special guests in the gallery.