Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a privilege and an honour to stand in the Assembly today and pay tribute to Mr. Whitford. I knew Mr. Whitford before I came here as an MLA 15 years ago when I used to come here on various causes and crusades to lobby the government about things. That was back when he was an MLA. He probably remembers me from those days too.
As Mr. Miltenberger has said, MLA, Minister, Speaker, Sergeant-at-Arms, Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner, now honorary officer of this Legislative Assembly, very much deserved. He is the type of person that can be many things to many people. He can be the person officiating over a marriage ceremony. He has married many people in the Northwest Territories. I believe he is even known to some as Santa Claus, I think, in Santa
Claus parades. I believe that is correct. People have known him as Santa Claus.
Maybe you had to be here to understand this story, but one really funny thing happened one time when Mr. Whitford was in the Speaker’s chair and, for some strange reason, Member MLA Brendan Bell decided to go up and speak to him while he was sitting in the Speaker’s chair. I have never seen that happen ever before, that he went right to the top of stairs and stood there right beside Mr. Whitford. Mr. Whitford was conducting the business of the House so he had to wait for a few moments. He was just standing there beside Mr. Whitford sitting in that chair. One of my colleagues leaned over to me and said, oh my gosh, Jane, Brendan thinks that Tony really is Santa Claus...
---Laughter
...because of the chair, the way he was sitting in the little line-up. Oh my gosh. We laughed very hard. Maybe, like I said, you had to be there.
It has been a privilege. They say you can tell a lot about a person by how children view them. I have to say that my daughter Gillian has always been a fan of Mr. Whitford. She has loved him. Every time we get to a social function, she wants to have her picture taken with him, so we have quite a succession of pictures. I think that speaks very well of the character of the man that we are honouring today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause