Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Members who have spoken to the motion to get the message to the federal government, because I think they have to hear where we stand on this issue. I think what we would like them to do is at least make an attempt to make an effort to find a system that will work for the people across Canada and in the Northwest Territories who are coping with the challenges we face day to day, but more importantly, the effects that some policy decisions have made and affecting the lives of people throughout the Northwest Territories and Canada.

So with that, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Clerk, the Member is asking for a recorded vote. All those in favour, please stand.

All those opposed to the motion, please stand. All those abstaining, please stand. Results of the vote: 17 in favour, none against, none abstaining. The motion is carried.

---Carried

The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

WHEREAS Anthony W.J. (Tony) Whitford was appointed Commissioner of the Northwest Territories on April 29, 2005;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford served as Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories from October 2004 until April 2005;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford was elected by his fellow Members in 1999 to serve as Speaker of the 14th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest

Territories;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in 1988 and has served as Minister of Health and Social Services, Safety and Public Services, and Transportation;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford has also served as Executive Assistant to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and Sergeant-at-Arms during the 13th Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford has provided devoted and exemplary service to the Legislative Assembly and to the people of the Northwest Territories for more than 20 years;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Whitford’s terms as Commissioner expired on April 28, 2010;

AND WHEREAS it is customary for Legislative Assemblies to recognize and express their gratitude for such long and distinguished service;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that the Legislative Assembly expresses its sincere gratitude to Mr. Anthony W.J. (Tony) Whitford for his dedicated and exemplary service to this House;

AND FURTHER, that the Legislative Assembly designate Anthony W.J. “Tony” Whitford as an honorary officer of this Legislative Assembly with permission to enter the Chamber and sit at the Table.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. There is a motion on the floor. The motion is in order. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know earlier in my Minister’s statement I went on to recognize much of the work of Mr. Whitford and his accomplishments and service to the people of the Northwest Territories. I can say from my own experience, being elected first in 1995, I did have the pleasure of serving with Mr. Whitford in the 14th Legislative Assembly as

well as watching him do his work diligently in this Assembly as the Sergeant-at-Arms. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, the opportunity to work with Mr. Whitford has allowed me to build a friendship with someone who has such experience

in the Northwest Territories, and his wise counsel, at times, has proved very worthy as one considers the activities a Member finds himself doing in this Assembly.

I think that, well, we know that Mr. Whitford will continue to be very busy in his private life and I’m sure he will take the opportunity to come and visit us here in the Legislative Assembly. I think it would be strange, indeed, to not have him come by and visit and stop by for a coffee. I know we will not forget him in our personal lives and our lives as Members of the Legislative Assembly. So I want to say that with this motion that we, indeed, will invite him back to this Assembly and have him visit with us in this Chamber and, hopefully, he will take the opportunity from time to time to come to the table.

So, again, I know that Members of this Assembly will support this motion as we recognize the service that Mr. Whitford has served the people of the Northwest Territories, this Assembly and the Members of this Assembly as well. So I look forward to continued wise counsel from Mr. Whitford. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Roland. I’ll go to the seconder of the motion, the Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my political experience with Mr. Whitford does not go back as far as the Premier’s, but I feel that Mr. Whitford is a lifelong Northerner, born in Fort Smith and spent a lot of years here in Yellowknife, and I think of him as a product of a young and developing NWT. He’s a product of our education system and it’s proof to me that we have one of the best education systems around.

I think his commitment to the NWT and to the people of the NWT is unparalleled. I don’t think that there are many people who have shown the kind of commitment that he has shown to us and to our people.

It has been said that he is the best possible advertisement for NWT tourism. I think anybody who visits our Territory who is not an NWT resident and runs across our Commissioner, or our ex-Commissioner unfortunately now, I think they have been exposed to a part of the NWT that they wouldn’t get if they hadn’t run across our Tony. He is to be commended for that.

Mr. Whitford’s all-around character is very well suited to both politics that he was involved in for so many years and his most recent post as Commissioner. He is very outgoing. He is a very happy person. He certainly makes people feel at ease. I know that he has done that for me a number of times. Certainly I and I expect all Members are going to miss his smiling face and his upbeat

attitude, because I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Commissioner down.

I would like to say thank you, Tony, for your years of service. I look forward to occasionally seeing you at the Clerk’s table. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many good things come out of Fort Smith and one of those good things has joined us in the gallery today: Mr. Whitford.

---Applause

I haven’t done a full count, but it is my bet that there is no other Northerner that has had as many jobs tied into this Legislature as Mr. Whitford, as an MLA, as a Minister, as a Speaker, as the Sergeant-at-Arms and as our Commissioner all tied into this Legislature and the place that he has devoted a lot of time that he has upheld the honour of and that he truly loves dearly.

I, as well, over the years, since I came here in 1995 have taken to eating regularly with Mr. Whitford. Now that he is a struggling pensioner, he has asked me not to forget him. I want to commit publicly in this House that we will still continue to break bread, but I will try to time some of the meals for when the pension cheques come in because he still will have to pay his way. As he is fond of saying, there is no free lunch.

But it has been, over the years, an honour and a pleasure to serve with Mr. Whitford. While I say he is from Fort Smith, he truly is a Northerner for all of us. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

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

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also had the honour and privilege of serving with Tony in the 14th Assembly and, more importantly, also as his

Deputy Speaker, but I think also as part of the arrangement with Tony is that one thing Tony always did and made sure of is when he travelled, he made efforts to go meet with our elders in the elders’ homes, go into the schools and meet with the students and talk to the people in the community. He was very approachable in all cases. He always made an attempt to partake in community events, but more importantly, everybody throughout the Territories didn’t call him sir or Commissioner. They called him Tony.

Tony is basically known throughout the Northwest Territories and elsewhere. I think that simply the efforts that he has done and the lives he has touched also can extol ourselves here as legislators but extol it over the House and the offices that he has held.

With that, Tony, thank you for everything. I look forward to seeing you serve in the House again, as you said, as a table officer. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have had the good fortune of knowing Tony Whitford for many years from back in the ‘60s in Fort Smith. I have a number of stories but I was going to save most of them for tonight at the dinner.

I guess some of the most memorable moments with Tony was when he first got elected as Minister. He came and stole my secretary at that time. During the height of the anti-trapping campaign by the European Union, the Legislative Assembly assembled a team of MLAs to go to the European Union to counter this proposed boycott and I had the good fortune to travel with Tony Whitford, Silas Arngn’naaq and a couple of other MLAs. We got to go to a northern European Union country. The first country we landed in was Denmark. We got in in the afternoon and we were going to go and have dinner. We all started walking. Tony took off. He was way ahead of us and it looked like he was laboured in walking and having problems walking. We all said, what is the matter with Tony? What is wrong with him? We went up to him and he was in a courtyard and he had a picture in his hand and he was looking at the skyline and he said, “My brother was here at the end of the war in 1945 and he got his picture taken here. I just want to see if this is the same spot,” and he had the picture. We looked at it and we saw the skyline and he said, “Now I have to find a blonde lady to get my picture taken with her.”

---Laughter

Sure enough, this one lady walked by. We stopped her. He said, “Can I get my picture taken with you?” She looked at him and said, “Sure.” So he had a picture to match his brother’s.

I think that Tony Whitford is perfect as Commissioner. His whole career was built towards fulfilling that job. I am very pleased to recognize him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is a great honour and a privilege to stand up in the House today and extol what it means to be a friend of Tony Whitford.

I first met Tony when I grew up with his sons, Blair, Ian and Warren. I played hockey with Blair for a number of years and went to school with Blair. I first knew Tony as a dedicated hockey dad. He was there watching many of our games at the time. It goes back a number of years now. It is hard to believe that time has gone by so fast.

I guess I owe a great deal to Mr. Whitford. If it wasn’t for his retirement in 2003 which provided me

the opportunity to become a Member of this House and represent the great riding of Kam Lake, I wouldn’t be standing here today perhaps. I owe that to Tony. Thanks for retiring, Tony, in 2003.

---Laughter

I do want to wish you all the best in all of your pursuits. I think many people have learned a great deal from Tony, myself included. I used to work at the Legislative Assembly when Tony was a Member. Tony is just a likeable, jovial guy. People want to be around him. He has a contagious type of character. He makes people, as other Members have said, feel at ease. He has a way about him that just makes people feel good about being in his presence.

It certainly is an honour to be here today to say these words about a great man. He was a great Commissioner, a great politician and I hope to see him around the House. I’m very supportive of Tony becoming an honorary table officer of this House. That’s a great honour for a great man. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not very often in this House we get so many MLAs say nice things about one person.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I have also had the honour and the privilege of serving with Tony and working in this House in his position at Sergeant-at-Arms, and then when he became an MLA, and then a Speaker.

For me it was always interesting to talk to Tony because he’s actually a walking history book. I wanted to talk about issues about Highway No. 3 when we were in the Members’ Lounge and then he started talking about when he was building it and driving a Cat and pushing down trees when they were building the road. So he had a lot of information. He was interesting to listen to on every occasion.

He’s probably spoken more French in this House than anybody else in recent history, not always the best French, but...

---Laughter

We tried a lot of times to try to speak the Newfie French and I think my speaking was more peppered with ums and ahs than actual French words, but he always took the time to respond to me accordingly.

I think some of the things that I’ll treasure the most is being able to have Tony give advice and a lot of times just to listen to some of the issues. It’s not an easy place to work and to have a Speaker that’s willing to talk to you and listen to what you’re going

through. In return we have to listen to his corny jokes, but it was all in fun, and I want to wish him all the best. I want to wish him all the best of luck in his future endeavours. I’m sure there are many things he still has out there as goals and I also want to thank him for the time that he spent in this House and with us. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.