Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I took the opportunity to thank my colleagues on the Cabinet side of the House and I have a few more people I’d like to thank today.
I’d like to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the 12 years that you have served and contributed to this Assembly and the people of Hay River and the Northwest Territories. They say you don’t get to choose your relatives, you don’t get to choose who your other partner’s going to be from the community you serve from if there are two, but I am pleased to say that we have become friends and you have done an amazing service to this Assembly over the years. I thank you for that.
Also, I would like to thank my colleague Mr. Krutko, one of the four in this Assembly who have now served 16 years, for his unwavering commitment and giving a voice to Northerners in this House. I had the privilege of serving as Deputy Speaker when Mr. Krutko was the Speaker. We travelled a little bit together. It was a little bit confusing to people, because everybody thought I was his wife. They didn’t understand that he was the Speaker, I was the Deputy Speaker, and we tried to get them on the straight and narrow on that.
Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues on this side of the House, it was a privilege. I thank you for allowing me to serve as the chair of the Priorities and Planning committee. We laughed this morning about that. We said there were a couple of times when they wanted to throw me out, but we persevered together and I do thank them for that very, very much.
Also, to the staff, Mr. Ramsay has articulated the staff under Mr. Mercer’s guidance. I would like to especially thank the Deputy Clerk, Mr. Schauerte, who was a smiling face when I entered this building 16 years ago, and has served as the clerk to the
committee that I chaired of Priorities and Planning. Mr. Schauerte has not seemingly aged a day, in spite of all the stress we’ve put him through, which is remarkable in and of itself.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank my constituency assistant Wendy Morgan. We have been a team for over 12 and a half years, and she has been such a support to me. They say that a constituency assistant is someone who helps the Member in the performance of their duties, and Wendy has gone way above and beyond the call of duty in supporting me in my role as the Member for Hay River South, and I thank her very much for that, as I know do the constituents of Hay River South for her generosity and concern. When I have not been around, she has listened to their issues and helped me to convey them on their behalf.
Mr. Speaker, I’d like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted