Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An important decision has been made about phone services in the Northwest Territories. The Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission has decided to allow local competition. I hope this will result in better and more services in our smaller communities.

For example, Fort Providence is in a pivotal location on our highway system but we have no cell phone service. Apparently it would not make a huge investment. A couple of years ago there was an estimate that it would cost $6 million to erect cell towers in all 25 communities lacking cell phone service.

Expanding cell phone service is not just a business opportunity, it is a crucial piece of infrastructure for other businesses and our economy in general. In most of Canada cell service is considered a necessity. At the very least it is a key convenience and a safety feature.

Those of us who live in small communities don’t want the future to pass us by. It is high time that companies serving our communities invest in the future. Let’s step beyond projects with fast three-year paybacks. This attitude is holding up our growth.

It may be that big companies don’t think much about opportunities in our smaller communities, but I hope that this government will help change that and offer some assistance when it is the right thing to do. Competition in the northern telephone business is a step in the right direction.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to provide some comments to a Minister’s statement made on Monday by the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Members probably know that I’m interested in sport – sport in general, sport in the North. I was a founding member of Sport North many years ago and I have followed the ups and downs of the administration of sport in the NWT. I was intrigued and somewhat concerned by some of the comments in the Minister’s statement on Monday.

The Sport and Recreation Council of which he spoke was established in 2005 as an umbrella organization for NWT bodies providing sport and recreation to NWT residents. As indicated by the Minister in his statement, there were “some challenges with the process” – I believe those were his words – the last few years have not been smooth sailing. The Minister’s statement indicated that he recently met with the Sport and Recreation Council executive. I have to wonder if the SRC executive and the board are adequately representing the views of the five member organizations that make up the NWT Sport and Recreation Council.

The Minister also indicated an upcoming meeting early in 2012 at which he, the Department of MACA and the SRC member organizations will discuss

governance; governance, and roles and responsibilities related to the Sport and Recreation Council members as mandated by the Department of MACA. As I heard those words I had to wonder if the member organizations have had input into their mandates and roles.

If the department is setting direction, setting expectations, outlining goals and objectives to Sport and Recreation Council members on behalf of or for the SRC, I have to wonder why we even need the Sport and Recreation Council. Is it a pseudo-government body? A mouthpiece for the government or department, or a stand-alone authority in its own right?

I have no fault with the Assembly’s goals related to health and physical activity. I believe, as the government does, that they will improve the well-being of NWT residents. I do wonder if the government and the Minister of MACA are giving the proper due to the five member organizations of the Sport and Recreation Council. Is he asking for and welcoming their input? Is he working with them as opposed to talking at them? I’m not so sure the answers to those questions are yes.

I will have some questions for the Minister of MACA at the appropriate time.

I, too, would like to wish you, Mr. Speaker, and all Members and all staff a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take a moment to signal and celebrate the accomplishments of one of my Range Lake constituents and whose business is also located in the riding. I’m referring to none other than Mr. Jeffrey Philipp, founder and CEO of SSI Group of Companies.

Some of you have already seen the December issue of Up Here magazine. The cover and main story featured Jeff, who, as the North’s rebel tech geek, has been named the 2011 Entrepreneur of the Year. This is an accomplishment that is well deserved and that I believe deserves recognition by the Legislative Assembly here today.

SSI’s origins are in Jeff’s hometown of Fort Providence, where he spent most of his life, where in 1965 his parents opened the Snowshoe Inn. For some 25 years now, Jeff and his wife, Stefanie, have been the second-generation owners of Snowshoe, which has continued to grow and branched into various operations, along the way

generating new investment, creating jobs and delivering opportunities for the considerable number of Northerners.

SSI was founded in 1990, providing computer software and training for Fort Providence. Five years later they became an Internet service provider, and in the following decade deployed voice data and Internet systems in Canada but also in Africa, South Pacific and South Asia, including Indonesia, immediately after the 2004 tsunami. Then things started to become really interesting.

In 2004 SSI became the first company to build its own network to compete with NorthwesTel when they launched a high-speed wireless service in Yellowknife. From 2005 the build-out continued with QINIQ and Airware networks that now provide affordable broadband across Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. These networks have improved the lives of residents by providing access to services that did not exist before, including on-line banking, education and health services via broadband. Some $30 million of investment later, SSI has deployed in even the smallest of northern settlements. The goal is commendable; and that is to give all Northerners equal access to quality communication services regardless of where they live.

Despite certain CRTC restrictions early this year, SSI launched the QINIQ “ChatBox” service to all satellite service communities in Nunavut. With this, consumers have an inexpensive alternative for long distance calling and for placing calls to and from each other. SSI is also putting the finishing touches on Northern Space Link, a space teleport in Ottawa that delivers quality and robust communication services to the North and provides a valuable source of diversity. What is perhaps a lesson for us in the NWT is knowing a key beneficiary of SSI’s latest investments…

Mr. Speaker, I seek, at this time, unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

…is a new network built for communications of the Government of Nunavut that is providing increased efficiency while at the same time showing significant cost savings over older legacy systems.

Going forward, SSI already has a new investment worth tens of millions of dollars underway, working on the principle that benefits of innovation and competition should not be denied in the North, and where these investments will allow improvement to current services and introduce innovative new technologies to the North.

Members of the Assembly, thank you, and please join me in congratulating Mr. Philipp, the North’s Entrepreneur of the Year.

At this time, I would like to say seasons greetings and healthy holidays to all the residents of Range Lake and to all residents throughout the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to share a few reflections of a Hay River elder and matriarch who passed away this week.

Bertha McBryan was very much a part of the fabric of Hay River. She was predeceased by her husband, Red, less than six months ago. I’m told that Red first laid eyes on Bertha when she was a young operator of a water taxi here in Yellowknife. Eight children and a lifetime later, the mark that she left on Hay River, the North and her family is truly amazing.

Bertha was a survivor. It had been about 25 years ago that her heart was failing and a “do not resuscitate” order had been placed on her medical chart at the end of her bed in the Hay River Hospital. In spite of her struggles with diabetes and having had both legs amputated, instead of slowing down it seemed that she became more active. There was not a community event, tradeshow, craft fair, Mother’s Day tea, Christmas bazaar, seniors’ event or a Saturday at the fisherman’s wharf that she did not attend. She kept her driver, Dave Jourdenais, very busy with the handivan.

She was outspoken, opinionated and followed politics very closely. Everyone assumed that Red was the only politician in the family, but Bertha followed the goings-on of the community and the territory even at the age of 87, and not much got past her. She would regularly critique the performance of MLAs in this House. Although she was a constituent of Hay River North, I had the benefit of her feedback for many years. My new colleague of Hay River North assures me that he was the recipient of Bertha’s feedback as a kid growing up in the same crescent as the McBryans, but of course, I can’t imagine Mr. Bouchard was anything but a little angel.

After Red passed, of course she missed him, but she told me that she really missed the evenings at the kitchen table talking over the events and issues of the day. She was never shy or held back her opinion. Red fondly called her Bert – the only one that I ever heard call her Bert – and they supported each other through the trials and triumphs of life and their medical challenges that come with age. She always answered the phone and just when you

were expecting the usual exchange of pleasant greetings, “Bertha, how are you doing?” I would be caught off guard with, “No change,” which I always took as a good thing.

She was a very attractive woman with her jet black hair which had never been dyed. She was a proud mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. She was predeceased by her son Michael in a motor vehicle accident in the early ‘70s. The legacy that she leaves behind is evident in her children: Mary, Joe, Maureen, Pauline, Darlene, Ronnie and Matthew. An amazing lady and an amazing life.

Her funeral will take place at the Hay River Catholic Church on December 21

st at 2:00 p.m. I would ask

the Assembly to join me in extending our sincere condolences to the McBryan family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize and thank two of the Pages that have been working with us this week, and waiting on and responding to our every whim, and passing every note and looking after us: Jenni Watts and Katelynn Holtorf, from Fort Smith. Two fine young ladies that are going to be around for a good long time and have been great ambassadors for the community. I’d like to thank them and their mother Rene Watts.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to wish the constituents of Thebacha a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, as well to the people of the Northwest Territories and to my colleagues present here. As we go home to our families, no matter what happens in this House and the trials and tribulations we have, as you look at what’s happening in the world around us, we know we can go home to our families and, hopefully, a very good time enjoying the families and all the good things that our communities have to offer. It would also be a time I would ask people to count their blessings and think of how many good things we have, especially compared to some of the less fortunate people in the world. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize the good work being done by the Pages here. Also, specifically, two Pages from Yellowknife South: Emma Tutton and Ethan Phypers. They’re from Yellowknife South and I want to thank them.

I also want to take this opportunity to wish a merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all the Members here, all the constituents of Yellowknife South and all the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Item 4, reports of standing and special committees. Item 5, returns to oral questions. Item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize two people: Wendy Uhlenberg, who is the negotiations advisor for the Alberta and Northwest Territories Aboriginal Policing Directorate; and Harley Crowshoe, who is the regional manager of the Alberta and Northwest Territories Aboriginal Policing Directorate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Abernethy.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize my wife, Carolyn Smith, in the gallery as well.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Scott Messenger from my alma mater, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Blake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also acknowledge a Page originally from Tsiigehtchic in the Mackenzie Delta, Vanessa Blake-Lennie, also my niece. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s unusual, I know, to recognize a table officer, but I’d like to. I know everybody will join me in recognizing my constituent, the wonderful Mr. Tony Whitford.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. I’d like to recognize anyone that has not been recognized already. Thank you for joining us today to take in

the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. It’s always great to have an audience.

Item 7, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

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