Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in the House today to also recognize the International Women’s Day and congratulate all the recipients from the five regions in the Northwest Territories. Today I wanted to recognize all the other ladies in the Northwest Territories, the thousands of ladies who do a lot of great work for their communities, for their organizations and for bringing serious issues to the forefront.

It wasn’t much more than two weeks ago that we had a bunch of ladies outside the Legislative Assembly pushing for midwifery programs. We have a lot of strong advocates out there that represent a lot of good work that we, as legislators, have to move forward on and push forward on to make sure they become reality.

I do congratulate the five ladies in the region who won the Wise Women Awards this year, and all the work and efforts that they do in the communities, but I also want to recognize those that were nominated but didn’t get the award, but all those other ladies who do tireless work efforts in the

communities to make sure their communities are safe and healthy.

One other I wanted to make is I chair the Standing Committee on Social Programs here within the government, and I’ve said it before that ladies do make really good decisions, they’re hardworking and they keep the order of the committee and the meeting. So I want to recognize our two lady Members here in the House today, Ms. Bisaro and Mrs. Groenewegen, and the work that they bring into the Standing Committee on Social Programs. They bring a lot of insight, a lot of knowledge, a lot of wisdom, and they’re part of the reason that the Standing Committee on Social Programs does a lot of good work through this Legislature. So I want to thank those two ladies in the House.

Obviously, I want to thank my mother. She just celebrated her 70

th birthday this past week. I want

to thank her for all her support and all her effort, not only for me but for the family and ensuring that we had a great life growing up, and also for her tireless efforts in making sure that all of her grandkids have a good life as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.