Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to pay respect to the Sahtu people who have lost their loved ones and offer our sincere condolences. To lose one is a painful experience one goes through. Often our elders tell us that life is precious and we don’t know when the Creator wants us back home in his kingdom. After all, we are his children in the end.

Life and death are two great mysteries that we wonder about in life. Where did we come from and where are we going in between these two spectrums we call life, God’s gift to us?

When someone we love with all our heart passes on, it brings all kinds of emotions, emotions we don’t understand at times. Yet, we have them and it’s difficult at times. Only with time we heal, it is said.

We need to learn from our cultural ways to properly help our communities and ourselves and to help our loved ones pass from this world to the next world with dignity and respect.

We pray for all the ones who have passed away since our last sitting in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho.