Thanks again, colleagues.

• ENR and Lands have promised assessments for the developments that we have within the territory to chart the unknowns. Make sure that they’re done.

• ENR and Lands have promised securities for those developments and liabilities to make sure that those happen and that we get the money that is deserved in order to clean up.

• Climate Change Plan. The development of a Climate Change Plan is necessary.

• Health and Social Services has promised us a Pharmaceutical Strategy.

• The Human Rights Commission has done a wonderful review of the Human Rights Act. We need to make sure that amendments are followed through on.

• Justice needs to bring forward legislation for an ombudsman, please.

• Health and Social Services is promising Medical Travel Policy and Program changes. Follow up on those.

• Education infrastructure and schools is lacking and the need to find some solutions to the court case, which has been ongoing forever.

• The Mineral Development Strategy and the Economic Opportunities Strategies. Those are both well developed, but we need to monitor the actions that are going on in them.

Some of these are well developed; some of them just need monitoring; some are in development and need watching to make sure they happen. Some of them need to be developed. It’s a long list and it only covers my personal recollections of what needs to be done.

To the 18th Assembly I say, it’s a lot of work to do it right, but please roll up your sleeves and get ‘er done.

Finally, I’d like to say some thank yous that I didn’t include yesterday at my peril. Thank you very much to the staff of the Assembly. Mr. Bromley said it extremely well. All of the staff here are excellent and they have made our job, my job, our job much easier. To you, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your support. To my CAs, I’ve had three in the course of my eight years here and all three of them have been excellent support and excellent help for the work that I do.

Lastly, although not least, to my family and my friends who have provided support. I don’t have much family here, but I certainly have friends here and some of them are in the gallery and they have been extremely supportive and have made my job a lot easier. So, thank you all.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A team is a group of people linked in a common purpose. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort, which allows each member to maximize their strengths. Each member helps other members realize their true potential and create an environment that allows everyone to go beyond his or her limits. Nothing could be more true of a team than the members and the staff of the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

I’d like to use my last Member’s statement to acknowledge such a good group, a strong group, a compassionate group of individuals that I’ve had the very honour to work with for the last four years.

Back in 2011, five members and two staff went to Hay River to work on our priorities, work on our transition document from the 17th Legislative Assembly, not knowing where we were going to go, what was going to be laid before us. Five different personalities from different backgrounds coming together.

When we look back on the four years that we’ve been together, we’ve accomplished a lot. I was very fortunate and honoured to chair this committee and I just want to thank each and every one of them and all the staff that have helped us throughout those four years, for their dedication and their commitment not only to the work that we do but to people, the residents of the Northwest Territories.

I just want to let people of the Northwest Territories know that these individuals made a lot of sacrifices. They have family members back home here in Yellowknife and they have a lot of late nights, early mornings. This past year we put on a lot of kilometres on three significant bills to make sure that we have the best bills possible that are going to be reflective of this government, but for the residents of the Northwest Territories. I just want to let residents know that these five individuals sacrificed a lot on your behalf.

Many times, as a chair of the committees, I’ve heard a lot of times we can’t give this report its undue process. We can’t not look at the legislation before us. We need action, we need commitment and we’ve got to keep going. On that note, I’d like to ask to conclude my statement. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

On many occasions as I chaired this committee, Members and individual Members said, “We need to keep on going.” A lot of times there were very huge documents, 20, 30 pages, eight o’clock at night, working through the late hours just to make sure that we got the work done for people of the Northwest Territories.

Just to highlight a few: the Anti-Poverty Strategy, the Mental Health and Addictions Action Plan, Education Renewal and Innovation. A lot of pressure and effort was put on the Department of Education to work on that. A huge one: Early Childhood Development; and also some very significant acts. Most recently, the Mental Health Act was a lot of commitment on behalf of committee. Child and Family Services Act, which has gone through so many different governments, but this government got ‘er done with the work, and hard work, from committee. As well, the Health Insurance and Health and Social Services Administrations Act. That was a big one that was completed this past year. Although we couldn’t do it all in four years – it would’ve been nice – we did do a lot. I want to let committee know, you guys all did a great job.

Mr. Speaker, four years ago the reason I chose to run for this position was to create a strong voice for the people who I represent. I did that to the best of my ability. What’s stronger than a single voice? Five strong voices, and that’s what I had the opportunity to work with as my first term in the Legislative Assembly and, once again, Standing Committee on Social Programs.

I want to also say the success of that committee, and probably the only committee other than P and P within this government, was we had the two women representatives in this 17th Legislative Assembly working on this committee and I think that’s why we got a lot of work done this session, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

I’d also like to acknowledge all the NGOs, the stakeholders, all the compassionate residents who have offered input into our bills. The work that we’ve done, we couldn’t have done it without the input that they provided us. We can only do so much, but with their input, they just make the bill stronger and the work and the efforts give us motivation to continue.

As usual, it takes two to tango, so I’d like to thank the Executive Council. I know there are Ministers who came before committee on many occasions. I know that sometimes it wasn’t always pleasant, but you know what, we had to ask the tough questions and have some of those debates to make sure we did what was best for people of the Northwest Territories.

I’d also like to thank, one last time, my parents for their support through these four years, as well as some great friends. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I stand before you with my last statement in the House with some bittersweet retrospectives. Before I do, I want to commend my colleagues here today for their reflective and, indeed, moving comments and, sometimes, stories.

It is without question that some sentiments today might invite a certain cynical rejoinder, particularly as one may observe the sometimes cacophony of our oral question period or view the potential toxicity of our political arena. Certainly, and with fondness, I still retain a great respect and a reverence for this institution, which is the centrepiece of democracy and a cradle for our northern way of life.

For the first time ever, I was able to shepherd my way with an arsenal of parliamentary instruments at my disposal, from motions, petitions and oral questions, that have helped me advance the public good. Some of this good took many forms, and here are just a few Mr. Speaker: As a policymaker and legislator, I’m especially proud of convincing a need of the rewrite of the Human Tissue Act and, on the eve of a private member’s bill, I thank Cabinet for bringing it forward themselves. We are anxiously and patiently waiting for the new organ donor program to come online very soon.

Overseeing the resurrection of the responsibility of the public purse in the review of public accounts is a milestone to which all members of the Standing Committee on Government Operations should be proud of. As a chair of that committee now, it is indeed an honour.

Finally, our 11 official languages make us unique in culture and spirit. It is with this reverence that inspired me to speak four of those languages in the House: Tlicho, North Slavey, South Slavey and, of course, French.

There are many more milestones than time would allow and I would like to do them at a later time.

Of course, none of this parliamentary work would have been possible without the commitment and care of those around us.

For Mr. Grant Pryznyk in my constituency office, to the professional and personal legislative personnel from the security detail to the library staff to the technical staff to our Pages to research staff and to House and committee clerks, to all I say thank you very much.

Now a word to my family.

At this time, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Now a word to my family, who are first in my heart and mind. It is with admiration and commitment and care my wife, Cindy, has provided me all these years in my political trenches. She is my rock, Mr. Speaker.

I started this journey with two young boys. Now one of them is in university and the other is about to leave the nest. So to Tanner and Bronson, who might be listening in, you’ve been a source of humbling support and I thank you.

This building is not just a place where I work; it has been my home, where my colleagues have become my family. We are losing two family members who are not seeking re-election. So to Mr. Bromley and Ms. Bisaro, we do wish you well and thank you for your guidance.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, it has been a privilege to serve this Chamber with you and to serve the people of Range Lake. This is not farewell but merely goodbye for now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Blake.

[Translation] Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. I would like to say a few words in my language as I am trying to pass on some of my thoughts. I’d like to thank each one of my colleagues in the House today. I try to speak as much as I can on behalf of my people within the Mackenzie Delta. I know I haven’t spoken very often; however, I’d like to try to speak as much as I can within the 17th Assembly.

I wish you all the best of luck in the November election. For those who are going to be putting your name back in the hat, I’d like to wish you all good luck. [Translation ends]

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for allowing me to make this statement in my Gwich’in language. I want to thank my colleagues for making my first term serving the people of the Mackenzie Delta so exciting and quite the learning experience. I have overcome many battles and I have learned so much more, working closely alongside each of you.

As we go our separate ways and end the 17th Legislative Assembly, I wish each of you safe travels and good luck in the November elections.

Thank you again. I look forward to working closely with each of you in the coming years.

In closing, I would like to thank my constituents of the Mackenzie Delta for this honourable opportunity to serve as their Member of the Legislative Assembly.

Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Liz Wright, my constituency assistant in Fort McPherson; and also my contact in Aklavik, Michelle Gruben. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Nadli.

There’s money in the budget for some of them, just no bodies in the jobs. So, big savings of a very perverse sort. Big savings that cost our people and our government.

As you can see, fiscal restraint can also mean shameful neglect. Having had some of the boundaries of my comprehension stretched so far, no wonder I came to believe, thanks to my colleague from Nahendeh, that the seven deadly sins were all related to the perpetually pot-holed and pot-marked Highway No. 7, along with many other sins of deadly fiscal omission. So I thank the Member for correcting me with his e-mail the other day. It seems that a handful of the seven deadly sins actually apply to the Inuvik-Tuk Highway.

I cannot leave this topic without a few words about the oft spouted, ever nebulous devolve and evolve. Seductive. Devolve and evolve. Oh yeah, it sounds great. Devolution is going be good because it really means evolution, almost like revolution. The kind it takes to truly recognize Aboriginal rights, including control of our land, and I’ve worked all my life for that.

I thought and thought about these words, devolve and evolve. I’ve dreamt about them at night. Finally, one day, walking down the boardwalk in Zhatie K’oe, it came to me. The meaning of devolve and evolve is just a spin-o-rama of hogwash. It comes out of the machine all neat and dry and sounding sweet. Devolve and evolve. It’s just the same old federal government bunk. It will be up to the Members of the 18th Assembly to recast these words. We have not lived up to the heady promise of devolve and evolve.

Just one more thing. I don’t mean to be harsh. As Members, some of us facing election and some not, we’re all about to devolve and evolve in a more meaningful way. Let us all do it right. Let us stand by our deeds and be measured by them.

I wish you well, colleagues. I’m glad all our judo has been verbal. To my constituents, mahsi, mahsi cho, thank you for helping me. Thank you for standing by me through thick and thin. That has been the real meaning.

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is going to be consistent with my Member’s statements in the last 12 years. I’m going to do a Member’s song following the song from the legend George “Awesome” Jones. The title is “I Don’t Need Your Rocking Chair.”

Mr. Speaker, I don’t need your rocking chair, but it would be nice to get medicare, such escorts for our seniors’ care. No questions asked, our health care. I’ve still got politics in my veins. So does Michael and Jane.

---Laughter

This grey hair doesn’t mean a thing. I do my rocking in the hills, mile 222 to Norman Wells. My body is old, but it’s not frail. I ain’t seen you on the Canol Trail. Retirement don’t fit my plans just yet. I’m getting on, but I don’t project. They make rules on how to frack. Sounds good to me, I might just come back.

I don’t need your rocking chair, but it would be nice to get medicare, such as escorts for our seniors’ care. Until we get a road to the Sahtu, I’ll see you and you’ll see me before someone releases it to CBC.

I ain’t ready for retirement yet, and I don’t need unanimous consent. It may take a little longer, but I’ll get there.

One more verse, Mr. Chair.

At the liquor store in Norman Wells, no restrictions on how much they can sell. We wrote a bill and got it through and it’s in the books. Hey, no more dirty looks.

Now, no, I don’t need your rocking chair. It would be nice to get medicare, such as escorts for our seniors’ care. My eyes are good, and so are my ears. I’m coming back for four more years.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, an Inuit needs a Frigidaire like I need your rocking chair.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank some people, so I would seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

This being the last session of our Assembly, I want to thank the people in the Sahtu for the privilege of serving them for these number of years. I also want to thank the support and staff through my role as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Ms. Lorraine Bezha, who has been there to support me through thick and thin. I also want to thank Mr. Andrew John Kenny, my confidant and elder who stood by me through some very hard times in my personal life.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to thank my two colleagues who are leaving us and taking on a different role in their lives. Although Mr. Bromley and I at times do not agree on points of issues, I respect the gentleman and I wish him well. After all, we all want the same thing, but we’re just coming from a different process of how to get it. So, I thank him for the opportunity of working with him.

I also want to wish well my colleague Ms. Bisaro for her work and her steady eyes that were not off task. When we’re off task, she gets us back. So, I ask Ms. Bisaro to take care of herself and look after herself. It’s been an honour to sit and work with you.

Also, with our staff that we have before us that guide us through this whole process through our office. Number one, number one people to work in the books. Number one to work with us.

Lastly, to my family, my wife and my son and my family members, I really appreciate what they have done for me so I could do this work here. They made sacrifices, whatever it took them, so I could stand here and work on behalf of my people.

I do want to say to my people in the Sahtu, they have allowed me to be their voice for the last 12 years and it’s a very sacred privilege I hold for them.

I want to wish, as my colleague Mr. Menicoche said, all the other Members around here well in your life. Look after yourself. I got a little tear coming down because when I first became elected – Mr. Speaker, I know I’m running out of time – my mom said, “I never thought in my dreams my little baby boy would become an MLA. Never in my wildest dreams,” she said, “I’ll see my son be in a situation like this.” That’s why I think about her and this is why I wear this coat. She made it along with my aunties, to honour her for the love that she’s given us. With strict discipline, she brought us up to live a good life and sometimes we don’t listen to our parents.

So, I just want to say that to my colleagues here across the table, it’s an honour. We had a lot of work and, you know, you’re like us. I want to say good luck to the people who are going to put their names into this row here. May God bless you. You are called and I wish you well. It’s an honour, Mr. Speaker, to stand here and to say that.

To my wife and to my son Chase, I love you. Like some of the Members said, in my heart you walk with me. I want to say to the elders in the Sahtu, thank you so much for allowing me to carry your voice in the last four years. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been an honour and a privilege to continue to serve the constituents of Kam Lake, this House, its Members and the residents of the Northwest Territories. I want to wish everybody good luck and best wishes as the end of the 17th Assembly comes to close, especially my colleagues Ms. Bromley…

---Laughter

Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Bromley.

A bit of a Freudian slip. There’s never been any jokes about that.

But all kidding aside, I wish both of my colleagues all the best in your retirement. It’s been a pleasure to work with you both. I know the constituents in both Weledeh and Frame Lake have been very well-served with both MLAs.

I also want to thank very much my support staff in my office upstairs: Ryan Strain, my executive assistant; Corinne Kruse, my executive secretary; and I want to thank Mrs. Groenewegen for allowing me to share the services of Ms. Wendy Morgan. Wendy’s been a great constituency assistant and I want to thank her very much for her work.

I also want to thank all the staff at the Department of Justice and the Department of ITI, especially deputy ministers Peter Vician and also Sylvia Haener for all the work that they put into supporting my position here as Minister.

Mr. Speaker, others have mentioned it and we wouldn’t be able to do our jobs if it wasn’t for the love and support of our families back home. For me, I just want to say a special thanks to my wife, Michelle, my kids, Malachi, Elijah, Adeline, and now Donavan, and for all the love and support that they give me. Really, I wouldn’t be able to do the job without the support of my wife, so thank you very much, Michelle.

Thank you very much, again, to the constituents of Kam Lake. They put their faith, their trust in me to do the job here at the Legislature on their behalf, and I’m certainly looking forward to getting back out on the election trail and talking to all the constituents in Kam Lake again during the election campaign.

So, with that, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much for your role here in heading up the Legislative Assembly. It’s been a pleasure to work with you. The Board of Management, my Cabinet colleagues and everyone, I wish everybody all the best and Godspeed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This being the last day of session for the 17th Assembly, I thought it was a good opportunity to stand up and give some thank yous and some highlights of the last four years. I can’t believe how quickly, I think a couple Members mentioned, the last four years have gone. It seems like we were just getting sworn in and now we’re out the door.

Some highlights for myself personally in the 17th Assembly was being a witness on behalf of the Government of the NWT to the Gwich’in signing on to devolution. Speaking of the induction ceremony for Sharon and Shirley Firth’s induction into the NWT Sport Hall of Fame was also another highlight, and officially opening East Three School. I mean, that was a fantastic and exciting time for myself, for the people and students and Inuvik.

Finally, as a witness on behalf of the government to the Inuvialuit Self-Government Agreement-in-Principle was another fantastic highlight.

I, along with the rest of my colleagues, would like to wish Mr. Bromley and Ms. Bisaro well in their retirement. I’ve had fun working with you, and, Bob, I was just kidding about you being left out in the Delta somewhere.

---Laughter

You will have lots of time to explore the Delta now and I’ll come look for you. Our support staff, as Mr. Ramsay mentioned, make doing our job a lot easier, from the staff here at the Legislative Assembly, who have been mentioned a few times, to the two constituency assistants that I’ve had, Leah Ipana and Krysten Cardinal and executive secretary Daylyn Kakfwi. Mr. Rob Collinson is a great source of advice. I call Robert my Jiminy Cricket. He keeps me on the straight and narrow. Robert said, “We have to let committee know,” and I say, “I don’t want to let committee know.” He says, “No, we have to.” I say, “I know we do. I’m just playing with you.” It gets him going. He’s been a great help in my career as a Minister. I appreciate that.

It’s been said on a number of occasions about our constituents. It’s been an honour to represent the constituents of Inuvik Twin Lakes the last 11 years. We don’t always get the results we wanted, but we continue to work through the issues. I look forward to the opportunity, if they are willing, to represent them again for the next four years.

To my colleagues, again, it’s been…

I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

To all my colleagues in the Assembly, we’ve brought issues forward to each other. Again, we haven’t always gotten the results we’ve wanted, but I respect the passion that you’ve brought to your issues. Your constituencies were well-represented.

Most importantly, we aren’t able to do this job, as many Members said, without the support of our families. When I started in 2004, I had my wife, Judy, three children and one future son-in-law. We’re up to 12 now. I’ve got five grandchildren who just wait for Grandpa to come home, especially if he stops by the store on the way home. I’ve appreciated their support. My wife, Judy, has been a huge support and it makes doing what we do a lot easier. We come down here and do what we do, but they’re at home looking after the household and making sure things continue to run along smoothly. So, I appreciate all the support.

I thank Members again for I wouldn’t call them vows, but I thank Members again for the relationship over the last four years and I wish you all well in all that you do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I first want to start off saying it’s been an incredible honour to be here for the last 12 years. The journey as being the MLA for Yellowknife Centre has always been an exciting one. Some days have been more fun than others, but I can tell you, all Members of this House can agree it’s a passionate challenge we all do.

Most of my colleagues – except for the two lucky ones here – we will all be putting their case to the constituents once again, hoping for another mandate, if their support thinks I’m worthy.

I have to stress wholeheartedly that I’m grateful for my supportive home. I couldn’t do this job, like my colleagues have said, without my wife and my two sons, McKinley and Hudson. When I was first elected 12 years ago, I had one wife. I didn’t get 12 family members like the Minister just said, but I had one wife and a two-year-old son. We used to come here every day and I’d be tripping over Thomas the Train and little cars and things. It evolved into two sons and we were playing trains on the weekends sometimes, as I’m supposed to be reading my briefing stuff, but we always found family time. That’s what we did and we evolved, not quite how Mr. Nadli described it, but we devolved and evolved our relationship here and I brought my kids into it from the start. It’s interesting, as they continue to be some of my most passionate and greatest supporters.

Like my two colleagues next to me, I do want to talk about some of the reflections and highlights over this last term. I think it’s important to talk about devolution. I will start with devolution. Devolution was certainly an incredible first step on the journey and the aspirations of the people of the Northwest Territories. It was a rough ride, but by all means, as I have described it before, Home Rule was an important step for this territory to take and I’m glad we took it. I’m glad we took it in this Assembly so we can look back and say we finally did it. How many successful Assemblies previous to us tried to get it done? This is the first one that we can actually say we have the key to the cars, the keys to our own destiny and we’re driving forward.

Over the last four years, we’ve continued to see challenges with addictions and it does bother me seriously. I wish our territory could do more. I know, no matter how much money we throw at the problem, it may be challenging. We need to address these problems. I have to admit that I was very glad to see, the other day, that the Mental Health Act has finally gotten through. It will make a difference in people’s lives and saving lives.

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

---Unanimous consent granted

The last four years have seen the troubling brick of the high cost of living weighing down on our northern families, struggling with the power rates or even the cost of fuel. Within this great vice, there is also a huge opportunity. There are the renewable areas such as biomass and solar, which our government hopefully will be looking forward to in the near future. We must not forget, we must look towards population growth.

Everywhere I look around, I’ve seen people struggle trying to get jobs, whether they are summer students, people with disabilities or even seniors. Even the public service jobs that constantly get funded but sit empty is a struggle.

The last few years my favourite people to work with are certainly youth and seniors. To that, I have loved every opportunity to get out to the schools and talk to the kids or even at Avens and visiting. That has brought great enjoyment to my life and sometimes it reminds us how important the work we do here is.

Speaking of which, I was glad to be part of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls motion. I was very excited this House could support that. As a matter of fact, it still stands to the test that this is such an important issue that more work needs to get done. Interestingly enough, no other Legislature, to my knowledge, has passed a similar motion. I think that’s a statement of the type of Legislature we are and the issues we care about. It was an important message and it certainly is an important motion.

The days ahead will see many opportunities for us, and I’m always concerned about the working family. I’m always worried that our government can’t seem to find consumer protection on its agenda. But worrying about our citizens under the context of 911, we finally took the first step this year to say we’re going to do it. I guess, as my colleague said, we’ve devolved and now we will evolve on that issue.

One of the neat things about downtown is the Yellowknife Day Shelter will continue to strive forward. More importantly, I am so excited to see that this term, under Minister Abernethy, they finally heeded some of the goals and concerns of trying to provide proactive programming. I thank him for that. I’m glad. If you could do a little more on the Aurora College file, it would be greatly appreciated.

As I bring this to a close – I know time is running out – I just want to say thank you very much to my wife. If I’m allowed a second or two more, Mr. Speaker, I’m not allowed to hold up props, but in the 12 years I’ve been an MLA, I have always had a picture of my children here as a reminder of why we’re here.

May I leave this thought with each and every one of us: Of course, we are all excited to get on the campaign trail and, obviously, we all hope for the best. But always remind yourself about what’s important. Each day I come here as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I’ve always had the picture of my two children sit in front of me to remind me about the values we are supposed to represent here. It doesn’t mean we’re perfect. It doesn’t mean we haven’t had troubled days, we’ve moved along, but we always have to ask ourselves what is the touchstone and it always has to have family and friends.

To my constituents, once again, I say thank you; and to my family, it’s always been an honour to have your help and support through this process. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Mr. Beaulieu.