Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was daydreaming there for a second. Today I would like to take the House on a journey that was shared with me by a great-grandmother recently. Like all great-grandmothers, she had a vested interest in her great-grandchildren. She had a dream for each of them. The one she shared with me started some eight years ago, when her grandson started playing soccer. She had a dream that he would one day be successful; get the chance to play soccer on national and international stages. Well, the international stage opportunity came with Arctic Winter Games this year. This young man worked hard, attended practices on a regular basis, and played basketball as a cross-training opportunity. The first hurdle was the regional soccer camp. He and a number of friends worked extra hard, and were selected to go on to the next stage. At this point in time, you would figure it was a nice stepping stone for him, his friends, and his great-grandmother. Unfortunately, it was not the case. After the excitement of being selected, he found out that to go on to the territorial selection process, he had to have a passport in hand by the territorial trials date. This was not going to happen because he did not have a passport photo, and he was not going to be able to get one because the ferry was going out and the ice bridge was not going to be in until early December. The option to fly to Yellowknife to get it done was not feasible. Too much cost to get him and his family there to do it. As this wise lady says, she has witnessed these types of hurdles and hindrances placed in front of Aboriginal youth, especially from small communities, too many times, and it is time something was done about it. She feels the system is stacked against the small communities and Aboriginal youth.

After reading this story, I took the time to find and speak to her grandson about this situation, and ask his take on it. His comments were that it was a very disappointing time for him and one of his friends, who was in the same boat. He was frustrated that there was limited information from the very beginning about the requirements to have the passport in hand to attend the territorial trials.

If this information was shared better, he felt that he and his friend could have gotten the picture and passport application done on time. This is very sad. I realize in bigger centres this may not be an issue, but for the smaller communities it is. Later on, I will ask the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs questions regarding the process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.