Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak about a constituent and respected elder who recently passed away this summer, Tommy Kotchea. Tommy was born on July 11, 1937, and was raised in Fort Nelson, B.C., where he met his wife Helen and moved to Sambaa K'e.

Tommy began to work for the RCMP as a special constable at the age of 19. At the time, Tommy was one of the few individuals who was fluent both in Dene Zhatie and the English language. As a result of this, Tommy travelled with the RCMP to do the translations. For 10 years he was the only translator to travel with the RCMP.

In the 1970s Tommy decided to go into business for himself. He operated his own store in Sambaa K'e. This store was just big enough to hold enough food from one charter plane. It made a huge impact on the remote community and the residents from around the area.

To add to Tommy's involvement in the community and hard work throughout the years, he managed Sambaa K'e fishing lodge, where he was an expert guide and a person people looked forward to guiding with.

To add to his work, Tommy worked as a liaison with Northland Utilities for over 20 years with the community. Beyond all his work experience, Tommy was an avid trapper, a great fisherman and hunter. Although he would hunt towards the B.C. border, Tommy did most of his trapping around his community of Fort Liard and Sambaa K'e.

Those who remember Tommy know him as a very kind and humble soul. Tommy loved to joke and was rather funny. He was always kidding around with everybody, but especially he liked joking with the kids and youth. This past summer I had the opportunity to chat with Tommy while I was in Sambaa K'e. During this conversation we were talking about things about the community, when all of a sudden he told me that he broke out of the long-term care facility in Fort Simpson just to come for a visit. Then he said "just kidding" with a big smile. This was his humour.

A couple of weeks before Tommy passed away he went out to a youth camp in Sambaa K'e. He told stories to the children, sang them a drum song, and gave them some words of wisdom. Tommy's message to the youth was for them not to worry about money and not to be preoccupied with material things. Tommy was a father, an uncle, a grandfather, and a husband. He leaves behind four children, his wife Helen, and an entire community of family and friends. We will sadly miss him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.