Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been just over three years since the Members of this 18th Assembly were elected. With less than a year remaining in this term, I find myself reminiscing, and that has brought up a lot of mixed feelings.
I wanted to become an MLA to effect real change, and while I have been able to contribute and get a few things done here and there, I have to admit that I am disappointed with where we are now compared to where we were when we all took office.
There are issues that I bring up with Ministers in their offices, with the departments in committee meetings, and on the floor of this House, year after year after year, and unfortunately I have to bring them up again in this sitting because they haven't been adequately addressed, if they have been addressed at all.
I am disappointed that I constantly have to reassure my constituents that I am still working on the issues that they bring to me over and over again. Frankly, it is not that reassuring that I work on the same issues year after year without any discernable progress.
While I can't speak for the rest of the Members on this side of the House, I wager that nearly every one of them has the same opinion. Many of us share the frustration that we hear from the public every single day.
Like I said, assessing our situation has brought up mixed feelings, Mr. Speaker. While I am disappointed, I am also optimistic and excited because we still have a year left to get things done.
I can't let this job get me down, Mr. Speaker. The privilege of being an MLA comes with too much responsibility. I have learned a lot in the past three years, and I truly believe that, if we listen to each other and work together, we can make the most of our final year and tackle some of these ongoing problems.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to keep fighting for improved healthcare and mental health services in Hay River, for adequate funding for schools across the territory, for a more diversified economy and better support for small businesses, for the government to live up to its funding agreement with communities, and for solutions to all of the other ongoing problems, and I am going to do my best to light a fire under this Cabinet so that, when I reminisce a year from now, I will be proud of what this Assembly accomplished. It is going to be a challenge, but I am confident that we can do it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.