Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, November 6th, Hay River's new town council will be sworn in. While there will be some familiar faces, six of the nine members are newly elected. That means we will be saying goodbye to quite a few people, and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Donna Lee Jungkind, Vince McKay, Jason Coakwell, Roger Candow, and Mike Mahar for their service over the past three years.
I especially have to thank our outgoing mayor, Brad Mapes, who has always been willing to work closely with me during my time as MLA so we could advance the interests of our community. I look forward to continuing this good working relationship with mayor-elect, Kandis Jameson, who I would like to congratulate on her election by acclamation.
Congratulations, as well, to returning councillors, Steve Anderson and Keith Dohey, and newly elected councillors, Robert Bouchard, Jeff Groenewegen, Emily Chambers, Linda Duford, Joe Melanson, and Brian Willows. They will face many challenging issues in the coming years, including the power franchise decision, which will have ramifications for the entire territory; the economic growth that will be associated with Pine Point Mines, the pellet mill, the long-term care unit, and all the associated spin-offs; as well as our future population growth and development issues.
I know they are up to the challenge, and I look forward to working with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.