Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about an unfortunate recent passing of two residents of Ndilo, Muriel Betsina and JR Abel, both of whom were related as grandmother and grandson.

To begin, I would first like to talk about Muriel. Muriel has been a long-time resident of Ndilo, but she was born in Tulita on May 25, 1944, and passed away on July 22, 2019, at age 76. Muriel is survived by her seven children; Ernest, Eileen, Norman, Dianne, Allan, George, and Frank Jr.; her 40 biological and adopted grandchildren; and more than 10 great-grandchildren, as well as her siblings Be'sha, Alice, and Joe Blondin. She is also a sibling to the late George Blondin.

Mr. Speaker, Muriel was an outspoken advocate for most of her life. She often talked about her experience as a survivor of residential school and about the importance of preserving a positive cultural legacy for the Dene of the NWT. She was also known for her strong beliefs in forgiveness and for sharing a strong sense of love and acceptance with all people with whom she interacted. She will surely be missed by the people of Ndilo and many people across the Northwest Territories.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I'm going to talk about the life of JR Abel. JR was born in Yellowknife on January 2, 1990, and passed away on August 9, 2019, at the age of 29. JR is survived by his parents, Eileen Betsina and Edward Abel; his siblings, Martina, Eric, Christopher, and Shalbe; along with countless cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and six nieces and nephews.

Mr. Speaker, JR grew up in the community of Ndilo, where he was surrounded by much of his family most of his life. JR was known to have a generous heart and never hesitated to offer his help to any of his family or friends, especially when it came to his nieces and nephews.

JR also loved to be out on the land and was considered a star pupil for the GNWT environmental monitoring program. Over the years, he also worked as a wildfire fighter during the summers and, in the wintertime, ice road flooder. It is truly unfortunate that JR passed away at such a young age. His memory, however, will live forever in the hearts and minds of those he touched. This goes the same for his grandmother, Muriel. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.