Please be seated. Colleagues, I would like to extend the appreciation of this House to the Commissioner, Margaret M. Thom. It is always the pleasure to have her in the House.

Colleagues, before we begin today, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge three of our statutory officers as they prepare for their upcoming retirements.

Ms. Elaine Keenan-Bengts was appointed as the first Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories in 1997 and has held the position for 23 years.

Ms. Deborah McLeod has been with the Human Rights Commission since its inception in 2004, first as the deputy director and then as director. Her retirement marks 16 years with the Human Rights Commission.

Ms. Shannon Gullberg is retiring after 15 years of involvement with the office of the Languages Commissioner. Ms. Gullberg acted as legal counsel for the Languages Commissioner from 1996 to 2000 and became the Languages Commissioner in 2005. Unfortunately, Shannon was unable to attend the sitting today, but we wish her all the best in her retirement.

To each of you, thank you for your many years of dedication and service to the people of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.

Colleagues, please join me in thanking our statutory officers for their service and wishing them all the best in their retirement. Mahsi cho, thank you.

The Member for Frame Lake has requested to address the House this afternoon on a matter of personal explanation. Mr. O'Reilly, please proceed.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I rise pursuant to Rule 21(1) of the Rules of the Legislative Assembly to make a personal explanation. During the debate on Motion 12-19(2), revocation of appointment of the Honourable Member for Great Slave to the Executive Council on August 26, 2020, I made the following statement, "The Yellowknives First Nation publicly withdrew their support for the SGP Road on August 1, 2020, given that the GNWT contracted another southern company for up to $20 million worth of work."

The Yellowknives Dene First Nation issued a news release dated August 1, 2020, that included the following, "The most significant of these contracts was a standing offer agreement which was recently awarded to two large multinational consulting firms." I will table this news release later today. I have been asked to clarify my remarks made on August 26^th by the Association of Consulting and Engineering Companies NWT in a letter dated October 23, 2020. I will also table that letter later today. I will speak to the particulars of my remarks and not the merits of the Slave Geological Province road as my views on this subject are well known. I do not support that project.

In July 2020, Stantec Consulting Limited and Golder Associates Ltd. were awarded standing offer agreements for the provision of environmental and engineering support services for the advancement of the Slave Geological Province Corridor. The contract values were $9.9 million and $7.4 million respectively. Of the two firms, Golder Associates is registered for the business incentive policy. Both firms have offices in the NWT, Stantec for over 30 years and Golder for 25 years, with a significant number of local employees, some of whom are expected to work on the Slave Geological Province road. I apologize unreservedly to anyone who may have taken offence or felt to be misrepresented from my earlier remarks. I wish to thank the Association of Consulting and Engineering Companies NWT for bringing this matter to my attention. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to correct the record.