Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to clear the air about a few things in relation to my personal experience of racism at the NWT SPCA. To begin, Mr. Speaker, I would like to state wholeheartedly that I support the NWT SPCA and all animal shelters for their work in protecting animals. I thank the SPCA for their work in this area. For that reason, I am not in favour of taking away funds from them. I am an animal lover. I have had multiple dogs over the years and was raised living with large dog teams because of my father, who was a dog musher. Dogs were always around me growing up. It was very traditional for trappers to have dog teams. Dogs provide the transportation for our livelihood.

This brings me to my second point. I know there is a process to adopting a dog, and I have been following that process. I sent the SPCA an adoption application in mid-December and called them several times and left multiple voicemail messages about my interest in adopting a dog. Also, not once throughout this process did I identify myself as an MLA. I would never do that. I am an ordinary person who does not expect special treatment. I always treat everybody with respect and dignity regardless of who they are.

Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, this whole situation is not about me versus the SPCA. People are losing focus about what I am saying and why I am saying it. This situation is about racism and how it exists in all facets of our society. There is no organization, whether government, non-profit, or otherwise, that is immune to systemic racism. We are talking about the uneven power dynamics of race that's inherent in our society. We are talking about the unconscious racial bias that many people have against people who look like me. We are talking about the ingrained barriers that people of colour face when assessing basic services in the community.

People like me face discrimination every day when accessing services like housing, employment, and even shopping in stores. People like me are followed around in stores because of stereotypes. People like me are denied, undermined, and suppressed all the time. That is a simple fact of our reality. Mr. Speaker, I would like to seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted