Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT filed a letter of support earlier this week on February 15, 2016 with the National Energy Board and the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations for a seven-year extension to the certificate for a Mackenzie gas pipeline. Can the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment confirm that there was no consultation with Regular Members on the GNWT position? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Chief Ernest Betsina, who I have had the pleasure of playing hockey with once in a while. I would also like to recognize Lyda Fuller, who is the executive director for the Yellowknife YWCA, and she is also a constituent, and any other Frame Lake residents that I can’t see that might be seated up there.

[English translation not provided]. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the popularity and salute the success of a course promoting greater use and understanding of aboriginal language and culture here in Yellowknife. The six-week Wiiliideh language and culture course is delivered to about 15 students from classrooms in Detah and Ndilo. Wiiliideh language instructor par excellence Mary Rose Sundberg is the teacher. Now in its third year, the popularity of this course has grown to the point where organizers are getting about four times as many applications as there are seats available. Enrolment is open to all students, including government workers, business employees, and even Yellowknife's Dene First Nation citizens who want to learn more about their own culture and take part in a high-quality community event. The course was developed in collaboration with Arctic College instructor Hugh Moloney. Returning from a year in New Zealand with his family several years ago, Mr. Moloney was impressed with a course he witnessed there that went beyond mere language instruction to explore the roots of language and culture and traditions. The course was based on the concept that, through learning language, a student will be better equipped to understand the culture. A language course is far more than the words learned. It is a window into the landscapes, the experience, and the people who speak the language. Through the process of learning the language, students gain an appreciation of the culture and the ability to understand why people think and act the way they do. Language acquisition enables a learner to build new relationships and strengthen cross-cultural ties.

Judging by the popularity of this course, Yellowknife students are thirsty for cultural knowledge. So far, the course has been offered free of charge. While a similar course is available in Fort Smith, the course here has served to pilot the approach of cultural exploration as the basis of language instruction. We are seeing what has worked here, and we should build on this experience. I want to congratulate Mary Rose Sundberg who is a well-known Yellowknives Dene First Nation citizen and linguist for her work as the instructor for this course and Hugh Moloney who has helped deliver the course through Aurora College. I commend this course to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment for a possible development of similar offerings for other languages and regions. This government spends a lot of money and effort on promoting the preservation and growth of official languages and rightly so. The Wiiliideh language and cultural course is a model that is working. Let's invest in this initiative and not just to spread language use but to build bridges of cultural knowledge and understanding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[English translation not provided.]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s important for me that my first words in this session of the House were in French. French is one of the official languages of the Northwest Territories. My maternal grandfather spoke French, but the language was lost within one generation. I will try to speak French in this House from time to time.

This is a Member’s statement to offer some thanks. I want to recognize that we are meeting on Yellowknives Dene First Nation territory. I wish to thank everyone who got out and voted in the Frame Lake electoral district, even if it wasn’t for me. Although the voter turnout was reported at 27 percent, the voters list was clearly out of date with 20 to 30 percent of those on the list not resident at the addresses specified, including an entire apartment building on Forrest Drive.

Our son, who is studying at the University of Victoria, applied for an absentee ballot and it never arrived in the mail. We can and should do much better with our voters lists and find more ways for voters to exercise their rights.

Thanks to the other candidates, Jan Fullerton, David Wasylciw and Roy Erasmus, for their hard work in raising of the bar in what was a very civil election campaign, where candidates and their teams helped each other with signs.

Thanks to the people who volunteered on my campaign and to my family for all of their support, and especially to my wife without whom I couldn’t have done this.

We begin an important journey together today. It has been a real pleasure getting to know all of the MLAs over the last three weeks during a very intensive orientation, priority-setting period.

I have a strong sense that everyone has come prepared to work hard and to collaborate. I will do my very best to serve the people of Frame Lake and the entire Northwest Territories. I look forward to working with all of the other MLAs.

Lastly, I would like to again congratulate our new Speaker, our Premier and our Cabinet and all those who put their names forward to serve. Mahsi, merci and thank you, Mr. Speaker.