Debates of February 11, 2005 (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to say congratulations to the Tlicho people. As a former negotiator of the Sahtu land claims, I understand the hard work that goes into putting together an historical agreement such as the Tlicho deal and the aspirations of the people. I was thinking about it this morning, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the people who passed away during the negotiations, and the hard work they put into helping their people. Some of them have given their life to this deal here. I heard it this morning, I heard about the tea dancing and I felt something inside me that made me feel proud that people have really moved a long way since the '60s and the '70s, and the Dogrib, the Tlicho, are showing us and other groups in the Northwest Territories.

I’m really pleased to hear Mr. Handley congratulate them and I join Mr. Handley in his congratulations, and the work that the MP is doing in Ottawa and also our Senators and also to Grand Chief Rabesca for holding the vision together along with the other leaders in the Tlicho communities and the elders who are our guiding force in putting this deal together. We go back to our elders time after time to ask what kind of direction are we doing this, is this okay, and they always reassure us that it’s going to be okay. So I wanted to say a heartfelt congratulations to all the Tlicho people and I think they are also the Sahtu’s best friends, along with the Gwich’in and Inuvialuit. Mahsi cho.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll rise today to do a small, simple statement, which will send my congratulations to the Tlicho people on their act being passed by the Senate. Yesterday I received a phone call just minutes after the Opposition Party, the Conservatives, had put forward a strong motion and an unusual motion by saying well, the people are here, they’ve made such a long trek down to Ottawa and this is the peoples’ bill, so let’s do it today. I got this phone call from Ottawa and you could hear the cheering and the tea dancing in the Parliament Building. It was a fantastic opportunity to hear good government at work. So I went to Mr. Zoe right away to make sure he knew, and the first thing Mr. Zoe said to me is am I pulling his leg. I told him that I heard it was going to be signed in a couple of minutes by the Governor General, and Mr. Zoe again looked at me and said you’re just joking. So it was a fantastic moment to hear people on my cell phone. I showed Mr. Zoe my cell phone and you could hear how exciting it was that the people down there were dancing.

So I just want to say this is a good day for the Northwest Territories. It was certainly a good day for the Government of Canada to work for the people of Canada. I want to just extend my congratulations to all the people of the North in seeing the good work that’s being done. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

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