Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to use my Member’s statement this morning to say how much I appreciate the good work of the people down in Vancouver at the Olympics who are making the Northwest Territories known for its beauty, for its uniqueness and a place to come visit and live and invest in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, I was very impressed with the ITI staff. The Minister himself -- this whole Legislative Assembly -- should be congratulated because the number of people I spoke to at the Northern House, they were truly impressed by the magnificent opportunities of wealth and the beauty of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Yukon. However, with the Northwest Territories portion, people were in awe. They just couldn’t say enough.
Actually, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories or Northern House received the gold medal in terms of the open house, in terms of showcasing their things. There are a lot of good people from the Northwest Territories, people who are in Vancouver who are making this happen, people who we have on our staff that are dedicated and that are there. I met the youth ambassadors. I met some of the culture people that are going to be performing down there. People just couldn’t get enough. It’s amazing when you walk around in that little area in Vancouver. They’ve done a good job to host us, to be host to the Olympics. The thing about the Olympics is the buzz is in the air in terms of what’s going to be happening the next couple of weeks there starting tomorrow.
I want to thank the Minister for allowing me to travel with him to see it firsthand. At first I wasn’t too sure and I didn’t know if we were spending money wisely on the Olympics, but now I see it firsthand that we are doing a good job and I think the return on investment is going to be tenfold in terms of what’s happening in the future in terms of people coming up to live in the Northwest Territories.
So I want to say to the people in the pavilion at the open house, good job, keep up the good work, we sure appreciate your good work and what you say about the people of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
