Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize a friend and constituent, Amanda Dei. Amanda passed away last week after battling ovarian cancer for well over a year. She was a loving mother, daughter and friend. Amanda will be greatly missed by her daughter, Madilynn; her sister, Kim Lambrecht; brothers Robert Langlands, Trevor Lambrecht and Joel Dei; nephew, Alex Lambrecht; and father, Norman Dei, who is with us in the gallery today.
In addition to her loving family, Amanda had a huge circle of friends, often referred to as the No-Pants Army in recognition of Amanda’s distaste for pants. Amanda was a passionate musician and one of the founding members of one of Yellowknife’s more popular bands, The Break-Up. She wrote songs that came from the heart and struck a chord with everyone who had an opportunity to see her and her band perform.
In addition to being a musician herself, Amanda was a champion of women in music. She was a regular participant in the T’seko Celebration of Women in Music and was also one of the event organizers.
After being diagnosed with cancer, Amanda took on a dual battle. She not only fought her own battle with cancer but took on the challenge to raise money toward supporting cancer research, in hopes of eliminating cancer altogether. In Amanda’s honour, the No-Pants Army will continue to support cancer research. I understand that the No-Pants Army is already registered for the 2013 relay.
Amanda was an amazing person who will be missed by everyone that she knew and everyone that loved her. She will not be forgotten. Her music, distaste for pants, and desire to support the fight for cancer and raise money for research will continue through her family and friends. There will be a celebration of life for Amanda this Saturday, February 23rd, starting at 2:00 p.m. at St. Joseph School.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to Mandy No-Pants for contributing a verse to our lives.
