Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, 2015 was a great start for many people in the Beaufort-Delta region, particularly those in the area of sport and recreation. We have seen a lot of achievement so far in this early start to 2015. We had some basketball teams bring in some banners, and we had a young lady from Fort McPherson win a gold medal at the Canada Winter Games. In fact, we had a strong delegation representing the Beaufort-Delta region at the Canada Winter Games. Just recently, our Inuvik women’s team won the territorial championships this past weekend.
This is all a good segue to show my support to the Beaufort-Delta region for their 2018 Arctic Winter Games bid. You’ve heard my colleagues from Hay River speak in support for their bid, and I also support them and wish them the best of luck in moving on this bid.
On January 27th to the 28th, our bid committee from the Beaufort-Delta region welcomed five members of the Arctic Winter Games International Committee to Inuvik and proceeded to do a tour. Along these tours, obviously, they opened up with the drummers and dancers, which I’ve always showed strong support for and have always mentioned them in the House as strong ambassadors for the Beaufort-Delta region, for the Inuvialuit culture, but for the Northwest Territories as well.
They also toured some of our venues and accommodations, which I have to say have served many events in the past. Most recently there’s been the Circumpolar Games, Traditional Games, the Inuvialuit Circumpolar Conference, national TRC events as well as the Inuvik Petroleum Show which has been going on every year.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Inuvik Chamber of Commerce that hosted a breakfast as well as a dinner that had the whole community come out. In fact, strong community support was mentioned from the tour members on their tour.
In the Beaufort-Delta region we have a high cost of travel when we come to tournaments in Yellowknife or go down south. As a result, it’s vice versa. There’s a high cost of travel for teams to go up to the North. In fact, a lot of teams from Yellowknife and the South Slave don’t always get the chance to go up and see what Inuvik has to offer. I think it’s about time that we showcased the Beaufort-Delta and got some of these southern teams, southern communities up to see what the Beaufort-Delta has to offer.
I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Like I said, it’s a high cost of travel. Inuvik comes down to participate in all these events all the time from the Beaufort-Delta region. As well, it’s a great chance to showcase the Beaufort-Delta region. Also, it might be one of the last times to actually drive the ice road, so that’s one thing to also highlight.
Before I finish off my Member’s statement, I would just like to thank the Arctic Winter Games 2018 Bid Committee from the Beaufort-Delta region for their hard work and for doing an excellent job in showcasing what we have to offer in the Beaufort-Delta region.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
