Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, October 30th, 2024, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Mr. Chris Comeau of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, be recommended for appointment as sergeant-at-arms of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories as recommended by the board of management of the Legislative Assembly;.
And further -- sorry, I was trying to speak slow enough for the interpreters.
And further, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective date of the appointment to the Commissioner;
And furthermore, that the Legislative Assembly expresses its gratitude to Mr. Floyd Andrew Powder for his years of service to the legislature and to the broader community.
And, Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be seeking unanimous consent to deal with this motion today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave earlier today.
Member from Yellowknife Centre is seeking unanimous consent to deal with the motion that he brought forward just recently. Any nays? Seeing no nays, Member from YK Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll read this one through. The interpreters have already heard it, so.
WHEREAS the sergeant-at-arms of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Floyd Andrew Powder, has indicated his intention to retire from the position;
AND WHEREAS it is desirable to name an individual to fill the position of sergeant-at-arms;
AND WHEREAS Section 54(3) of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act provides that the sergeant-at-arms shall be appointed by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories on the recommendation of the board of management, approved by motion of the Legislative Assembly;
AND WHEREAS the board of management is prepared to make a recommendation.
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Mr. Chris Comeau of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, be recommended for appointment as sergeant-at-arms of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories as recommended by the board of management of the Legislative Assembly;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective date of the appointment to the Commissioner;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Legislative Assembly expresses its gratitude to Mr. Floyd Andrew Powder for his years of service to the legislature and to the broader community.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Motion is in order. To the motion. Member from Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to extend a heartfelt recognition to master warrants officer retired and sergeant-at-arms Floyd Powder for his dedicated service and hard work within this Legislative Assembly. Floyd's deep commitment to honouring our veterans and serving the territory and Canada is reflected in his advocacy for Metis veterans and efforts in identifying grave sites as part of the Indigenous veterans’ initiative, these plus many more activities which Floyd has participated in.
As a valued NWT Metis Nation beneficiary and military veteran, Floyd has represented the NWT Metis Nation and all veterans related issues. I am deeply thankful and proud to recognize Floyd, a member of my community in Thebacha, for his honourable contributions.
As Floyd embarks on this new chapter in retirement, I wish him all the best. Thank you, Floyd, for your service and dedication. And I'd also like to welcome Chris Comeau to his new role as sergeant-at-arms. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the motion. Member from Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've had the honour of working with the sergeant-at-arms, Mr. Floyd Powder, in his role and capacity with the veterans' programs, and he's done some amazing work with that, and I hope -- like I tell people, when you retire it's not really retire; it's a change of careers and you can do whatever you want on our own time. And I hope he continues to do that. I want to thank him for his work here in the Legislative Assembly, and I want to wish him well in his future endeavorers.
I also want to congratulate a good friend of mine, somebody I grew up with in Hay River. When he moved to Yellowknife, I was a little disappointed he came across the lake. Some 25, 26 years ago, we started a career together in Justice with the corrections entry level training. And we started the same time, and I left a year earlier coming into politics and a year later he soon followed me into the ledge. And I'm honoured to work with him and work with him again and, you know, longtime friends from a small town in Hay River, we grew up together. When I saw the email that he was being accepted for the position, I was a little shocked that he was leaving Justice but hey, we all change our careers at some point. But, again, I'm excited for both of them and happy to be working with Mr. Comeau again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Hay River South. To the motion. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise also to recognize the appointment of Mr. Chris Comeau. I'm sure he will do -- I know he will do an excellent job because he's already been doing it. And this is -- being sergeant-at-arms is I think an understated role in the Parliaments of the Commonwealth, but it is an important one and, in some cases, a lifesaving one. So I do absolute the work of our sergeants-at-arms. And to Mr. Powder, who is a constituent of the Range Lake riding, thank you for your years of service. I know that every day you took our sittings as seriously as any other, including youth Parliament when many of us paged. And I know he runs a good page program because he put me through my paces. So thank you for your service, Mr. Powder, and welcome to the legislature, Mr. Comeau. Thank you.
To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've already read the motion in to acknowledge Mr. Comeau will be coming in. And to him, I wish him the greatest success as he follows Mr. Floyd Powder.
I asked Mr. Powder the other day, who I only casually know but gotten a little bit better -- known a little better since I've come back to the Assembly in this last year, I asked him the other day what are you going to do? And he has a long list of what -- you know, they often say retirement is not for the faint at heart. In other words, you end up doing so much. And he started in the most passionate way describing how he wanted to do this work for Indigenous veterans, headstones, and it -- just the list was going on. I mean, I almost needed a -- someone to help scribe and write them all down. That man has plans but most importantly, that man follows through on them. And I want to finish by saying that his commitment to duty through his service as a Canadian member of our military or his service here at the legislature certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. He's definitely cut from a different cloth. Extremely respectful and certainly extremely respected by all of us. So I want to thank him, wish him well in his journey, and I would ask him not to be a stranger of this House as he will always be known as a friend of this House, and I thank him for his services. Thank you very much, sir.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? The motion is carried.
---Carried
Not too much the Speaker gets to speak about a motion, but I had the pleasure of working with Floyd in the 19th Assembly and got to work with him as a Speaker. Amazing man. Talk about recognition of veterans out there, and he knows everybody. He seems to be connected with people. And the interesting part, as you travel across Canada people know Mr. Powder. They talked about his commitment to the work that he does here in this Legislative Assembly, but as they call his volunteer service to the residents of the Northwest Territories. So I thank him very much for everything he's done for us.
I'm excited to work with Mr. Comeau. We've already had some conversations on how things he would like to improve which is very difficult because Floyd had a really good ship run here and so -- but he has some really good unique ways of looking forward to how we're doing things. And I'm excited that we have Northerners here representing and protecting our Legislative Assembly. So thank you very much for everything you guys have done and what you're doing today.
