Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I start my Member’s statement, I want to use this opportunity to wish my uncle Abel Tingmiak happy birthday. Abel is in his 60s and he’s still flying around on the blanket toss.
Spring carnivals are just around the corner. Up in the Beaufort-Delta we’re very fortunate that we’ve got four or five communities that are very closely linked and we’re able to travel between the communities to take part in the carnivals up there. We have the carnival in Tsiigehtchic, and the Peel River Jamboree in Fort McPherson, the Mad Trapper Rendezvous in Aklavik, the Beluga Jamboree in Tuk and the Muskrat Jamboree in Inuvik. It’s always a good opportunity for people to get together and meet old friends, compare their snowmobiles to see who’s got the fastest one and race their dog teams. Every community has a talent show and the talent in the Beaufort-Delta is the best in the Northwest Territories. So they always have a great time doing that.
I think all these carnivals are not possible without the hard work of so many people behind the scenes. Every year they volunteer, the same people over and over. So I think they need to be commended for all the work that they do.
They also wouldn’t be possible without the corporate citizens we have in our communities that contribute to these carnivals year after year. We have them right across the Northwest Territories. We have good corporate citizens in the Northwest Territories. Even with the slow economic times, they’re still freely giving of their money every year. I think all these people need to be commended for the good work they do supporting these carnivals. I thank all the people that put these carnivals together, the volunteers and the ones that do it year after year.
I would encourage all the people in the Beaufort-Delta and all the people across the Northwest Territories to take advantage of these great times. I would encourage them to take advantage of them and I would also encourage them to be very safe when they’re driving to and from these carnivals.
