Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I really didn’t know what to say today, because yesterday I had a phone call from my sister. When they say life throws curve balls at you, it certainly does, not knowing what to expect.
My sister called me yesterday and said that a good friend of mine, Mr. Anthony Grandjambe of Fort Good Hope, passed away. I couldn’t believe it.
It’s been a year since Anthony and I worked together and started my campaign in Fort Good Hope. Anthony just lost his wife, Janet, to cancer.
I spent some time with him in Fort Good Hope. We developed, over the 40 years of my knowing Anthony, a very close relationship. We talked about life. Anthony talked about how he missed his wife so badly that it was very hard for him to live life without her. She was his main inspiration. We talked about this on a man-to-man basis. He talked about how he went to her grave every day and visited her. He had good days, and days when he really didn’t know what to do.
So we developed this relationship that we could talk to each other. He talked about some of the things he wanted to do. I thought I wanted to say something about that because the friends we get, we have in our life from time to time, they are worth the recognition at this state. As a Member of the Legislative Assembly, we have a job to do and sometimes we don’t show our emotions, our feelings, because we’re so busy or keep ourselves in check.
I wanted to say this because he came from a good family. My prayers go out for him and to his children and grandchildren. I had a lot of feelings of sadness and a lot of feelings of love for this man because he helped me. I wanted to say that. I wanted to say how much we appreciate him in our region. I want to say that we extend our prayers for him and his family. We’re going to Fort Good Hope this weekend.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Colleagues, before we move on today, I’d like to welcome back into the House a former Member, Speaker and Minister, Mr. David Krutko.
I’d also like to welcome my mayor from Ulukhaktok, Ms. Janet Kanayok. Welcome to the House.
The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
