Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start off by thanking Premier Roland and Minister Bob McLeod in particular for all their work on Canada’s Northern House and the work that they have put into that. I had an opportunity to attend the grand opening of Canada’s Northern House on Thursday, January 14th. I would like to advise my colleagues here in the House how impressed I was with this effort. It certainly goes to show how working with our neighbours in the Yukon and Nunavut can lead to many great things. Certainly if medals were handed out for entertainment that day, our own Ms. Leela Gilday certainly would have won the gold medal for her great performance.
Canada’s Northern House is located at 602 West Hastings, a prime location in downtown Vancouver. It houses an interactive northern experience that people can come and enjoy. Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to steal all of the Minister’s of ITI thunder, but the NWT team that is involved in this project should be commended. I was very impressed by the work done by Lynn Feasey from Yellowknife, who is the creative director, curator and gallery retail manager. Whether it is arts and crafts, information about our tourism products, oil, gas or diamonds, or the ability to look at an on-line job bank to find work in the NWT, Canada’s Northern House is, quite frankly, spectacular.
One of the other highlights in Canada’s Northern House is the interactive video where people can send video postcards of themselves to family and friends from around the world. This was extremely popular with the visitors that I saw when I was there. I believe Canada’s Northern House will really attract thousands of tourists, media and athletes that are going to be in Vancouver for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Mr. Speaker, I also wanted to thank the team working, greeting and educating visitors to Canada’s Northern House. I’d like to thank Michelle Smith who is handling the day-to-day operations at Canada’s Northern House on behalf of the three territories, and the staff from the NWT who are helping out: Judy Nadon, Abbey Boyd, Marty Brown, Brenda Dragon, Jackie Challis, as well as Joanna Thiemmesen, who worked with Lynn Feasey on the exhibits and their content. Mr. Speaker, if I missed anybody, I’d like to apologize.
Mr. Speaker, It was great to hear the news that officially our own Brendan Green from…
Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted.
Once again, I just wanted to say how great it was to hear the news that our own Brendan Green from Hay River was selected to the Olympic team yesterday. Again, I just wanted to share how impressive Canada’s Northern House is, and I urge any Member, member of the public or anybody that happens to be in Vancouver, to check out Canada’s Northern House, or check it out on the Facebook page, Twitter or the website at Canadasnorth.ca. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
