Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to mark my final Member’s statement in the 15th Assembly by honouring the accomplishments of an outstanding young man from a family in my constituency, Mr. Jay Bran. Mr. Speaker, Jay was called to the Bar of the Northwest Territories on August 10, 2007, becoming one of the few but ever growing group of northern grown and aboriginal lawyers from the NWT.

Jay and his family moved to Yellowknife when he was three years old. He attended St. Joseph Elementary School, William MacDonald Junior High School and Sir John Franklin High School. He played professional hockey in a junior league in Alberta and worked as a corrections officer in Yellowknife before pursuing his post-secondary education which eventually led him to obtaining a law degree at the University of Calgary. I have also learned that he even did a summer job stint in this very Assembly as a Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms.

Mr. Speaker, his mother is someone who is very well known to us. Eleanor Bran worked as an aboriginal language interpreter in the Legislative Assembly. She is originally from Fort Simpson and first cousin to Senator Nick Sibbeston. I think Jay may be too young to know this, but I have had the good fortune to work with not only his mother in the Assembly but also his late father, Barry, back in the early 1980s and with his big sister Lisa in the mid-1980s when she and I worked in what is now ITI when it used to be called not RWED but, before that, the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

Mr. Speaker, Jay also has a brother Derek and another sister Kim. I know if his father were here today, he would show all of us, in his very special way, just how proud he must be of Jay. Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to advise this House that Jay has decided to start his legal career serving his people as a legal aid lawyer in the North specializing in criminal law. He enjoys litigation and, from all accounts, he has established himself as a highly skilled, promising young lawyer already. But I must say I was even more happy to learn that his dear wife, Pam, is a nurse. Pam Baert s a nurse at the OBS unit at the Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Mr. Speaker, given the enormously high demand and value we place in having more northern nurses and legal aid lawyers, this certainly is a power couple indeed. Mr. Speaker, may I seek unanimous consent to finish my statement?

Speaker: MR. SPEAKER

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The Member is seeking unanimous consent to conclude her statement. Are there any nays? There are no nays. You may conclude your statement, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I have the permission of this House when I say we collectively pray and sincerely ask that they will stay in the North, live and work, raise their families and retire here. Mr. Speaker, I also know that Jay’s family and especially his wife, Pam, was at his side before, during and after law school. They share every bit of Jay’s accomplishment today.

Mr. Speaker, as someone who has had the firsthand experience of going through our wonderful NWT education system in the North, going through law school, which is often compared with the military boot camp, and working in the very challenging but rewarding profession of law, I know there will be many exciting, interesting and rewarding years for Jay and his family. I want to take this opportunity to send my heartfelt congratulations to Jay Bran and his entire family. Certainly, this is a happy event worthy of a celebration in this House by all Members of this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause