Debates of November 27, 2007 (day 3)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take a moment to welcome my colleagues back to the House. Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure and an honour to be back here in this building working with you and the other Members of the Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, on November 7th, at 9:58 a.m., my wife, Amanda, and I welcomed into the world a son.

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Thank you, colleagues. His name is Malachi David Ramsay. He weighed just under five pounds at birth and came to us five weeks ahead of schedule. He was born at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton and had to spend 12 days there before we could bring him home with us. Both my wife and my son are doing great. We are beginning a new journey together as a family.

Mr. Speaker, nothing gives me any greater pleasure than seeing the two of them together. Having a child wasn’t easy for my wife and me as she had to spend nine weeks in Edmonton prior to his birth, confined to a hospital bed in order to carry him. For all the commitment she has shown, not to mention the numerous pokes with a needle, nine weeks of hospital food, 16 hours of labour and a cesarean section, I will be forever grateful to her. I wanted to thank the doctors and nurses involved in her care, both in Edmonton and in Yellowknife, and our son’s care while he was at the Royal Alexandra. Special mention to Dr. Jonathon Tankel who delivered Malachi, Dr. Bing Guthrie and Dr. Rob Krushel who were instrumental in the early stages of our pregnancy, and to Dr. Shawn Mattas, our family doctor, who has helped us maintain a positive attitude through the face of adversity. To all the nurses who helped Amanda and Malachi along the way at Stanton and at Unit 39 at the Royal Alexandra, the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Alexandra, and now the public health here in Yellowknife, thank you very much. I wanted to also thank everyone who has offered their support, their prayers and their thoughts the past few months. It has helped us immensely. I thank you so much.

In closing, I wanted to thank both my wife’s family and my family who have been lending support to us, especially my mother-in-law, Catherine Fabien, who has been giving us so much loving help and support. Mr. Speaker, both my wife and I are really looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead with parenthood. Mahsi cho.

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