Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Gino Paul Kotchea was born on May 6th, 1978 to Frank Kotchea Sr. and Jeanie Fantase in Yellowknife. At the young age, his grandfather Harry ran him through some willows after the rain and after this his grandfather named Kaidday.
Gino spent many summers on the Liard River with his grandparents and shot his first moose at the age of 12. In the traditional way of the Dene, the meat was shared with elders in the community. Gino learned many skills from his Uncle Pete whom he called his brother. While at Whitefish River, Gino and his grandfather caught another moose. Upon returning to the cabin, Gino's shirt was ripped up and he said, "Grandpa ripped me up pretty good, eh", and they both started laughing.
Being out on the land, his grandfather was his greatest thing. Gino learned many traditional skills from his grandfather and spent a lot of his early years Beaver River and Fantase Lake area.
In 1990, Gino attended school in Fort Smith. One weekend on a family picnic, he saw his first garter snake ever. He pulled his socks up over his pant leg, and that's where they stayed for most of the day. Later that day they went on a 9kilometre hike and he carried his sister on his back most of the way. He was very protective of her.
Gino attended school at Echo Dene School until grade 12 or grade 10, and then graduated high school in Fort Simpson June 2022 or ‘20. 2000.
Gino loved to give back to the community and his way was coaching the girls and boys soccer team, and he took them on a number of regional tournaments.
Gino had many adventures during his lifetime. He wanted to be a police officer. He started working at the local police detachment during his last years of school as a special constable. Gino's grandfather Harry did not approve of this. He told Gino there is more negativity than positivity and a young Dene man should not experience this. As a result, Gino did not pursues that career.
Soon after high school graduation, Gino begin working for Chevron and continued to be an oil/gas operator in the Cameron Hill area. In 2014, Gino got his class 1 and he said that it was his most one of the most challenging things he's ever done. 2017, Gino achieved the power engineering ticket at the High Level college.
Gino loved listening to his brother Frank tell stories, like the one where there was an Inuit boy lost on the tundra. The story lasted three days until Gino discovered it was all made up.
Gino and Donna had their first child Eva Raine on November 26th, 2012 and Medin Storme on February 1st, 2016, and adopted Donna's son Melvin. The family was his most important part of his life and he loved them dearly.
Family and community will miss Gino, Mr. Speaker. We will keep him and his family alive in our hearts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and community at this time.
