Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've been speaking a lot about our huge challenges with literacy in the NWT. Today I want to celebrate a wonderful and inspiring initiative, the 19th Annual NorthWords NWT Writers' Festival. It's happening from today until Sunday, June 2nd. It is a literary extravaganza that brings together the magic of words, the power of storytelling, and the warmth of community.
For the next four days, Yellowknife and Hay River will be abuzz with creativity, inspiration, and literary camaraderie as the festival boasts a diverse lineup of readings, panel discussions, and writing workshops. Yellowknife North seems to be blessed with a lot of literary folks as some of the authors being showcased this weekend are from my riding, and they include Amber Henry, Alison McCreash, Stephen Kakfwi, and Marie Wilson.
Amber will be reading some of her children's books as well as hosting some of the events. Alison will be sharing her talents by doing a live illustration event where she will put your ideas on to the page. Marie and Stephen will be down together in Hay River this evening doing readings from their books and having discussions with the public at the Hay River Centennial Library. Marie will also be launching her first book, North of Nowhere, Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner, on this Sunday at Yellowknife Books. This book is her personal reflection of the testimony that she heard from across the country providing her unique perspective on the value of the Commission honouring the voices of the survivors.
I wish all the authors well this weekend, and I hope many of you find the time to make it out to the festival. Many of the events are free to attend, like this evening's opening event in Yellowknife, which also takes place in my riding at Sundog Trading Post. It's called Gather, A Spoken Word Open Mike Night, starting at 6:30 p.m.
And, Mr. Speaker, in keeping with the power of words and storytelling, later today we'll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services on the importance of access to speech therapy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
