R.J. Simpson

If a loved one gets sick or passes away and you need to be by their side or to mourn, he will help you get to them and ask nothing in return. If you had to spend Christmas at the hospital in Edmonton away from your family, he would make sure that you got your Christmas gifts free of charge.

Mr. Speaker, these are just a few of the examples of Buffalo Joe's acts of generosity, and, when you consider that he has been at it for nearly half a century, you know that there are countless more. These are the reasons that Buffalo Joe McBryan was inducted into the Order of the NWT. I want to thank him...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some of the other Members have referenced last night. It was about six hours that we discussed this. At the clause-by-clause, there were another four and a half hours, and the committee itself spent days and days and days focusing on this act and how we could make it better. Even now, after all of that, as I stand here, I am still torn about whether or not I fully support this legislation, and there are a number of reasons for that.

There are a number of reasons to support the legislation. It is not, maybe, the world-class legislation that we were promised, but it does...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, I want to thank our staff for putting together yet another report on top of all of the other reports they had to put together. The committee found itself in a pretty unique position at the tail end of this Assembly. We were tasked with reviewing a number of devolution-related bills from a number of different departments, and I think it offered us a unique perspective, and I think this report is important in highlighting that. It could be very useful for the future Assembly, future Cabinet, and future standing committees.

Because we looked at bills from...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First, I would like to thank our staff for putting this together. The committee had the idea of doing this report at a time when there wasn't too much of a workload. Soon after that, we received probably the biggest workload that any committee has received since the division of the territory. I was a little concerned this might fall to the wayside, but somehow, our staff managed to analyze the responses from the 19 different businesses and put it into a coherent report. I really appreciate that, and I really thank them for that.

I want to thank the businesses, as well. As...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to recognize a constituent in the gallery, who is also my girlfriend, life partner, spouse, and whatever other terms you can use, Ms. Chantelle Lafferty. She has rearranged her entire work schedule so that she can spend some time with me while I am up in here Yellowknife, even though I am mostly here. I'm never really at home, but I really appreciate it, and I want to welcome her. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday Mr. Joe McBryan of Hay River, known to many as Buffalo Joe, was awarded the Order of the Northwest Territories. The Order recognizes those who have served with great distinction and excellence in any field of work benefiting the people of the Northwest Territories or elsewhere. It is the highest official honour that the Northwest Territories can bestow upon a current or former resident.

To many of the people I spoke with, Buffalo Joe's induction into the Order came as a surprise: not because they thought he was undeserving; they were surprised that he hadn't...

Thank you, committee. We're speeding right through. Nothing can slow us down now. Clause 24. Minister Abernethy.

Thank you. Ms. Faryna. The time is ticking down. Can the Minister produce an answer? Ms. Faryna.

All those opposed, please rise.

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Ms. McLaughlin.