Mr. Andersen was responding to a Ministerial statement from Minister Tom Rideout and was forced to discontinue his speech due to emotions which welled up and took over Mr. Andersen.

Mr. Andersen’s address is provided here.

MR. SPEAKER: The hon. the Member for Torngat Mountains.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ANDERSEN: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the minister for a copy of his statement.

Mr. Speaker, a day of great joy for the Inuit people and certainly one of great emotion. I want to thank the negotiators for the Labrador Inuit Association who have spent months and months away from their family. Some of these negotiators have young children, and the sacrifice they made, I hope, will pay off for the people on the North Coast of Labrador.

Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank the government negotiators who have done a wonderful job in negotiating for the Province. I want to thank the Member for Exploits, who was the Premier of a government who believed in the Labrador Inuit Association.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ANDERSEN: I say today, with great certainty, that without his co-operation this final agreement that was signed last summer would not become a reality.

Mr. Speaker, I would be mistaken if did not thank the Member for Kilbride, who was a member of the Opposition. I am sure that many times he could have asked questions for the sake of personal and political gain, but he realized the seriousness. For the way he conducted himself, on behalf of the people in Labrador, I thank you.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!

MR. ANDERSEN: Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, while it is a day of joy for a lot of our elders, it is too late for many who have founded our communities in the most difficult times for them, as they have passed on and did not live to see this great day come about.

To the people who were relocated from Hebron and Okak and were uprooted, for a lot of these people, too, these land claims came too late; but, no doubt, it is a great day. It is a day that the Labrador Inuit will remember for years and years to come, as they begin to take shape and mold their future.

Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, the last thing I want to say is that it is for our future, and that is our youth. Their future looks really bright. Maybe the dark days that we witnessed over the last number of years will turn to sunshine. Maybe the trips that I made, maybe too often, to travel to the North Coast to say goodbye....

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SOME HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear!