I rise on behalf of the Yukon Liberal Party to pay tribute to democracy and to those who defend it. We may be far geographically from the events of the last week, but that doesn't diminish their impact here. These events are a shared and a national tragedy.

We have been very fortunate as a country that so few men and women have had to sacrifice their lives on Canadian soil to defend our democracy. The targets of yesterday’s attack were symbols of our nationalism and they were meant to rock us to the core. What we must not forget is that at that core, we are a very proud democracy, a welcoming and peaceful nation, a country that has open arms, open minds and open hearts. We cannot allow that to change, as these are the values and the ideals upon which we must rely in those days ahead.

Mr. Silver:   I rise on behalf of the Liberal caucus and the Official Opposition to pay tribute to the 2014 Dawson City gold show. This week marks the 28^th annual Dawson City gold show hosted by the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce on May 16 and 17. The gold show is North America’s largest industry and consumer trade show focused on the placer mining industry. The gold show encompasses the diverse and interconnected sectors of our regional economy with mining at its hub. Celebrating the gold show has become a springtime tradition. It is a great place to chat, to network and to share ideas with fellow miners and prospectors, and it is also a great opportunity for you to get your summer perennials from the Vogt farm. I have also had the privilege to attend the gold show many times, and it is a fantastic event.

Mr. Silver:   I also rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus to pay tribute to Yukon Mining and Geology Week. This tribute was written by a constituent of mine, who is from a family who has been mining in Dawson City for four generations.

Yukon is a vastly diverse territory with many defining aspects, such as tourism, outdoor recreation and culture, but this week we are celebrating mining. Mining plays an integral role in how the world views Yukon and continues to be our economic mainstay. Over 100 years ago, when gold was discovered in Rabbit Creek — now known as Bonanza Creek — by Skookum Jim, George and Kate Carmack and Tagish Charlie, news of the Yukon and its mineral wealth spread around the world. Many people within Yukon have worked very hard to maintain this reputation.

Mr. Silver:   I rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus to pay tribute to Canada’s National Day of Honour. May 9 marks the National Day of Honour, a day to commemorate our men and women in uniform. The National Day of Honour is the first to recognize Canadian soldiers who fought in Canada’s Afghan mission and will be marked with ceremonies at Legions and war memorials across the country.

Mr. Silver:   I also rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus and the Official Opposition to join with my colleagues in the Legislature today to recognize Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. MS has historically been referred to as the unknown disease. If a newly diagnosed patient were to ask their physician what would be the progress of their disease, more often than not the answer would be, “We don’t know.” A patient could have one clinical diagnostic incident and fully recover, as is common in relapsing-remitting MS, or a patient could be clinically diagnosed and begin a course of treatments that may or may not slow the progressive debilitating disease.

Mr. Silver:   I rise on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Official Opposition to pay tribute to the students participating in the first round of mobile trades trailer pre-apprenticeship certification in Dawson City.

According to the Yukon College’s website the Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining’s trades training trailer allows Yukon College to deliver trades courses in smaller communities across the territory as well as in operating mine sites. The state-of-the-art facility is just this week completing the examination process for its first round of participants for classes in welding up in Dawson City. I had the pleasure of being asked to say a few words at the ceremony at the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in community hall for students last Friday and I wouldn’t have missed that opportunity for the world.

Mr. Silver:   I rise today — with great pleasure — to pay tribute on behalf of the Liberal Party and the Official Opposition to the graduates of the Yukon School of Visual Arts. I was honoured to have been invited to speak at the graduation ceremony in Dawson on Friday. As the Member for Klondike, I know first-hand just how important SOVA is to the residents of Dawson. It was incredibly heartening to hear that some of the graduates are planning to stay on in Dawson and make it their home.

Mr. Silver:   I rise today on behalf of the Liberal Caucus to pay tribute to the National Day of Mourning. On April 28, every year, we come together to commemorate the workers whose lives have been lost, or who were injured or disabled on the job. 2014 marks the 30^th anniversary of the National Day of Mourning and we in the Yukon join the rest of Canada and many countries around the world to honour the millions of lives that have been forever changed by workplace injuries.

I rise today on behalf of Liberal caucus to also pay tribute to and mark the 44^th annual Earth Day 2014. Originally launched on April 22, 1970 in the United States as an environmental awareness event, it is considered to be the birth of the modern environmental movement. Today, more than six million Canadians join together with more than one billion people in 170 countries to stage events and to provide awareness of local environmental issues.

I rise today on behalf of the Liberal caucus to also pay tribute to Education Week — this year’s theme, of course, being “Learning for Life”. Every day of our life we learn something new. We learn from both our experiences and from our mistakes. Everybody learns in different ways and at different rates. Education Week is an opportunity to highlight the importance of knowledge and what it plays in transforming our lives and how education helps to shape the future of our young people and therefore in turn, shaping the territory.