 Mr. Speaker, you know, when I came in this morning there were members opposite towards indicating to me, I have nothing to say this morning, you know, I should quite and I recognize a sort of a game of chess this morning as to whether I would speak, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, I would like to share a few words on the motion, but before that if you'll permit, I would just like to express my deepest condolences to a colleague, a former colleague, Norbert Williams, who passed night before Mr. Speaker. And I wish to express condolences to his family and his loved ones, Mr. Speaker. He was the attaché to the former prime minister. Mr. Speaker, I should also, you know, indicate, you know, and lament, you know, various things that have been, you know, spouted over social media, which is rather unfortunate, Mr. Speaker, in our society that some people would want to, you know, to celebrate the death of us. We never know when our number will be called, Mr. Speaker. And despite political differences, Mr. Speaker, you know, you know, we should we should really and truly recognize, you know, life and death, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I'm on the floor, I would also want to take the opportunity, while it not be directly related to the motion, but I think it's important, not just for me, but for every member in parliament, you know, to make a contribution with regards to the scourge as it regards to the crime situation, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker, I want to, first of all, applaud the commissioner of police for her press conference. I think it was yesterday or the day before, Mr. Speaker, you know, really, really sending a strong message out there, Mr. Speaker. Likewise, the prime minister in his address, Mr. Speaker, although I did feel he should have instilled the fear of God, you know, in some of the people out there. But, Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that we as parliamentarians, you know, have to speak, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I, they may be a respite, Mr. Speaker, based on, you know, the words from the commissioner, the words from the prime minister. But the point is, Mr. Speaker, we have very, very highly sophisticated guns on the island. And what our intention should be is to get these guns off the street, Mr. Speaker. We are very happy that the prime minister spoke to the reintroduction of the K9 unit. Slightly disappointed, Mr. Prime Minister, that you wanted to juxtapose. The reason for introducing the K9 was because of the scanners. I don't think that was necessary to indicate. But I commend, I commend that, Mr. Speaker, it's very important, you know, that we try to take these guns off the street, Mr. Speaker, because when I, when I see some of what has been, you know, shown on social media, it is very scary. The point is, Mr. Speaker, how are the guns coming in? Are there people facilitating the importation of these guns through our various borders, Mr. Speaker? But at the end of the day, we must all be speaking with one voice as it relates to getting rid of this scourge, Mr. Speaker, because we never know when it will be on our doorstep, Mr. Speaker. So I thought it was necessary, Mr. Speaker, to speak to the whole issue of crime and as a parliament, we must speak with one voice in terms of ensuring that, you know, we cut the head, we cut the tail, we cut the body, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm on record consistently in this parliament to indicate that a government must borrow. I'm on record. It is necessary. It is a necessary evil if you could use that expression for governments to borrow. I'm also on record, Mr. Speaker, for wanting this government to do well, Mr. Speaker. I have said that because, Mr. Speaker, if this government do well, our people supposedly benefit, our communities benefit, and the country as a whole benefits, Mr. Speaker. And so, you know, it is very important when we in opposition, Mr. Speaker, we mind our words because sometimes these words could come back to us when we're in office, Mr. Speaker. There's a saying, heavy is the head that wears the crown, Mr. Speaker. And each one of us here have a crown that we wear, a heavy crown. In fact, the Prime Minister has the heaviest crown. In fact, only this morning I heard a member for Central Castries speaking in the pollock across the room as to the toll being in government takes on him as a parliamentarian and, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker. And you know, he's not 100% this morning, Mr. Speaker. But it's a fact, Mr. Speaker. When you are parliamentarian, when you're a government minister, there's a significant pressure on you, Mr. Speaker. And you have, Mr. Speaker. Because all of us, I believe most, maybe 99% of us who come into politics, who come for the benefit of our community and our people. Some may come in with ulterior motives and some along the way, Mr. Speaker, may get caught up in, you know, being dragged in the wrong direction, Mr. Speaker. But I believe everybody who comes into politics come for the benefit of the people. And so, Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has that heavy crown, he has that heavy crown to wear. And obviously, he has to look at ways in which, you know, he can improve the lives of St. Louisians, particularly the vulnerable, you know, Mr. Speaker. And you heard the Prime Minister with regards to the borrowing. The Prime Minister indicated that today we're borrowing almost $280 million for budget support. And, Mr. Speaker, I would remember. And as I said, Mr. Speaker, borrowing is necessary. What we or what I might do on this side is to question what the borrowing is for. But I will never, you know, speak against borrowing. That's on record, Mr. Speaker. But the Prime Minister spoke this morning with regards to the amount that is borrowing and for the various reasons that he's borrowing, Mr. Speaker. And I'm hoping that the Prime Minister in his rebuttal could advise me as to whether, because, you know, my memory is sometimes waning, you know, as to whether these funds are funds that were previously on the books or negotiated by the former administration. And they are now being either repurposed or, but because I remember there was a similar amount, you know, negotiated with the government of Taiwan, Mr. Speaker. So I just wanted the Prime Minister to advise me whether, you know, that is, you know, similar facility or is that the same facility that has been repurposed, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister spoke to the various purposes that I indicated about your support. And I remember when we were in government, Mr. Speaker, we borrowed amounts from the CDB, the World Bank for similar purposes. But as a government, we were chided. We were certain memes as with regards to every Tuesday what we are coming to borrow, Mr. Speaker. Nothing in the region of what we borrow in here today, Mr. Speaker. But obviously, obviously, Mr. Speaker, you know, an opportunity presented itself. And when in opposition, we spoke about it, Mr. Speaker. The Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker, also spoke that some of the money that are being borrowed will be for land acquisition. And he was very careful to indicate that it's not just within the 17 months in office. But, you know, very carefully crafting his words to suggest that that $46 million in land acquisition was during the last chain of the administration. It is not the case, Mr. Speaker. That goes a lot further than that. And we all know that land acquisition is necessary for various public development for the benefit of the country. But he also spoke, Mr. Speaker, of regards to the 6% rate that has to be repaid with regards to the value of the land. And maybe, Mr. Speaker, there's no bank that gives you 6% on your money now. Maybe the timing is right for us to also look at adjusting the interest that we pay. Because land acquisition will continue. It's something that we will have to continue to do as governments in terms of progressing, in terms of, you know, public development for public benefit. I also note, Mr. Speaker, that, you know, that the monies will be going to pay for changing our debt profile. And, Mr. Speaker, that's nothing different to what we were doing when we were doing it in government. We recognize that we have some expensive debts on our books, and we, you know, we're going ahead to changing them to longer debts to ensure that the country is not burdened with some. So there's nothing different in what is being done here today, Mr. Speaker. The difference is I, on this side, will not try the government for the borrowing, Mr. Speaker. But, Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity because in all of that borrowing, so there's monies that have been allocated to various constituencies for various reasons, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I, we were at a function last week, it was. And the former prime minister, member for view for itself, made a very particular point, Mr. Speaker, which caught my attention when he said that parliamentary representatives must be given the dignity that they deserve. And they must be given the respect that they deserve as parliamentary representatives because as he indicated, it's not the parliamentary representative that has been affected, but the people that they represent, Mr. Speaker. And, and, and he was very correct. And you know, Mr. Speaker, when I reflect on what he said, I remember this government in opposition, the six members opposite. One of the things they always said was you never, as a government, gave us a cent. That's a fact. They continue to say, no, you continue to say, as members of parliamentary representatives represented various constituencies, you all were never given a cent under the, under the stimulus, under the, what's the other one? The, the, the Taiwanese CDP. You said it. You said, Mr. Speaker. And the point is, Mr. Speaker, what the members opposite said at the time was, if, or when rather, because you're very confident they'll come into government, when they come into government, they will treat every parliamentary representative, as long as you're a parliamentary representative, they will treat you with the dignity that you deserve. They will treat you as a parliamentary representative, Mr. Speaker, and respect the fact that the people have voted for you, and you will get the necessary support, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker is, and as I indicated to colleague across the room this morning, as I indicated to colleague across the room this morning, if it was wrong, then it is still wrong. And I have said that on one location in this parliament. So, Mr. Speaker, when you look at the community of Chosal Saltibas, one of the largest second to Grosili, one of the second to Grosili, one of the largest constituencies in St. Lucia. Okay? And you would want, Mr. Speaker, to provide this constituency, you know, with an amount for Christmas stimulus, cleaning up the road, Mr. Speaker, and take it into consideration, the situation in the country right now, cost of living, everybody's looking for something, Mr. Speaker, everybody. And Mr. Speaker, you would provide me as a parliamentary representative for a certain amount, and you would maybe provide as the Honorable Member for Souffre indicated, you know, five times the amount to Souffre, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, you cannot compare Chosal and Souffre as it relates to the size, the number of people who are affected, Mr. Speaker, you know? But as a point, I'm a member from Viewfort North. The point is, yes, I got, yes, I got, but the point is, you said you would trade differently. And, Mr. Speaker, when you want to provide funds to my opponent, to an individual who I soundly defeated in the last election, Mr. Speaker, to try to humiliate me, to try to embarrass me, Mr. Speaker, to create political point. That will not work, Mr. Speaker. That will not work. But at the end of the day, what is happening, Mr. Speaker? And I've told the Honorable Prime Minister that his role as a Prime Minister primarily should be to unite the people. Must be, Mr. Speaker. As the Prime Minister has his role, so what really should be happening? He should, and I think he has lost quite a few opportunities in doing that. And there's one, when the time comes, you know, I'll speak about it, Mr. Speaker. But the Prime Minister and the team got a resounding mandate, Mr. Speaker. And really and truly, you know, he should use that mandate to bring our people together. So, Mr. Speaker, I am not against the borrowing, because, as I said, it is necessary, budgetary support. 20 years, the terms and conditions were very favorable, Mr. Speaker. But at the end of the day, my principle point that I'd like to leave here today, Mr. Speaker, is that we need to be very careful of what we preach to our people. We say one story when we're in opposition and when we're in government is another story, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker, I promise to remember that I would not have been very long today, but I suspect I have opened up for quite a few members to speak. And I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity.