as a hole

The legislative assembly has been filled with 18 people (and one guy moderating) speaking close to 6 hours a day, 5 days a week for the past month. Some of these 18 people have their go-to sayings. Like instead of breathing, or saying 'um', they instead choose to utter a few select words.

Here are some that jump to my mind:

David Krutko: "in regards to..."

"more importantly..."

"and yet..."

Norman Yakeleya: "in terms of..."

Jackson Lafferty: "on a moving-forward basis..."

Jackie Jacobson: "in my home riding of Nunakput..."

But perhaps my favourite (other than 'in regards to' and 'in terms of') is how every one always says 'as a whole'.

Example:

How is this going to benefit the territory as a whole?

We need to think about Yellowknife as a whole?

When I sit there, I start wondering if maybe someone watching on TV or in the gallery is taking it to mean 'as a hole.'

It makes me laugh.

Then I hear 'in terms of' 14 times in a member's statement and stop laughing.

what next?

Legislative Assembly this week = Brothers Grimm on speed = story factory

Let's see:
Budget
Non-confidence vote
Premier addresses affair
Seniors protesting for health benefits
Groenewegen accuses Miltenberger's brother of leaking draft motion
...and many, many more

That's in three days, folks.

What's in store for next week?

Predictions:
Aliens descend from Planet Tramaldefore and take back David Krutko
Legislative Assembly building mysteriously disappears from Yellowknife, turns up in Inuvik
MLAs work together to collectively approve well-rounded budget that gets all regions of the NWT through tough economic times...

Yeah, I know, I'm probably stretching it a bit...