Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, colleagues. I am very honoured to have this opportunity to address you for the first time here today as part of our starting off process to define what we will be as an Assembly together.

Shortly I have three priorities I would like to suggest. But before I do that, I thought it would be important to consider what it is I am trying to achieve with those priorities. If we don't know where we're going, all of our good intentions simply will not get us anywhere. And so I want to just take a moment to consider exactly what is the vision for the Northwest Territories that we hope our priorities will achieve.

Colleagues, by the time my children and your children grow up, I hope the Northwest Territories will be known as a leader, as a trail blazer, and as a place of opportunity. I would hope that we'll be known as leaders in Indigenous reconciliation and known for our style of consensus governance. I want all children of today to have opportunities available to them across all of the Northwest Territories because we have unlocked the tremendous potential that exists in all of our regions for a diverse and prosperous economy. And with this prosperity will come opportunities for residents to be healthy, educated, and ready to maximize their opportunities.

I believe we can achieve this vision of health and prosperity because of the potential that exists in all of our regions. A few examples are climate and permafrost science is world class; sustainable resource development opportunities - gold, diamonds and critical minerals and metals across many regions; rural and remote clean energy systems have an opportunity to innovate; the satellite arrays; forms of art and cultural expression; our unmatched freshwater fishery industries; adventure and authentic tourism; LNG reserves across the Beaufort Delta; Indigenous-led conservation opportunities; innovative agriculture initiatives; a place where the world could come to deliver on remediation projects, and so much more. This is not an exhaustive list. I know I have probably missed something important to some of you. That's not my point. My goal is simply this: I want us to all take stock of the opportunities across the entire Northwest Territories so that we all start to believe in the potential for the Northwest Territories in the future.

The diamond mines may be closing but that is not our narrative. We must be looking to the future.

And so with that, the three priorities that I'd like to suggest are the following: First is governance, that our governance be grounded in treaties, consensus, and responsiveness through all of our systems and services. Second, people, that the people of the Northwest Territories are healthy and have a strong sense of well-being. And third, prosperity, that we create the foundations needed to maximize a potential for economic prosperity that exists across all of our regions. And there are many actions that we can take within those priorities to help us achieve these goals. I will go through a few examples under each heading. And to be clear, these examples are not everything I heard during the campaign month. There was a long list of individual issues and concerns raised, many of which I believe we can continue to work on as part of the work of government. But what I'm looking to do now is create a framework within which we can set those goals and objectives for a future that is better for everyone. I'll start first with governance.

Governance, again, that is founded on treaties, consensus, and responsiveness. Settling land claims comes up year over year at Assembly after Assembly. I'm conscious of that, but it is time that we move this forward. If we look at this as a priority and look at some of the foundational work that's been done, such as the UNDRIP Implementation Act, and the legislative protocols within IGCS, we are well placed to make progress.

I'd like to see the finalization of the Indigenous procurement policy. This would be a perfect example of how better governance, and better governance that's founded on consensus and engagement, can move this discussion forward.

We should be finishing the work to a renewed framework for the human resources in the public service. We need better leadership training for all of our staff. We need to have an empowered and engaged public service. And our Affirmative Action Policy needs to be brought into the 2000s. We should be focusing on ensuring that we are, in fact, providing a representative public service for those that we serve across the Northwest Territories.

And finally, a relationship with municipalities too. Are we truly responsive to the communities, to all 33 communities? I believe that our consensus system presents us with an opportunity that is perhaps unique and distinct to work strategically with municipalities, each and every one of them, for the betterment of the whole territory.

Last, I will add integrated service delivery. This, in fact, is a hallmark of government services being responsive, the idea that we can be responsive to the needs of those that we serve.

Under my second priority, that of people of the Northwest Territories being healthy and having a strong sense of well-being, I have two examples I want to give here. And the first of which is one of the biggest concerns that was raised with me, and that is of the health care system, that we need a health care system that is itself healthy and sustainable.

What we have been doing simply is not working, and we must resolve it. The health and the health care system will always be a key focus of government service delivery, but perhaps by prioritizing health itself as the goal, we can better hold that system to account for what it delivers and ask what can be done to focus on healthier people, healthier communities, prevention, and public health. This may mean not chasing down every new federal program that is presented to us. Perhaps it means that we need to be reexamining what our actual goals are.

Second, is housing. Housing is a very clear example of a mechanism by which we can achieve the goal of residents who have greater health and well-being. Available and affordable housing across the entire spectrum of housing needs from homelessness to market housing is a challenge faced across Canada, and we need to tackle it in a way that is respectful and responsive to the communities of the Northwest Territories. A housing forum established at the Council of Leaders is an opportunity to help monitor the development of community housing plans and ensure that all dollars that are coming in are in fact effectively being distributed and employed in a way that is culturally sound. We want to ensure that elders can age in place and that is person with a disability is properly accommodated. We need to be speaking at the ground level so that every dollar counts.

And last, my third priority I'd like to speak to and give some examples of is the idea of prosperity through the development of our potential. Here, what kind of changes or actions are needed so that all regions can better develop their potential prosperity? I believe there are many common barriers that exist across the Northwest Territories. If we can tackle these barriers, I believe we can help spur development and opportunities for growth and increased productivity. I have four examples, which I may or may not get to in the next three minutes, but I'm going to try.

First, high costs are a significant barrier to development and growth in the North. We need to overcome these high costs. And two key drivers are energy and transportation and the lack of energy and transportation corridors. And so those are my first two examples. We must pursue a pathway off diesel and modernize our energy infrastructure across the Northwest Territories and in communities. We need to be ready to adapt to new technologies and intermittent renewable. There are many actions that can propel us here, whether it's Taltson, community-based projects, an increase of various renewables and hydro systems, but we also cannot ignore the new coming technologies of micronuclear better battery storage systems. We need to be ready to be adaptable.

Transportation as well, the Northwest Territories continues to have many communities who are relying on road systems that are disconnected or only by winter road, the season for which is obviously becoming increasingly unpredictable. With a geography so vast, which could be our opportunity, instead our lack of transportation network becomes a barrier. We must face this challenge and resolve it. The Mackenzie Valley

Highway is one obvious opportunity already underway that we must see to completion but at the same time can we work with Indigenous governments on their own settled lands to help support them to increase their community connectivity. The Tlicho All-Season Road won a national award for innovative partnerships. Let's repeat that success.

Third, labour. There is another challenge for labour force across all sectors. There's much we can do to help our education system prepare our students and, as well, at the same time ensuring that those who are able to ready to work have affordable and available childcare so that they can go to work. I'd like to see the completion of the Aurora College. This has been another example of an opportunity where we can take charge of our own future and seek opportunities across the entire territory with all campuses. And here again I put housing. Perspective employees, of course, need somewhere to live.

My last example under this third of my priorities is our regulatory processes. We need to be ensuring that all government entities responsible for regulations, registries, and permitting have the adequate staff who are well trained and have ongoing professional development opportunities. I'd like to see published targets for all of them for all of their processes and make sure that they are properly incentivized to meet them. Let's seek a pathway towards a one-business one-application system, such as in the tourism licensing field.

In conclusion, those are my three priorities that I am proposing with many opportunities to create goals and actions underneath them.

Colleagues, I'm looking very much forward to working with all of you. I want this Assembly to pull in some common directions. That is not the same as saying that every program, every service, and every delivery will be the same but it is an opportunity to have clear priorities, to find common ground, and to refocus on that common ground when we might come to a point of disagreement. And with that, I hope that we can all collectively achieve better health, better well-being, and more prosperity for the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you