Thank you, Ms. Cleveland. My name is Glen Rutland, and I am the Clerk of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Until your Speaker is elected, it is my responsibility to act as the presiding officer over your proceedings. I am joined at the table today by deputy clerk Kim Wickens and deputy clerk Jolene Saturino.

On behalf of the staff of the Legislative Assembly, I want to take this moment to congratulate each of you on your election to the 20th Legislative Assembly. One of the unique features of consensus government is that regardless of your roles within the Assembly, each of you will be active participants in forging the priorities of the 20th Legislative Assembly. It must be noted, however, that the priority setting process will look a little different in this Assembly. Typically, priority setting is one of the first orders of business for a new Assembly. Your predecessors recommended, and you have agreed, to take additional time to settle into your new roles and allow for more flexible and extended input process with a goal of setting priorities for the winter sitting of the 20th Assembly. You made this decision to allow for a more wholesome opportunity to understand what the 20th Assembly will focus on and what it will prioritize during its term. That brings us to today.

Today, you will hear what your colleagues want to see accomplished in the next four years. Many of the objectives you will hear about today can be achieved through collaboration, determination, and collective creativity, which is at the essence of consensus government. After today, the next steps for the priority setting process include meeting about priorities with Indigenous governments as well as community and non-governmental organizations, reviewing common priorities and themes that have been identified through all these meetings and associated cost estimates, receiving thorough briefings on the GNWT finances, contributing to an exercise where you will aim to reach consensus on your priorities, and finally tabling the priorities of the 20th Assembly in this House in February of next year. From there, the GNWT will develop its final budget and associated mandate with your input.

Now, on to a few housekeeping items.

Today's proceedings are open to the public and are also being broadcast on television and social media. You have agreed to limit your speeches today to 10 minutes. There is no need to use all of this time, and I will not interrupt you if you go over time. However, I would remind you to please be mindful of the time and the number of Members who wish to speak today. I will also ask that you please stand to deliver your speech.

We will take a 15-minute break at approximately 10:30 this morning, and we're expecting the proceedings to wrap up around 12:30. Members will indicate when they wish to speak and will be called upon by myself as the presiding officer. Thank you, Members. It is now time to begin.

We'll begin with the Member for Kam Lake.