Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is no secret that the past few years have been hard on the people of the Sahtu region. Oil and gas exploration has come to a standstill. Even what little activity was going on stopped when Imperial Oil production in Norman Wells ceased because of line 21 pipeline shutdown. It has been almost a year since the shutdown, and we are still waiting on maintenance and repair approvals. Meanwhile, people are having to leave the community to find work elsewhere when we are sitting on the richest oil and gas reserves in the country.

With no oil and gas production in NWT for the first time since the 1930s, residents are assuming, “What is our future?” and “What message are we sending to industry?” My question to the Premier is what he will do to revitalize this industry in our territory? Mahsi.