Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to start off by congratulating both you as Speaker- elect and Mr. Bob McLeod as Premier-elect, and I look forward to working with you both in your new capacities over the next four years.
Thank you, colleagues, for the opportunity to speak with you today.
Prior to putting my name in for Cabinet I thought about the qualities that I was looking for in a Member of Cabinet. Specifically, what values and attributes I believe a Minister should possess in order to be effective. I want Ministers to be open to suggestions and/or proposals brought forward by his or her colleagues. I want Ministers who will listen and work with all Members in the best interests of all residents of the Northwest Territories. I want Ministers who will help Members understand their point of view and decisions.
I don’t want Ministers who simply say no without providing a rationale for saying no. I want Ministers that recognize when they are receiving a good recommendation from a colleague and/or the public and will help make that recommendation become a reality. I want Ministers who will take ideas from Regular Members of constituents into the Cabinet room and fight for all communities and regions of the Northwest Territories. We need Ministers who can see beyond their individual constituencies and departments and to the needs of residents of all the Northwest Territories. I want Ministers who will work hard for the people of the Northwest Territories and not support the status quo.
I believe that I have these values and attributes that I have just described and I look forward to working with and for you, the Members of the 17th Legislative Assembly and all residents of the Northwest Territories, as a member of Cabinet. I want to help make the Northwest Territories a place where our residents have the resources and opportunities they need to succeed in any capacity they choose.
I’d like to talk a little bit about some of my previous experiences, which will heavily demonstrate these values and attributes.
Prior to being elected in the 16th Legislative
Assembly I worked in the GNWT public service. I was a manager, first with the Department of Health and Social Services and later, after amalgamation, the Department of Human Resources, where I was responsible for more than a dozen staff and a
budget of over $6.5 million. My staff were located in a number of communities throughout the Northwest Territories, including Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik and Yellowknife. As a manager I was responsible for the development and implementation of programs such as the Community Health Nurse Development Program, which focused on supporting Aboriginal nurses who wanted to return to their communities. In the first two years of the program we helped five indigenous Aboriginal nurses obtain the skills they needed to return to their communities and regions as fully competent community health nurses. This program proved to be a huge success and I’m very, very proud of this program and its success. This experience taught me of the value of working with colleagues, professionals and communities in order to create success. This experience also provided me with valuable management skills and experiences, which will be of significant benefit as a manager of the 17th Legislative Assembly.
Four years ago I ran for MLA and was honoured to receive the support of the residents of the Great Slave riding. Shortly after being elected, I put up a copy of my favourite political quote on my office window for all to see. It’s from Joseph Howe and he said, “The only questions I ask myself are what is right, what is just and what is in the best interest of the public good.” When faced with political decisions, these are the questions I keep in mind. They are the questions I always ask myself. As an MLA I’ve attempted to not only fight for my constituents, but also for the interests of all residents of the Northwest Territories.
Over the last four years I’ve been an active Member of this Legislature. For example, I took a lead role in encouraging the 16th Legislative Assembly to
conduct a review of the Child and Family Services Act. I did this because I believed that a review was necessary, timely and I cared about the impact that the Child and Family Services Act was having on the families throughout the Northwest Territories. It was a lot of work, but in the end I’m very proud of the work we did and look forward to future implementation of the recommendations put forward by committee.
In addition, late in the life of the 16th Assembly I
brought forward a private Member’s bill to amend the Employment Standards Act to support reservists and rangers in the Northwest Territories. I did not sit back, but chose instead to challenge a bureaucracy, which was initially resistant to the bill.
I’m not committed to the status quo. I see a need to look outside the box and challenge the norm. Like my colleagues in the 16th Legislative Assembly, I
took my role as a Regular Member very seriously. It is an important role within consensus government and I worked hard to keep Cabinet to account. To me holding Cabinet to account does not always
mean disagreeing with it. Sometimes it did. Rather than simply criticize, I always tried to offer alternatives and suggestions.
As your Minister I won’t forget my time as Regular Member and how frustrating and rewarding it can be at times. As your Minister I will always work to find common ground in the best interests of all of our residents. As your Minister I will listen to you and help you with issues that you bring forth both on a territorial and constituency level. Unfortunately, history does show us that from time to time we may find that we don’t agree on an issue or of some Cabinet direction, and if that does happen, I will try to help you understand why I and Cabinet have taken a particular decision or direction. I won’t simply say no.
I ran for election for this, the 17th Legislative
Assembly, with a focus on people. I believe people should benefit from a strong and sustainable community. The reality is that in the Northwest Territories we face significant economic challenges both today and into the future. Small businesses are struggling to survive in the Northwest Territories. Large non-renewable resource extraction businesses are slow to start. These challenges are compounded by the fact that the NWT-based diamond mines, our largest economic contributors, are approaching the end of their lifecycle. We must continue to pursue environmentally and socially responsible economic opportunities, but at the same time the GNWT must also work closely with small business owners and communities to enhance local business opportunities. We need more flexibility and less red tape.
I believe people should have the opportunity and resources to live healthy and productive lives. Everyone needs to be involved in the reduction of poverty in the Northwest Territories, business, social advocates, the federal government, the GNWT, all people. Action must be taken to reduce the cost of living to ensure that appropriate housing is available and accessible to all. To support education for Northerners and to enhance social programs can allow people to move forward.
I believe people have the right to accessible and timely health care. Wait times for physicians and other health care professionals throughout the Northwest Territories continue to affect all residents. Operational costs continue to increase, consuming significant portions of our program budgets. The Health Accord expires during the life of this government. The GNWT needs to support an alternative delivery throughout the Northwest Territories. The work started on the Foundation for Change must continue and be implemented during the life of this government.
I believe people and education are the keys to our future. To maximize benefits of economic development and activity, we have to ensure that there are enough educated Northerners to do the work required. Not enough of our children are graduated from high school. Often graduates from smaller communities lack the courses to get accepted into either college or university. We need to address the root causes of the failure and find ways to help our youth get programs and grades they need to succeed in post-secondary studies.
I believe people should benefit from government infrastructure spending. When government spends on needed infrastructure, I believe we have an obligation to ensure that it benefits all of our residents. For example, on projects like the Inuvik- Tuk highway we must ensure that the local residents are trained and employed during the construction. Or when large infrastructure projects like Stanton are upgraded, the upgrades must help to control the costs and improve service delivery. In addition, local contractors should be involved in designing construction.
The last thing I want to talk about is devolution. I believe that the greatest benefit of devolution, the grand prize, is that we, the people of the Northwest Territories, will finally be the ones making decisions on how public lands, water and resources get used and developed in the Northwest Territories. However, I do recognize that to date the devolution file has not been going that smoothly. The devolution file and the Wildlife Act have caused some serious tensions between the GNWT and our Aboriginal partners and governments in the Northwest Territories. We must find a way to rebuild these damaged relationships as we move forward with devolution negotiations. We must make every effort to find common ground.
Last Friday this Assembly took an important step in this direction with an historic meeting with our Aboriginal partners and governments. During this meeting one of our Aboriginal leaders said that with trust and understanding we can accomplish things together. To do this we must plan together. What we want isn’t really that different. I agree completely. I am committed to working with you, my colleagues, as well as our Aboriginal partners and governments to build mutually beneficial and productive relationships.
It’s time to shake things up in the Northwest Territories. The people want to see progress. The 17th Legislative Assembly is in a position to make
real progress for all of our people. I’m happy and honoured to be here and to be part of it. Over the last four years I believe that I have shown and demonstrated that I care about our people, that I want to make a positive difference to the lives of our residents, and that I want our residents to have
the opportunities and personal tools they need to take advantage of these opportunities.
I am very excited by the next four years and what we can all accomplish working together. I would like to take the next step and take everything that I have learned and experienced as a long-time Northerner, born and raised, as a GNWT employee, as an MLA to represent the people of the Northwest Territories as a member of Cabinet in the 17th Legislative
Assembly. I’m asking for your vote. Thank you for your consideration. Your vote counts. Mahsi cho.