Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Honourable Members, citizens of the Northwest Territories, and Indigenous nations who have called these lands home since time immemorial. I stand before you here on Chief Drygeese territory, the sovereign homeland to the Yellowknives Dene, along with the Tlicho, Metis, and other First Peoples. The land on which this Assembly is built has been a meeting place of many cultures and peoples since before the recording of western history. It is in that spirit that I speak to you today as we begin the important process of choosing the next leader of the Northwest Territories in the traditions of our consensus government.

I am proud to be a part of this Assembly, proud of the deep collaboration we have seen together in such a short time, proud of the mutual respect we have for each other and for the First Peoples of these lands. I did not put pen to paper to consider this speech until I had first heard of the priorities of my colleagues and those of the leaders of the Indigenous nations. I feel very confident that this Assembly has found common cause to move forward, shoulder to shoulder, into a future beset with challenges but equally filled with opportunities and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

I am a proud Northerner. I am the son of Maureen and Terry. My mother was a teacher in small communities, helping empower Indigenous students, before she embarked on a career in public service as a constituency manager and later chief of staff for Ethyl Blondin-Andrew, the MP for the Western Arctic from 1988 to 2006, and the Minister of State and the Queen's Privy Council. My father was a public servant and, in fact, continues to be a public servant, now working in Fort McPherson where he serves as senior administrative officer. And I'm pleased to see him here today. It is from them that I learned the value of public service and through their example that I decided to dedicate my own career to serving others.

I have worked as a deputy sheriff, I have worked as a policy analyst for the GNWT, as an economic development director for the Yellowknives Dene, and I've had the profound honour of representing two of this House's 19 ridings. But most importantly, I am a husband to Colleen and a father to Corbin, Eve, and Leander. My family is what motivates me to step forward today to set a foundation for a future where my children, and all of our children, can enjoy the opportunities that I was afforded growing up in the Northwest Territories.

I have won elections, and I have lost elections. You learn a lot more from losing than winning. You learn the importance of family, of patience, and of time. In this House, we can only count on four years, and our time is precious since our election only weeks ago. I know we need to make every moment of this 20 Assembly count, and I will not be idle as a leader no matter what side of the House I serve. There is too much at stake for my constituents, the ones I hold dear, and to all those who look to us with concern about their future. The clock is ticking, and we have much to do.

I respectfully ask you consider me worthy of the honour to serve you as Premier and allow me the privilege of your attention as I present my vision for how we can bring meaningful and positive change to our government.

I have and always will be committed to change. Not for the sake of it alone, but to foster good governance and effective results for our people. Our government in the past has spent too much time handwringing and contemplating risk rather than making meaningful decisions to tackle the most serious issues facing our community. We have seen this time and time again. Action plans instead of action, uncosted and unmeasured strategies, one size fits all policies that are developed in Yellowknife that are unworkable anywhere else. This needs to stop now. I have said it before that I do not believe in zero risk plans just as I do not believe in developing processes that serve as guardrails around decision-making of elected leaders. Ministers need to lead, not follow. And I am determined to empower our Cabinet to succeed, and I am just as determined to foster unity amongst all 19 Members of this House and make accountability and transparency an irrevocable part of how we do business.

Relationships are crucial to the work we do, but good relationships alone are not enough to change things. This doesn't mean we need a revolution as I once called for, instead we need an evolution of a system that has served the NWT so well over the years. Northerners are proud of this system of government. I understand that. And I want to ensure that we keep all those things that work so well and improve on the parts of the system that don't. We can do better but not if we rely on relationships alone to get results our people so desperately desire.

I believe it is time to innovate and further decolonize our system of government by breaking down the barriers between Cabinet and Regular Members. I propose to strengthen the standing committee system by making each committee chair an associate Minister. Associate Ministers will be given Executive Council status for their purposes of information sharing, allowed to access their Minister counterparts' pre-sessional briefings, granted observer status in committees of Cabinet, meetings of the Intergovernmental Council and the Council of Leaders. Associate Ministers will not be part of Cabinet decision-making and not subject to Cabinet solidarity. This change will effectively preserve the balance of the Assembly, the balance of accountability in the Assembly, and enhance the functions of all MLAs working together while giving chairs of committees more resources to help guide the mandate to meaningful results while incorporating familiar chief and council leadership styles to the consensus system.

As for Cabinet itself, I will encourage active participation in the proceedings of the House where previous executive councils have chosen to abstain or consider the work of Regular Members to be little more than advice to government. We are all Members of this House, and we all will respect the work we do in this Assembly. Cabinet Ministers will be allowed to debate motions brought forward by Regular Members in standing committees, bring forward their own motions unrelated to their role as Minister, and they will not be subject to Cabinet solidarity except for public bills and appropriation bills.

I will also ensure Cabinet Ministers have the appropriate resources to effectively manage their portfolios without being overwhelmed by their many responsibilities. This means additional staffing to ensure effective direction is provided to the public service and likewise that communication is current, consistent, and clear with the public at large. The more support we give to our Ministers, the more progress we will see getting results for the mandate of the next government.

I envision a new range of portfolios that will address the priorities of this Assembly. This should be the norm setting ministries based on the will of the Members, and therefore the people they serve, rather than a comfort of the public service.

I will develop new portfolios for treaties, addictions, official languages, net zero, and red tape reduction that will be integrated into existing portfolios to refocus the priority of our departments and give the public and Indigenous nations clarity on what this new government stands for.

As for the Premier's office, I believe accountability and transparency are paramount and will suggest a fixed time Premier's question period to be held at least once a legislative sitting where the Premier does not transfer questions to other Ministers and responds directly to the concerns of Members and their constituents.

We also need to simple portfolios in departments by placing all immigration policies under one roof while we modernize and rethink our public service. This is a discussion that needs to be had with all MLAs as part of our priority setting process and with input from the public service, but I am more than prepared to change departments to better serve our citizens.

In this respect, I believe it's time to dissolve the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and replace it with new departments of infrastructure and communities and public safety and emergency preparedness. We have outgrown the need for a centralized department like MACA where we need instead to empower regional and local governments directly while renewing our efforts to provide sound emergency management in the Northwest Territories through a dedicated department.

We also need to strengthen corporate functions of government with a new Executive Council office and NWT Treasury Board that coordinates GNWT policies across all departments and ensures an ball-of-government approach to policy and service delivery. These empowered central agencies can play an essential oversight role into department spending and human resource policies giving real guidance on how departments operate and ensuring best value for money in all aspects of service delivery. Breaking down departmental silos through these new offices will be enhanced with the appointment of regional directors that report to the Premier bringing departments together in regions to ensure successful program delivery and liaising on the ground with local, regional, and Indigenous governments.

We will also indigenize policy development across all departments to ensure programs and services are regionally based and recognize the unique needs of each of our communities. Data driven analysis across all departments will ensure resources are delivered to where they need to go instead of a shotgun approach that leaves some residents underserved.

I also believe the role of caucus must be expanded. We can do more working together as equals by leaving our roles at the door and reminding the public and each other that we are all Members of this House. I propose to continue the good work we've begun engaging with Indigenous nations by having annual leadership summits between caucus and Indigenous leaders and codifying that into our standing conventions.

I also propose regular caucus meetings that are longer and more thorough for information sharing and discussions with the governments legislative and fiscal agenda. These meetings will be meaningful and given enough time for input from all Members rather than brief affairs occurring before each legislative sitting.

We can all agree that partnerships are critical in building the future we all want to see for the Northwest Territories. Federal engagement is lagging behind, and millions have been left on the table. This must be resolved in time before the next federal election. We need to pool our collective strength as a confederation within confederation working with Indigenous nations to get more resources flowing into the North. I will adopt a Team NWT approach where the Premier will lead missions to Ottawa, provinces, and international destinations in concert with Indigenous leaders. I have personally known Prime Minister Trudeau for the past ten years and commit to sitting down with him and opening the door to new funding for our most pressing infrastructure and social needs. If elected, I will get the ball rolling on the first Team NWT mission within 72 hours and bring our leaders to Ottawa to deal with infrastructure, land claims negotiations, NIHB, Nutrition North, offshore oil and gas, and northern defence infrastructure.

The 19th Assembly made good progress on building a framework for meaningful partnerships with Indigenous nations on legislation and collaboration. These measures were good first steps but ultimately not protected by our constitution and therefore vulnerable to the changing whims of a public government. We need to bring codrafting into the public government, so it's protected by the constitution of the NWT.

I commit to holding a constitutional convention in two years, if not sooner, to discuss the future of the NWT with representatives from Indigenous nations, the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and civil society. This will allow us to discuss comprehensive changes to the NWT, devolve the remaining powers held by Ottawa, and bring legislative oversight to Indigenous nations over what the public government does as either upper House or an Indigenous senate. These are major decisions and deserve more thought and time to discuss exactly what will be afforded to our people as part of this process. And that time will be afforded to them as we look to the future, and I want all people to be a part of that conversation.

I respect the priorities of the honourable Members duly elected to represent all Northerners. And in that regard, I'm not going to dictate my priorities as a prospective Premier of this House. Rather I told you about how I intend to govern. But I want to read, and I will reaffirm my commitment to the collaborative priority setting process we've all agreed to as part of the 20th Assembly and that will take us into the new year. But I promise today that that mandate that eventually comes from the government will be developed to meet those priorities with costed and measurable actions that have clear timelines for implementation. However, there are serious challenges ahead that must be addressed by the next Executive Council regardless of our priorities. I believe these are necessities for the future of the Northwest Territories that cannot be ignored.

For a start, let us consider the wildfire and flooding disasters in the past two years that displaced thousands from their homes and communities. Two-thirds of our people became climate refugees overnight. Sovereign Indigenous governments and local municipalities were shut out of emergency management operations and decisions. The public was told contradictory statements almost daily and when they needed clear communication from their elected leaders and government officials. Northerners were told to fend for themselves and bear the cost of evacuation after dutifully following orders in good faith. These are not imagined slights of a frustrated populous; these are real things that happened and must never happen again.

Some Members have spoken of a desire to bring forward a motion to call for an independent review. I support this. And further, I believe an independent commission must be struck by this Legislative Assembly with a mandate determined by the House and not the government. Under my leadership, if elected, the Cabinet will support a motion to establish an independent commission and direct the public service to cooperate fully with the process. Our people deserve transparency and accountability after such a traumatic episode in our history. We need truth and healing that can only come from understanding why and how decisions were made with recommendations on how we can move forward together.

Climate change is real and has forever altered the reliable networks of transportation and supply that we have come to rely on in the Mackenzie Valley. The Mackenzie Valley Highway is now an essential transportation corridor, no longer a priority to compete with other major capital projects. We must ensure our supply chain is intact and uninterruptible, and we need this critical piece of transportation infrastructure to ensure the safety and security of all of our communities. We simply cannot afford not to do it, and we need to get it done fast.

We feel the pain of our people from an addictions epidemic that has swept through all of our communities and devastated families. We have allowed excuses to persist instead of challenging our governments to find a way to create local treatment centres and programs that allow our citizens to heal. Like critical supply chains that are essential to the good governance of our territories, treatment centres are no longer an optional priority, and a plan must be put in place to develop regional treatment centres across our communities. This cannot be done by this government alone, and as Premier I will direct the establishment of a treatment centre working group that brings together Indigenous governments, municipalities, and civil society to identify barriers to success, jointly apply for funding, and develop culturally relevant terms of reference for each program and facility.

Our local governments have been underfunded and overlooked for too long. The municipal funding gap is a travesty of public administration and is unacceptable. Closing the gap is not a matter of priorities. It is a moral obligation to peace, order, and good government. I commit that the first operational maintenance budget will find the money to fund our communities or change the formula to make it workable within the means of our fiscal framework. But I cannot allow the hypocrisy of a government that refuses to follow its own funding policies to continue. We cannot continue to call out Ottawa for underfunding the territories if our own government is doing the exact same thing at home.

Carbon pricing isn't working in the NWT. We are one of only three jurisdictions in Canada with our own carbon taxation system, and it is costly and difficult to administer as we had to play catchup to the decisions that are made in Ottawa, like exempting home heating fuel that Northerners are not able now to benefit from. We should not be duplicating processes unnecessarily. I will move to scrap the NWT carbon tax and replace it with the federal system to improve efficiency and lower administrative costs, and I will also direct the Department of Finance to create a grant rebate program to offset extra costs for heating oil until the federal exemptions kick in. I will also work with Ottawa to develop further exemptions to ensure Northerners are not paying for pollution when they cannot afford low carbon alternatives in their own communities.

Reconciliation is not just historic; it is a living process and we owe a duty to engage -- that we owe a duty to engage with every day. For governments, that is even more important and we have to address some of the recent actions in previous governments that have set back relations with Indigenous nations. After Quebec appealed Bill C-92, an Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children, youth, and families in 2022, the GNWT joined Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba in their interventions supporting that province's perspective. Specific to the NWT's position is the fact that C-92 instigated by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation to pass its own law called the Family Way of Life to codify jurisdiction of children and youth in accordance with the federal act. Despite initially supporting both C-92 and the IRC's moves, the GNWT has moved to undermine the IRC despite the Inuvialuit Final Agreement having the right to supercede territorial law whenever there's a conflict. This is unacceptable and a clear violation of the Indigenous sovereignty and treaties that we are all sworn to uphold.

Last year, the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation was subject to an unlawful raid by GNWT officials at the Timber Bay cultural site. Elders, women, and children were torn from their tents by force invoking a legacy of intergenerational trauma and colonialism that has profoundly impacted these Dene people. I have -- as I indicated, this raid was deemed unlawful by the courts and no charges have been laid. It is time to right these wrongs. We need a clean slate and a fresh start with Indigenous nations if we are to move together into a harmonious collaborative future. As Premier, I will direct the GNWT to withdraw from Bill C-92 -- the bill C-92 intervention and issue a formal apology to both the IRC and the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation and further direct that fair compensation be provided to the people of Lutselk'e for their suffering.

Land is life to the people of the Northwest Territories. Without certainty over land and resources, we cannot build a strong foundation for success. And it is time to make progress on the outstanding land claims and self-government agreements. We need a new approach to negotiations; not a single land or self-government agreement was accomplished in the last Assembly. We can do better. I am calling on new negotiation mandates within one year of swearing in the next Cabinet and new offers at all tables within two years. It is my earnest hope that by the end of this Assembly, we'll be discussing implementing these agreements for the 21st Assembly rather than continuing to talk about negotiating them.

Mr. Clerk, I want to thank the honourable Members for their consideration of my nomination to this important role. This decision is not just a choice of who gets to be the next Premier; it is a choice on how the next Cabinet will work both with its own Members and with the Regular Members. When Members consider this choice, remember that after three elections that have seen record levels of turnover of the membership of this honourable House, our constituents have set the bar very high for meaningful change in how we do business as a government. I am determined to meet those high expectations and ensure that as we do, no Member is left behind and that we are all united in our desire for a renewed government that gets results for our people. Thank you