Thank you, Mr. Clerk. I'm a storyteller. For most of my life, I have painted pictures with words. Sometimes those words make more of a novel. So I have cut my words down today in hopes of gaining a little bit of favour with the clerk that I lost in the last Assembly and painting a clearer picture with moments we have now shared getting to know one another.
We're privileged to be standing here on Chief Drygeese territory, traditional lands of the Yellowknives Dene since time immemorial, home to the Tlicho and North Slave Metis, enriched by all First Nations and Inuit, who today call Yellowknife home. I am forever grateful to this territory. It has gifted me a childhood full of gratitude for the North, its people, its land, and its many lessons.
I started my post-secondary pursuit in chemistry. Science was always what I thought I should do. But this didn't align with my heart. I love listening, learning, reflecting, and writing. So my heart led me to journalism, six years as a public servant in communications and policy, 15 years as a northern entrepreneur, many more as a community volunteer, and finally a term in this House.
I see the role of Minister much like that of a scientist who tests hypotheses thoughtfully and seeing how methods change the results and be willing to shift when the original plan isn't right. I know that the way I come to this table affects the results we can achieve.
The 20th Assembly convenes at a crucial time in our collective history, both globally and locally. Wicked problems are everywhere. Climate change, inflation, housing stresses, and health care tensions strain global communities. Here, wicked problems like to sink their teeth into the North differently, more immediately. The time for action is running out if we are to not inherit irreversible damage.
Regrettably, these wicked problems are not new. They follow us from election to election. As MLAs, Cabinet, and departments, we need to govern different if we are not to continue having these bite us at the end of this term. The 20th Assembly must make a difference, a real and durable difference. MLAs, Indigenous governments, and public government, NGOs, private industry, and civil society must come together to achieve our priorities. The Cabinet must build strong and open bridges between the communities of difference if we are to make a difference. I have high expectations of our capacity to resolve and resolve to achieve what none of us could achieve on our own. Cabinet must create a safe place for all of us to venture into tough conversations, to share our collective wisdom, to encourage us to engage deeply and without fear regardless of how vulnerable we become as we stretch out beyond our comfort zones.
We need three things as we embrace today's wicked problems. The first is resilience. In the face of shocks like wildfires, floods, and pandemics, that stuff like that is unlikely to go away. This is about reliable business continuity, keeping the lights on. We're trying to ensure that business as usual achieves stability, security, safety, and sustainability for the normal lives we yearn for. By building our resilience, we are future proofing and becoming more adaptable to things we cannot control.
Second, and at the same time, we're striving for total system transformation that changes our relationships with nature and each other, moving from a competitive to a cooperative stance where accountability for achieving desired results takes priority over compliance with procedures that don't serve us. We know that society and nature are moving irreversibly to something new. We need to work smart, not politically correct to thrive rather than survive.
Third, in between resilience and transformation is creative innovation where we try a variety of new things, new technologies based on stronger values of empathy, connectivity, sharing, stewardship, and care. These three pathways are not separate but overlapping. And leading this is our job. Our progress must be tracked quantitatively, qualitatively, and anecdotally to mark our paths and to ensure we are accountable.
Madam Clerk, great opportunity awaits when times are tough. First, we need to dream big. Second, we need real partnership. And third, we must bring the whole system to the table to ensure that no one is left behind as we adapt and transform to a new future.
Making a difference is engaging what is alive and what has soul. As leaders, we all have a big role in this challenge. We're asking ourselves to see the future in this present moment. We're asking ourselves to take confident action with complex systems despite uncertainty. We are asking ourselves to engage multiple ways of knowing diverse perspectives, imagination, innovation, and creativity to push the needle of the status quo. We need to find flexible pathways rather than rigid roadmaps to take full advantage of the opportunities, allow us to learn, be flexible, be nimble, and act so we can find what works and step out of the tradition of studying than shelving.
We need to welcome crucial conversations in this House, in this Cabinet, and with the public service because the issues we face resonate with the people we each serve. Crucial conversations can only thrive where there is neither violence nor silence. We must learn to talk through the tough stuff, let empathy replace judgment, let personal accountability replace self-justification.
So, Madam Clerk, what do I potentially bring to the table?
My approach is creative. The status quo or reacting critically against it only gets us more of what we already have which has proven to be inadequate. More of the same doesn't get you different.
My approach is collaborative. No one is smarter than all of us.
My approach is rights-based. Rights are not an entitlement but an empowerment.
My approach is grounded in a conviction about the central importance of the North.
My approach is people-centered where I listen to learn and understand, not to react and defend. People centeredness exposes our values And for me, those include integrity, transparency, deep listening, and curiosity.
My approach is persistently optimistic. That's how you overcome adversity. That's what gives real hope real teeth.
Madam Clerk, we must go beyond our current thinking and act from a deeper collective wisdom. We have work to do. We must always remember why we were driven to ask for the trust of the people we serve, then we must act, learn, and act again to nudge our home to a better place. Colleagues, today I ask for your support for a ministerial role based on your confidence that I will draw the best out of our Cabinet, my department, and the Members of this House to make a durable difference while we help to tell our shared story. Thank you.