Thank you, Mr. Clerk. I too have told my constituents that this is where I'm headed or where I would like to be. I think it's the best way to get results for Range Lake. So I will be putting my name forward for Cabinet if unsuccessful. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Mr. Clerk, I also did have an opportunity to go door to door notwithstanding being acclaimed, and my residents also were asking if I wasn't the Premier that they had asked that I would consider being a Minister, and it is my intention to run for Cabinet if that's where I find myself. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you, everyone, for allowing me to tell my story today of why I want to sit on the Executive Council. I'll just be reading from notes. I was thinking to do some bullet points, but I think notes are better today.

So my story is a northern story. Somebody finally decided to step into the role and help lead Nunakput and help lead the territory through these uncertain times. And with the grace of God, who would have thought that a little girl from Aklavik, raised in a bush camp in the Mckenzie Delta and Grollier Hall, is now the MLA for Nunakput and vying for a Cabinet position in the Northwest Territories' Executive Council. A teenaged mother who gained her college diploma in her forties while attending night school. This is a common theme throughout the North as many of us do it the hard way.

I've had a fortunate life guided by my parents, my family and my in-laws, counseled by elders and mentored by those that fought for Indigenous and Inuvialuit rights. When I moved to Tuktoyaktuk at 17 years old just out of high school, I worked for Northern Store. At the time it was called the Hudson Bay. I met many elders at the time who were still so traditional That they still signed their old age pension with an X. I got to know every one of them, so beautiful people. Working at the hamlet office at Tuktoyaktuk, I worked my way to become senior administrative officer for the municipality at 25 years old. This was only possible with the support I had of my husband and my father and mother-in-law who helped me so much in raising my children. And I'm forever grateful for their guidance and support.

I worked with a powerful council of elected elders who never forgot their responsibility to represent their community to the best of their ability. I heed their words to this day. When something is not right, speak up and don't let your voice be silenced but also learn to listen and listen carefully, trust your gut instinct and use that to your advantage. As Indigenous people, we've had to survive thousands of years based on traditional knowledge and gut instinct. So ancestral memories are there; you just have to trust them.

What I do bring to the table today is respect, empathy, experience and knowledge, the willingness to work hard for the constituents I represent, but also the Northwest Territories, my home where at the end of the day I will be buried. I represent the region that is remote and isolated, that doesn't have the access to proper health care and educational facilities that many of your ridings have. I can be the voice at Cabinet table reminding you of how vast and remote this territory really is.

Recently I have had the privilege to sit as the senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Tuk. I returned to my roots. I have that knowledge of a municipal corporation that financially struggles to provide municipal programs and services for the community but are still so successful, so successful, constantly working and lobbying for their community. Such a powerful council that believes in the betterment of their community, but that's every community. We want to see everyone succeed.

My volunteer work with the Tuktoyaktuk District Education Authority, the Inuvik Homeless Shelter, the Inuvik Community Garden Society and the Northern Games Society indicate the passion I have for the people, culture and community. I've held many roles, including chair of the Arctic Inspiration Prize board of trustee, president of the Inuvialuit Communication Society, chair of the Tuk Community Corporation, director of the Inuvik Community Corporation, director of the Inuvialuit Investment Corporation, but my greatest role is daughter to Tommy and Phyllis Ross, wife to Donald -- excuse me. Mother to Kyle and Scott. And grandmother to Hayley and -- I'm sorry, honestly, I'm tougher than this but I'm a grandma. Good luck and best wishes to all in the running. I have nothing but respect for you all. The whole division of the Northwest Territories improves the lives of all who call this territory their home. Thank you.

Good afternoon, colleagues. Residents of the Northwest Territories have spoken on November the 14th. Now we begin the work in selecting our Legislative Assembly leadership. I placed my name forward for Cabinet position. I'll share my presentation.

I'm a residential school survivor entering my early years in politics as a community counselor and participated in the Sahtu regional land claim process, having worked up the chain of command and becoming the first native oil well driller in Norman Wells and witnessed the Norman Wells oil field expansion in the early eighties. Having operated my construction business for several years provides me with experiences in decision-making, a fundamental element in project management and completion. If elected, I'll bring these principles to the 20th Legislative Assembly and the co-drafted list of priorities.

As a returning Member from the 18th Legislative Assembly, I'm quite familiar with government conventions, experiences and values, serving public office, which is now pressured by economical, mental health, housing, cost of living, and social issues very similar in all 33 of our communities.

I support a post-pandemic review approach to our four-year co-draft priorities in collaboration with the Indigenous leadership council. Integral to this Legislative Assembly institution is the leaders representing it. With my previous Assembly experiences, being a lifetime Indigenous northern resident and my private sector experiences, I believe will contribute to being an effective Cabinet Minister. I feel strongly that my experiences and energy will strengthen stability in both the national and territorial platforms.

On the points of growth specific solutions, I will support transitional efficiencies, reviews of programs, inefficient policies, projects, climate action planning, and other mandate frameworks in collaboration with the Members of this Assembly. This process will fundamentally allow for solutions, availability of resources and capital for common goals of our priorities, including land claim certainty. Higher interest rates also serve to increase associated cost with our government spending.

Releasing all project funds sitting idle is a necessary step towards post-pandemic economic stimulus. Question, Are we effectively managing our physical budget of $2.2 billion? Can we allow for reviews of capital debt to capitalization?

I will continue to support resource development. This sector is a huge economic contributor to our economy and GDP. I will support preparations for the new emerging reclamation and remedial opportunities; in addition, a review of our 2014 evolution agreement for independence, prudent leadership, healthy families, and that social programs to Saint John critical principles to the NWT stability and growth had descriptive statement on the economy. Our economy went from roadside assistance to roadside repost. One of the many initiatives specific to stimulus is releasing the many capital projects that remain idle such as the Inuvik airport terminal, the extended health care facilities, the Colville Lake school, the Tulita health centre, the Wrigley all-season road extension, the Great Bear River bridge, Stanton long-term chair, critical to economic development and central services. We can no longer sit idle. Growing our economy is not sitting on capital.

I will review and submit NorCan, a readiness training initiative for reclamation of remediation opportunities in our trades' division. A suitable starting point is our Skills 4 Success labour market forecast. This is one element in creating a disposable economy while addressing the labour shortage.

The NWT is at pivotal point. Our government physical position creates limitations on extended programs, services, and capital growth. More importantly, in realizing the limitations of our abilities and advancing relationships at the national and pan-regional levels. Forming partnerships is essential. In the process of reviews and efficiencies to program services, capital projects will enhance effective governance. Governing means making informed decisions in the better interests of our communities. I look forward to communicating with this Assembly and our Indigenous Leadership Council.

Climate change is inevitable. The Arctic is warming four times faster. The costly impacts of natural disasters requires our immediate attention to strategic adaptation. This reality needs more support in drafting a climate action plan, designed and tailor to include the Government of Canada.

The NWT society is in desperate need of reviews and action planning to address the addictions crisis and designed on the land model for recovery and traditional values and environment.

I support getting our communities off diesel. We need capital to transition however what is the alternative? This is a huge question, one that can be explored by the selected team.

There is federal resources available for transition to a low carbon green economy. We can explore that. As mentioned earlier, developing federal partnership engagements will assist our government for adaptations and solutions. It is extremely important in selecting our Legislative Assembly leadership elections are a process of transitional change. However identifying priorities is showing leadership, and I look forward to being a part of this implementation.

In closing, the Mackenzie Valley Highway. Here is a legacy with decades of discussions, endless studies. The time has arrived to advance on the issue of progress and more specifically recent mile achievements. This government to date succeeded in acquiring 26 percent of the initial project funding, the environmental assessment regulatory process started with DAAR submission on October the 12th, by legislation a timeline of 16 months or sooner. The low water levels of last summer is having community power generations airlifted in. It would be unimaginable if this was the case for fuel resupply. We must resolute this project, and I thank you, mahsi colleagues.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, colleagues. I stand here today as the proud representative from Inuvik Boot Lake, a community both in the Gwich'in settlement area and the Inuvialuit settlement region and a very diverse community. It's difficult sometimes. Most leaders are, as I know you are, very humble. Normally our career progression is based on our actions and results of those actions versus tooting our own horn, so to speak, but I do look at this as an opportunity to apply for a position. I want to be on your Cabinet, and I want to work for you. So having said that, I think the best way to kind of give you a little idea of who I am and my background is to kind of go through my resume, and I'll make that as exciting as I can, although it's probably not going to keep you on the edge of your seats.

I have spent most of my adult working life in the Northwest Territories. I left a small community on the east coast of Newfoundland when I was 18 years old, and I ended up in Cambridge Bay in what was then the Northwest Territories, now Nunavut. And yes, I was a Bay boy. I spent a little over two years over there with the Hudson Bay Company, traveling through Cambridge Bay, Gjoa Haven, Taloyoak, Ulukhaktok, and Kugluktuk. I then spent about a year in Yellowknife life working and living as well. Then I decided to go back south for about four years to continue my education. And then in 1994, I moved to the community of Inuvik and I immediately knew that's where I wanted to live and spend the rest of my career.

My resume in Inuvik, and there's some overlap between the governance and the working side, I'll certainly go through the working side first.

I started there with the town of Inuvik and worked under the finance department for a couple of years. After that, I did hang my own shingle out up there. I had a small accounting firm where I mainly did personal tax, bookkeeping, small business bookkeeping, and my largest client was the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation where I spent time in all the communities in the ISR setting up standardized chart of accounts, working with the community corps, dev corps and HTCs, to train local people to do that work themselves.

After that, I decided to go to work for the local housing authority where I spent years ten years as the finance manager for the local Inuvik housing authority working in all aspects of finance there, including monthly and annual financial statements which were subject to audit.

After that I was actually ran for mayor so I spent kind of the overlap with my political side, I did spend eight years on town council in Inuvik during that time and then three years as Inuvik's mayor which is a full-time position in the Inuvik as well. When my term ended as mayor in 2012, I went to work for the Inuvialuit Development Corporation as their VP of operations for northern operations, and I spent 12 amazing years working there. I've also, on the governance side, I've been the chairperson of three Crown corporations for this government dating back to the 15th Assembly I believe, over that time - the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, the Business Development Investment Corporation, BDIC, as well as recently public administrator for Aurora College up until about six months ago.

During those times I've worked exclusively with the OAG, the Office of the Auditor General. Two of those organizations actually went through an organizational review while I was chair of their boards and certainly spent a lot of time working with the OAG's office as well.

I've been involved in several major projects in the territories, both as in my role working with IRC as well as my role as mayor. One significant project that I was fortunate enough to work on was the Inuvik-Tuk Highway. There was much work had been done prior to me coming in there. I was fortunate to be part of a committee or group that helped kick it over the goal line so to speak. We actually, as mayor, we secured some funding from CanNor. We flew Yellowknife Films up, we flew the proposed route. We produced a DVD that showed the proposed route and what we would like to build there. We got testimonials on there from the incomparable Nellie Cournoyea and other leaders in the region, and we actually took that DVD down to the Calgary stampede. At the time, it was a Conservative government, and Mr. Harper had a barbecue down there and we took that down there and we shopped around like a deck of playing cards, this DVD. And then we took it to Ottawa where we purposely took it to Infrastructure Canada, to INAC, the PMO, and we kinda shopped it around and said look, we -- myself, and the mayor of Tuk at the time, Brendan Bell was the former Minister who was on that team as well with Nellie, and we were delighted when Mr. Harper did a speech from with throne and gave us a $150 million dollars to start that project. So, again, much work was done before I got on board but certainly something that it was an honour for me to work at that.

Other projects in the region, the Children First Society. As I spoke earlier today, daycare is so important to the entire territory, not only as mayor, providing some funding, some support, but also down here meeting with Ministers to get support and funding for that as well.

So the reason I'm running for Cabinet I guess, as my resume speaks to, is I think I have the experience. I certainly would enjoy the opportunity to sit with the leadership committee.

Everything I have in my life, everything I've done in my career, in my personal life, is based on my ability to create relationships with mutual trust and respect. It's what I do and it's amazing what you can get when you start with that as your base. And I will say that if you do decide to hire me, to elect me, to put me on your leadership committee, you will always get that from me. I always work on an open-door policy. You'll never feel disrespected. I'll make up decisions, as I have, some will do. We'll have some debates, some serious debates, but at the end of the day you'll always feel respected and you'll always have your voice heard for whatever portfolio I shall be fortunate enough to get. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Colleagues, today I stand before you seeking your support for a Cabinet position. I have put my name forward because I believe that I have the skills and the experience to be a strong and effective Minister in our next government, to bring the necessary change to the people of in the Northwest Territories that are calling for and that what they deserve. I have spent my entire public service career as a registered nurse in the areas of acute care, obstetrics, public health, and then in the end of my public service career I was the regional manager of acute care services. This is where I led a team of many wonderful health care staff in the following areas: the emergency department, the operating room, day surgery, endoscopy, CSR, acute care, and obstetrics. All of these departments within the Inuvik Regional Hospital. I had a great working relationship, and I still talk with a lot of my staff today and they still ask me to come back.

I have worked for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation as their NIHB and health navigator. As part of my work, I sat on other regional Inuit-focused health files such as the Inuit TV elimination, Inuit midwifery, Hodaceda, and many other health files. I collaborated with all the staff within the department. One of the main issues that we did deal with a lot was the dental file. So that is one of the areas that I know that has been raised many times from all of our constituents outside of Yellowknife because of the lack of dental care.

I was the chair of the Beaufort Delta Education Council and chair of the Inuvik District Education Authority, as well as a Member before I became into those positions. I voiced many concerns at the territorial level, at the Minister council meetings, on many issues that affect our residents, especially outside and from the small communities. As the regional representation, I represented the voices of all the small communities in the Beaufort Delta. Their concerns were from inclusive schooling, which we call social passing, attendance. And at the time when I was there, it was ensuring that junior kindergarten was being fully implemented and not taking away funds from our other students. We were successful in that, getting that funding.

My home is Inuvik I've always -- that's where I'm from. That's where I'm always going to go. I'm always back and forth. Everybody knows me to be on that next flight home. I grew up in many different communities though. I started my life here born in Yellowknife and as probably three months I think my grandfather said I was laying on his store, in his general store, as a baby. I had the privilege to be also raised by my great grandparents who taught me the values of community. You know, they took care of the community, they took care of the region, and they always taught me to be respectful to that.

I attained my high school graduation diploma with a six-month-old child, attended the nursing -- I attended the nursing program in the Aurora College shortly after. I truly believe that we have to invest in our education system from early childhood right through to our polytechnic in order for us to be successful as a territory. So that is my commitment as Cabinet, that I would always fight for that.

During the last four years as an MLA, I believe I was effective in being able to bring people together to make positive change in a number of different areas, not only for my community but for the people in the Northwest Territories. I've had the opportunity as well to expand my experience and knowledge of other pressing issues facing the NWT. One of my things that I am most proud of is advocating to ensure working with the Indigenous partners in our community for work on the airport runway project. That was not my comfort zone, but I sat with the men, I was briefed, I was able to lead in this House on that topic, and we were successful on getting that stuff moving. So I'm a strong advocate even when I'm uncomfortable in areas where I'm not familiar with.

The housing shortage and affordability issue is a -- is having negative effects on many areas of our residents' lives. It's one of the biggest issues that we as a territory have to tackle. We need to have -- we need people to have a home and be able to afford their homes so that we can have healthy communities. And we must be creative and work with our communities' Indigenous governments in Canada so that we can get homes built and people moved in.

The importance of our business community cannot be forgotten in our decision-making process. They have been hit hard over the past few years, and we need to be able to support them by enhancing incentives to keep our jobs in the North. We must do our share in providing opportunities to our businesses, like advocating for projects like the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and finding new opportunities in our resource sector. We can also review some of our policies with the intent to continue to reduce red tape.

Regional decision-making, in my view, should also form part of our vision as a government. Coming from a regional centre, I'm a strong supporter of decision-making in our regions by people that live in the regions. In my view, there are decisions that can be made in the regions that will also better support small communities. This can be as simple as ensuring staff with decision-making powers are situated in all the region. Time and time again, we have heard of the delay and decision-making as regions wait for final say from Yellowknife. This does not need to be the case as some decision-making capabilities can and should be delegated to the regions.

The cost of living in the North continues to rise and it's to the detriment of our residents. While we cannot control global forces, there are some things we can do to look toward lowering the cost of basic needs like heating our homes and lowering our power costs. We need to continue to advocate for exemptions such as government on -- as our government on taxes on heating sources for our communities until there are more reliable alternative energy sources of available. We cannot be punished because where we live.

Health and well-being of our residents are crucial to having a healthy territory. Working with our Indigenous governments to create regional wellness specific to the needs of each region must be a priority. We must find ways to ensure that our medical travel processes are being implemented through the lens reducing stress for our residents and not adding to them. And in order to achieve this, we need to allow for regional decision-making on programs and services in the region.

Each region of our territory is unique, and we should be flexible and adaptable to those circumstances. And I am committed to working closely with Indigenous governments to incorporate cultural healing methods into our health care system, respecting cultural diversity, and promoting holistic well-being for our residents.

Finalizing self-government and land claim agreements is an important step forward for our government. Not only is it beneficial for Indigenous groups of our region, it can be beneficial for all the people in the Northwest Territories. Finalizing these agreements can bring new opportunities for all the residents of the North, including economic ones. This, with the addition of decision-making through the lens of UNDRIP, can lead to a prosperous North for all of us.

If selected, I will ensure that communication with all Members is regular, open, and honest, and that Regular MLAs have access to me as a Minister. I believe this is important, and I will ensure that I have an open door policy for all MLAs or an online or a phone policy that you can call me for all MLAs so that we can work together to find solutions to issues that each of our ridings face. I believe this is the only way that we ensure that we are successful to meet our priorities that we all set as a Legislative Assembly. I will work with all Members to ensure they have a voice as we work together to make positive change for all our residents. As you consider me for a position on Cabinet, I am a team player but I am also an independent thinker by nature, and I can tell you that I will bring integrity and strong work ethic, experience, dedication, along with the compassion, that our residents need. While we are all aware of the financial constraints, we are under during this next term, I am optimistic that we can still meet the needs of our residents. We need to hit the ground running, so to speak, and I believe that my experience will assist us in moving forward as a territory. I do believe that we cannot wait or be slow in actioning some of the problems that we all know need to be addressed.

As with the rest of you, I want to strive to help make life easier and better for all our residents and that we have a prosperous territory for the future, And I ask for your support in helping to achieve that vision. Thank you.

Mr. Clerk, I'm proud to rise today and stand for the seat at the next Cabinet table. I ask my colleagues in this Assembly to consider the strengths and skills I'm offering, as well bearing in mind about my outlook for the future of the GNWT.

I was born and raised Fort Resolution by my grandparents, raised by Ernest Paulette and Mary Paulette. I also lived in Hay River and eventually relocated to Yellowknife to attend Akaitcho Hall and Sir John High School, then moving on after high school to work for DPW as an apprentice carpenter, then went on to attend Thebacha College in Fort Smith where I obtained my journeyman certificate in carpentry. I reside in N'dilo with my beautiful wife Aleda Edjericon, our children and our grandson, and my fur babies.

I'll bring the next Cabinet a specific perspective for change that I know will complement many other priorities this Assembly shares regarding change on how we work with First Nation governments and the smaller communities these nations call home. This kind of change is solely needed now more than ever as we reach critical moments in our territory's history. Without better relationships between the partners of the North, we will continue to face the same problems every year's election.

Mr. Clerk, I believe all of this is to be true. As we look forward together and speak with change, it is important to remember that we are not trying to be divisive. There has been some good work done here, but not nearly enough. There has been decisions made and unfortunately ill-considered. They are in the conversation we have to have. Many of us would not be sitting here today if the people did not vote for us to have these conversations.

We heard from our voters across the territory that this current relationship is not working. Previous governments have problems with these changes and offered meaningful progress, but their approach did not change yet. Yes, we will improve that hard work done by previous Members. This time we need to take a new approach to bring the progress we made over the years to the finish line.

Mr. Clerk, this new approach means treating Indigenous governments as equal partners and staying true to the vision through and through. This means enforcing the Canadian Constitution section 35 on Crown consultations and accommodations, upholding current treaties, negotiating the outstanding claims to a fair conclusion. It also means a better exchange of information, making decisions together and trusting new ways of delivering services, enforcing laws. Previous governments have made these commitments and then stepped back. These steps -- sorry, that step back leads to mistakes, confusion, and many missed opportunities. It leads to poor decision-making. At the worst, it can even lead to repeating the disastrous policies of the past like the recent raid on Timber Bay Culture Camp.

One of the last things the previous government did was passing the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous People.

Mr. Clerk, the key word is implementation. We now must implement those laws, and that will take a big group effort. We will launch a government that sees reconciliation through. To do that, we need the Cabinet Member with proven experience and working knowledge of the subject. As a former leader in my community, I bring into this Assembly decades of work that has made the North fair. I have worked towards this goal whether it was through my efforts working with the housing corporation on multimillion dollar projects or through my many roles I had with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, including head chief, where I signed off the political accord participation agreements, joint venture agreements between governments, corporations. As YKDFN, I signed off the efforts to work with industry, ease boundary disputes, eliminate bidding conflicts, and forged new relationships. I've also done important work as chairman for the Mackenzie Valley Impact Review Board for six years and also the spokesperson for the Akaitcho Territory government and have been an effective voice for the riding of the Tu Nedhe for the last two years.

During my time as elected leader advocating the lobbyists, I acquired the skills necessary to mend old relationships and build new ones. I gained a thorough knowledge of public policy and economic development. These skills gave me a stronger understanding and a broad range of interests in the territory, what they need, and how can we come together. It is crucial that our government can understand the different voices of the North and unite them.

Mr. Clerk, this is what I had spent my entire life working towards, is to build relationships. Working together is key.

Mr. Clerk, we all know when the relationship between the GNWT and Indigenous government improves, we all benefit. We know that great unfairness of the relationship between the First Nations and the federal government is the root cause of most of the problems we face today, and some of this continued unfairness carried on through the GNWT prevents us from solving them. This unfairness is our greatest barrier to success on many different fronts. Until we settle claims, we will struggle to attract investment. Without empowered self-government, we won't have effective culturally relevant services. Without an equal partner, there will be continued division and conflict. We will waste time and miss many opportunities to tackle our problems and grow as an economy. With our poor economy and shrinking population, we will only come to rely on the federal government more and more as expensive problems build up while we lose the income for our territory.

Mr. Clerk, if we had the Cabinet that was committed to do this better relationship, a Cabinet empowered by Members with a wealth of knowledge and experience, we would just be chipping away at the many barriers we face to success little by little. We could be making the progress as we are sent here by our communities to deliver on by addressing the root causes. There is so much talent and opportunity in our communities, so much to be proud of, but they are held back by seeing their full potential. We have a vision of a bright future where our communities have adequate housing, access to treatment centres and infrastructure we are behind on. We need good health care, social services, clean environment, and an ability to practice and teach the culture. Let's unlock the potential by taking a bold action towards greater trust and a stronger partnership.

Mr. Clerk, I hope Members will support a role for me in Cabinet where I can help us pursue a more collaborative approach. I would also look forward to the partnership I will build on as a Cabinet Member with Regular Members as well with leadership and Indigenous governments and community governments. Together we can take a real action on reconciliation that would also give us the tools we need to take on much of our struggles. With my voice added to the Cabinet table, we will help our team stay true to our principles and priorities and make the changes we are here to accomplish.

I want to thank my constituents for giving me the chance to represent them in the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding here in the 20th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Clerk.