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.