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.