Qujannamiik, lksivautaaq.
--- Applause
In March, the city of Yellowknife sponsored a two-day community leaders' forum where about 25 community leaders from various groups and organizations attended. The purpose of this forum was to begin the process of developing a shared vision for the future of Yellowknife.
The comment was made that over the next few years, Yellowknife will be exposed to major influences that could radically change the community. These issues that were discussed were division of the Territories, the continued downsizing of the government in the NWT, decentralization of services and the development of community empowerment and community wellness strategies, the potential development of new mines in the region, the settlement of land claims and development of aboriginal self-government and the need to position the city to take advantage of new business opportunities.
At the end of the forum, the participants held a joint session and they summarized some of their major conclusions. I will briefly touch on those. The forces of change affecting Yellowknife over the next few years will radically transform the community. Planning for change means developing a vision of the kind of community we want to live in. In developing our vision, we have to address a number of issues. One of the most significant is our need to create a unique identity apart from the Government of the Northwest Territories.
In a new Western Territory, the residents of Yellowknife will make up close to 50 per cent of the population. It is time that we take a leadership role in creating the new territory and in defining our role within the new territory.
City council must play the lead role in creating the new vision and developing the strategic plan. They stated that in order to carry this out, City Council must reinvent itself. The time is right for change. With the GNWT willing to hand over responsibility for a wide variety of services, the city has a window of opportunity.
The Members have stated that though we expect council to take the lead role in shaping the new vision and strategy plan for Yellowknife, they didn't expect it to act alone. They expected council to involve the Yellowknife MLAs and the leaders from across the community.
The forum was the first step in developing a new vision.