Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is April 1st. I know it is April Fool's day, but only until noon. It is also the first day of the new fiscal year, a significant day for at least some of us in government.
But it also has other significance, as it is our first birthday as the new Northwest Territories.
-- Applause
Is it a cause for celebration? We all know the history and the reasons. It is our friends and neighbours in Nunavut who are the ones who really have something to celebrate, or at least ponder, about their first year as Canada's newest partner in confederation.
Here in the Northwest Territories, Mr. Speaker, I expect our first birthday will be a rather melancholy kind of day. I do not see any plans for parades or fireworks. However, I am not disappointed.
That is because we have not finished the job of building the new Northwest Territories. In reality, we have just started, and I am in no hurry. I take a page from the history of Nunavut, which goes back 30 years to the days when John Amogoalik, Peter Erneck, and Tagak Curley created their vision for their own homeland.
It took them two decades to achieve their dream. We are a bit like them, Mr. Speaker. We have big ideas, as well as big problems. We are still struggling to get the powers in Ottawa to really pay attention to us.
Later today, our colleague, Mr. Nitah, will table our Assembly's vision of how we will proceed towards a better tomorrow. We will have more birthdays, Mr. Speaker, before we really, truly say we have come of age and we have become, in every sense of the word, the new Northwest Territories. It will take time. But by then, we will have carved out our place as a strong, proud and prosperous part of Canada.
So I say, happy first birthday to our neighbours and colleagues in Nunavut. And to the people of the Northwest Territories, I say our big day still lies ahead of us. We still have a lot of talking and thinking and commitment ahead of us before the day when we, too, will unfurl our new flag, our new purpose, and I believe, Mr. Speaker, our new name for the rest of the world to envy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause