Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is Heritage Day in the Northwest Territories and across Canada. Each year, the Heritage Canada Foundation encourages Canadians everywhere to set aside the third Monday in February to celebrate our heritage. The theme this year is Travel Through Time: The Heritage of Transportation.
Transportation has played a significant role in shaping society in the Northwest Territories. Long before Europeans arrived, aboriginal people developed the knowledge and the technology to travel across vast and rugged landscapes. This made life easier and ensured survival in a harsh environment.
The original aboriginal methods of transport -- the dog team, the kayak and the canoe -- were adopted by European explorers, traders, missionaries and police who came to this land. Later, paddle wheelers, cat trains and bush planes helped to make the North more accessible. Today we have an extensive network of all-season and ice roads. Most of our communities have airports. Many northern communities are supplied by barge or sealift.
Mr. Speaker, we in the Northwest Territories welcome the benefits that the evolution of transportation has provided over the years. Our communities are much less isolated than they once were. Technological advances in the transportation industry have opened up many areas to mineral exploration and development. Transportation will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping our future.
Special events have been planned throughout the week to remind us of the importance of our transportation heritage. Earlier today, the City of Yellowknife Heritage Committee presented their annual heritage award to the Yellowknife Seniors' Society Book Committee for their recently published book Yellowknife Tales: Sixty Years of Stories from Yellowknife. The city has also planned a series of other activities that will take place over the course of this week.
The Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Transportation are jointly hosting a public event on Thursday, February 22, at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre about the making of ice roads. I am sure that my colleague, the Honourable Vince Steen, Minister of Transportation, joins me in encouraging everyone to attend. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause