Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in times when we are facing issues that are controversial, it is important to focus on those issues that have a positive impact on people and land as well. Mr. Speaker, as many people may be aware, the Horn Plateau, or E'dehzhie, as it is also known, is an area of great cultural and ecological significance to the people in the Deh Cho. It has received protection under the Protected Area Strategy. Protection of the Horn Plateau is an example of positive impact and recognition and protection placed on it has a special meaning to the aboriginal people who gather there.
What this protection means is that over the next five years, no development will take place in that area. During that five-year period, the area will undergo extensive study and assessment to determine if it should be protected indefinitely.
Mr. Speaker, this important decision was not done in isolation, but was a combined effort undertaken by the people from the Deh Cho, the North Slave, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the federal government, and an organization called the World Wildlife Fund, Canada. It was a people's vision combined with a belief and effort that saw a need to protect a piece of land that was abundant, not only in wildlife, but also with the history of the people who have used it over centuries.
Mr. Speaker, this important decision reminds us what our priorities as a government should be -- that is, to ensure the best interest and integrity of our land and our people are protected at all levels. When something as positive as protection of an area so pristine, so filled with history and life, and so great occurs, it is important to recognize and acknowledge those people who have spent many hundreds of hours working to make the important event come to life.
For this, I wish to thank those who have worked so hard in protecting our lands for future generations. Without their foresight and efforts, our lands and our way of life would fully disappear. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause