Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my statement is about the largest multi-sport cultural event for youth in the nation, the 2023 Canada Winter Games. As a former city councillor in my recent political life, I was excited, to say the least, when the Canada Games Council came to Yellowknife to perform an assessment on our capital city to see if we had the capacity and ability to host the games. That was the first indication to me that we must, or why would the national council even consider coming to Yellowknife in the first place? Mr. Speaker, the Arctic Winter Games has been instrumental in increasing the level of competition, talent, and sporting infrastructure in the Northwest Territories and throughout the circumpolar world. The Canada Winter Games could do the same for the next generation of athletic games in the Northwest Territories. Looking at Whitehorse's experience of the games in 2007 gives us a sense of the positive impacts the Northwest Territories could see. The Whitehorse games came with a $120-million price tag, but the positive economic impact was massive as the games injected millions back into almost every sector of the economy. Visitors to Whitehorse spent nearly $9 million during those two weeks alone, according to an independent economic impact study, and many of them indicated they were likely to return in the near future, bringing a long-term boost to tourism. Investment in sporting infrastructure and athlete and coach development would help more athletes from the Northwest Territories make national teams and put us on the map as a sporting destination for future national level events. The games would also have a positive impact on the community. At last, Friday's Q and A session on the 2023 Canada Winter Games, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs announced that the GNWT is willing to invest in an athletes’ village that post-games could be repurposed as low-income and seniors' housing. The biggest benefit of the 2007 games, according to Whitehorse Mayor Dan Curtis, was improving healthy lifestyles and community involvement. Hosting the games would give us an opportunity to include the whole territory, not just Yellowknife; showcase our cultures; and reach out to our sister territories to the east and west, involving as many northern Canadians as possible in the event and making the games more attractive to the federal government and southern investors.

Mr. Speaker, Yellowknife's bid for the 2023 Canada Winter Games deserves serious consideration and support. At the appropriate time, I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs on this topic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.