This government is committed to economic diversification. Cabinet recently participated at the mineral exploration conference in Vancouver to promote opportunities for exploration and mining. During the last government there was a focus on promoting the Asian tourism market, and we continue to see positive results with an increase of 20,000 tourists from 2011 to 2016. The completion of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway in 2017 will be a milestone in the Northwest Territories helping to connect communities support a resilient transportation system in the face of climate change and capture economic opportunities.

The Government of the Northwest Territories recently announced our intention to work with Yukon and Northwest Territories on a planned Territorial Sustainable Development Strategy. We are in the concept stages now and we'll work collaboratively with NWT Aboriginal governments and industry partners, as well as this Assembly, to create a strategy that will help the Beaufort Delta and the Northwest Territories diversify and build new economies as well as strengthen our traditional economies.

As this was a federal decision, we expect the federal government to deliver on the new jobs and gross strategy in return for shutting down and putting in place a moratorium in the Beaufort Delta.