Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I recently spoke to the Members of the Canadian Parliamentary Association about sustainability in Arctic communities. As we look ahead to the months and years to come and in the Northwest Territories, from the opening from the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway next month to worrying and accelerating erosion along our Arctic coastline, sustainability, Mr. Speaker, real, practical sustainability, is also part of the conversation we need to be having here in the Legislative Assembly.
My message to the Canadian Parliamentary Association is the same today. It is core to my beliefs and to my life as an Indigenous person and as a public servant. It is that ensuring healthy, sustainable Indigenous communities must begin with self-determination and sovereignty. Indigenous people have historically suffered from the twin burdens of colonization and dispossession, these contriving to keep us from living full, free lives and from pursuing our full potential. Our traditional territory sustained us for millennia, yet today, under modern governance, many of us are housing and food insecure, Mr. Speaker. The Auditor General of Canada's report on climate change in the Northwest Territories will be tabled today.
Mr. Speaker, I hope that will prompt not only some hard questions, but some serious actions from this government on what it will take for this government to lead our territory and each of our 33 communities to a viable, sustainable future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.