Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Firstly, I would like to begin by thanking our public health department and all the work the department of health has done to date in response to COVID. I believe in our contact tracers, and in large effect I am supportive of the measures to date. I think, at times, we spend too much time attacking these measures, as if they are hurting the economy, but in many ways, our protective measures are making sure we can have an economy. Our restricted border measures allow us to open up more. I believe we need to reframe some of these narratives. Wearing masks out in public, washing your hands, allows us to have more interaction, allows us to keep our businesses open. I believe we are spending too much time criticizing public health orders, as if they are shutting down the economy. In fact, the thing that will truly shut down the economy would be mass community spread of COVID-19, Mr. Speaker. There is nothing more that would shut down the economy than our residents getting sick and dying, so I would like to thank the Minister of health for her update and thank all of their team.

However, Mr. Speaker, there are many things we can do to support the economy beyond criticizing public health measures, and today, I would like to renew my commitment to the Vote Growth platform from the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce. Many of the Yellowknife Members in this House supported that platform the election, and I believe we have to relook at those priorities and make sure we are making progress on them.

Mr. Speaker, COVID-19 let the cat out of the bag. The government can move quickly. We created 160 positions. We shut down our borders. We mobilized border enforcement. We created brand new units. We passed more regulations in a few weeks than I expected us to do all year. The rapid response of mobilizing 5,000 public servants showed how fast this government can work. I am proud of that response, but we must take that initiative to respond to the economic crisis we now find ourselves in and the recession we will inevitably be heading into.

I stand here and I renew my platform to the Vote Growth platform. I believe we need to create a more reasonable business environment for the sale of alcohol in Yellowknife. I believe we need fibre redundancy. I believe we need to fund our community governments more. I want us to lead the world in our post-secondary transformation and truly build a world-class university. Lastly, I believe we need to transfer the land to the City of Yellowknife. These are the issues I campaigned for under the Vote Growth platform, and I am committed to continuing them. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.