Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In celebration today of National Women's Day and the theme Because of You, I would like to acknowledge and recognize the political achievements of Martha Chinna. Martha was a strong advocate for Indigenous languages. She developed and helped create the Indigenous language for CBC North, which we hear of today. She expressed advocacy at the federal government level, helping the Northwest Territories and the federal government to recognize that languages in the Northwest Territories were not only the Inuit language and the North Slavey language. She got them to realize that Chipewyan, North Slavey, South Slavey, the Gwich'in, Inuvialuit, and Tlicho languages were here, and they were existing in the Northwest Territories.
Martha Chinna attended the University of Calgary, which gives me a fierce understanding and acknowledgement that she was a residential school survivor, but yet was able to attend university right of school. She received her degree in Linguistics and Communications.
Martha Chinna was a strong advocate for language to be interpreted and for us to be speaking about it today. Now, looking at CBC, the majority of their translators are now retiring, who spoke in Indigenous languages. Now, we're going forward as a government in trying to understand and trying to see how we are going to revitalize the language. It's advocates and women in the past who created the Government of the Northwest Territories who stood up in those early days and helped us create what we are managing and what we are working towards today.
My mom had died 17 years ago, April 3rd, and, looking back at her and looking at the remarkable women who have passed on and who are here with us today, one of the ladies I want to acknowledge, too, is Cece McCauley, the first female chief of the Northwest Territories, to be also included with looking at the Berger Inquiry in those days. That was quite significant to the Northwest Territories and created a huge difference in the Northwest Territories of how we were going to economically develop as a territory, recognizing the traditional use of people and the land in our territory.
Today, I would like to acknowledge the people of the Northwest Territories and also the women who were elected. Also, I would like to acknowledge Caroline Cochrane and Julie Green. Thank you for Women on the Ballot and thank you for encouraging the Northwest Territories' women to put their name forward. Today, we have a very interesting government, and it is going to be a very good four years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.