Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome back, everyone. It's truly an honour to be sitting in this House once again. I would like to begin by thanking everyone, our citizens, my colleagues, our public servants. I do not know when people sleep, honestly. Everyone has been working so hard, and it's been amazing.

The World Health Organization said, "In a pandemic, you must move quickly, and that won't always be perfect." I believe that's what we have done. We are one of few places on Earth with no active cases of COVID-19, Mr. Speaker. We are in the midst of a global pandemic which is no doubt a tragedy. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives across this planet, but we, as the Northwest Territories, have had a very strong and resilient response, and it is in the midst of this pandemic that that resilience and entrepreneurial spirit of the North must guide us through.

I want us to not lose ground on the progress we have made to date. It is amazing how quickly our government can pivot on issues when we put our minds to it. I want us to think bigger, Mr. Speaker. Working from home, four-day work weeks, a guaranteed basic income, a truly digital government, hundreds of small businesses and entrepreneurs in a place that truly values their neighbours and neighbouring communities, I think all of these things are possible and more.

We know Northerners are resilient, and I want to take a moment to focus on our ability to be adaptive. Three months ago, I thought the idea of using the Internet as a tool to forward politics, education, and healthcare was a far-off dream. I thought our virtual care strategy in public health was not going to go anywhere, and, in months, we have seen more progress in virtual care than I ever thought to see in four years. I want to congratulate the Department of Health and Social Services for all of the amazing work they have done to date, Mr. Speaker.

I hope we realize that, as a territory, we have the capacity to continue improving our systems. Our government is uniquely positioned to take advantage of these new opportunities. We have proven that the GNWT can be flexible and nimble, and our size means that sweeping and effective change can be made simply by trying.

I look forward to these next few weeks. I look for to a renewed spirit of cooperation across the north, and, Mr. Speaker, I believe we will beat COVID-19 together. Thank you.