Good afternoon colleagues. Wasn't that a great way to start our sitting? Please join me in thanking the Kole Crook Fiddlers for starting things off here today and, especially their great leader, Linda Duford.
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I also want to thank Sarah Cleary for our opening prayer today. Thank you.
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Colleagues, we last convened in this Chamber on November 3, 2022, and it is great to be back. I know you have been busy with your duties as members, Ministers, and with committees, but I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and are feeling refreshed and prepared for this sitting. I know that I am looking forward to it.
Before we begin, I want to take a moment to congratulate our Team NWT athletes who competed in the 2023 Arctic Winter Games in Alberta. Team NWT put on a great performance and brought home many ulus to prove it.
I also want to congratulate and say a special thank you to the Fort McPherson Tetlit Gwich'in Dancers, who won the hearts of many with their wonderful performances. Congratulations to all of our athletes and performers.
Colleagues, I want to thank the pages that will be with us during this sitting. We are fortunate to be welcoming pages from Wrigley, Inuvik, Hay River, Ulukhaktok, Whati, Tulita, Fort Smith, and Yellowknife. I have said many times that the youth are our future. I am proud of our page program, which allows us to bring in youth from across our territory. I am honoured and inspired to have our future leaders with us in this chamber.
I would also to thank our interpreters for the incredible work they do for us each and every day. During this sitting we will have interpretation into Dëne Suliné Yatié, Dene Zhatié, Inuvialuktun, Sahtúot'ine Yati, Tlicho, and French. It is because of their hard work and dedication that we are able to honour our official languages.
Finally, I would like to take a moment to remind each of you, as Members of this Legislative Assembly, to conduct yourselves in keeping with our rules and traditions. When we show respect for each other, for this institution and for our rules, we show respect for those who have elected us to represent them here in this chamber. That doesn't mean we will always agree. We won't. Disagreement, even passionate disagreement, is a part of our job. However, when we disagree, we must do so with the dignity and respect that our people expect from us.
Now, colleagues, it is my duty to advise the House that I have received the following message from the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories. It reads: Dear Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise that I recommend to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, the passage of:
- Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2023-2024;
• Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2022-2023;
• Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2022-2023; and
• Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2023-2024 during the second session of the 19th Legislative Assembly.
Yours truly, Margaret M. Thom, Commissioner.
Thank you, colleagues.
Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.