Merci, Monsieur le Presidedent. [Translation] insert* [Translation Ends].

Mr. Speaker, last year my colleagues issued a red alert on mining in the NWT, warning that 30 percent of our economy and the jobs, revenues, and royalties that support our communities, were at risk. We knew closures were only a matter of time, and now that time has come.

Earlier this month, despite a $175 million federal loan and $60 million in emergency financing, Arctic Canadian Diamond Company, and its parent Burgundy Diamond Mines, entered creditor protection, a last resort after exhausting their cash reserves. The move follows a collapse in the diamond market driven by lab-grown diamonds, weak consumer demand in Asia, and US tariffs on India, which left Ekati with a $120 million net loss and pushed the already heavily indebted companies carrying roughly $655 million in liabilities into crisis. Creditor protection halted collections, leaving suppliers, contractors, and Indigenous development corporations exposed to $63 million in unsecured debt and the territorial government, our own government, owed just about $10 million in taxes and fees.

Northern workers and businesses are struggling to understand how, even after the Government of Canada committed to a staggering $235 million bailout to support Ekati, the jobs have disappeared and nobody can be paid what they are owed. A bailout can be justified, Mr. Speaker, if it sustains the northern economy, but I draw the line when taxpayer support leaves Northerners and their businesses holding the bag while workers are left behind.

In moments like this, we need leadership. The federal government has stepped in to support our mines. Now the territory has to step in and support our people.

Mr. Speaker, this government's absence of leadership on this file has strapped Northerners onto a resource rollercoaster and we are plunging with no end in sight. My constituents have a clear message for this Premier, Mr. Speaker: Get us off this dangerous ride so we can stand on solid ground again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.