Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the Minister acknowledges that there are problems with the building inspection. However, I think the argument that this would create further red tape, when there is simply no enforcement or inspection occurring, is not a valid argument, Mr. Speaker. It's a free-for-all right now, as soon as you leave Yellowknife, in regard to building standards. We have a number of codes and guidelines, some are enforceable, some are not, but at the end of the day, there is no one there to enforce this at a territorial level. Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister of Infrastructure is: in implementing the energy strategy, and working with those departments, can we leave here at the end of four years enforcing those standards?

I recognize, perhaps, the Minister can't commit to developing a piece of legislation right now, but to pretend like this hasn't been happening for years; I've read a statement today from my predecessor's predecessor in 2011 requesting this. The department has the information. This involves the Housing Corporation. It involves the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, and the expertise lies in Infrastructure. What I am looking for from the Minister of Infrastructure is to reach out to all the relevant parties, all the professionals, and get back to the committee with a plan on how we are going to get this done.

That is a great list of programs, and I'm happy we're going to meet that target regardless of whether we have a building standards act. I am very happy to see our GNWT best building practices followed. They are great practices. The reality on the ground is, if you are in a community, you can build whatever you want because no one comes and inspects it and no one enforces any of the building codes. Given this reality on the ground, is the Minister of Infrastructure willing to work with the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and begin the work to develop a building standards act?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, my Members' statement was on the building standards act. In our mandate, we are committed to implementing the 2030 Energy Strategy, something that I am very excited about, Mr. Speaker. Object 5 of the 2030 Energy Strategy is to increase residential, commercial, and government buildings' energy efficiency, by 15 percent. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure: will the implementation of the action plan for the 2030 Energy Strategy include developing a building standards act such that we can ensure that those buildings meet that 15-percent target?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to thank our Minister of Finance for our budget address this week, and before we move it into Committee of the Whole, I wanted to provide my response.

In reply, I want to pose some fundamental questions for this Assembly, questions of what kind of territory we want to be and our place within confederation. I want to share some thoughts on where we're at as a territory and what I believe we must do to move forward. I will focus my address on the question of what it means to be seated here in this House and what it means to be a Northerner.

Given this is a budget address, I want to begin by talking about a quarter. Not a quarter of a million dollars; a 25-cent piece. Mr. Speaker, when you look at a quarter, what do you find? On one side, you see an aging monarch who lives thousands of miles from here. On the other side, you see a caribou, an animal whose future becomes more and more precarious each year. How do we in this House self-locate, even as our currency seems to simultaneously represent, overlook, and mock our interests?

The contrast is emblematic of the position we are in today: constituents of one of the wealthiest nations on earth, yet we govern a territory too often forgotten and left to deal with economic and social crises threatening a way of life. Mr. Speaker, the grand bargain of northern participation in the confederation that was Canada would be that people would have a standard of living found anywhere else in Canada. Mr. Speaker, that bargain has failed. Our climate, our economy, our education, our housing, even our actual caribou, are in crisis, Mr. Speaker, and the Government of Canada remains similar to a monarch: too slow to invest in the transformational change this territory needs, even as tens of thousands of Canadians struggle too far out of sight for outsiders to understand.

Mr. Speaker, this is not a new story. For decades, we've seen investments in the grand bargain for Arctic sovereignty fall off. Our communities remain disconnected, lacking physical and digital infrastructure most Canadians have taken for granted for years. Our people struggle with staggering rates of mental illness and intergenerational trauma, and our most vulnerable often face these struggles without roofs over their heads, and we face one of the greatest housing shortages in the developed world.

These aren't problems that can be solved with the transfer payments that trickle in each year, and, in fact, that's not what they were ever designed to solve. To tackle the big issues of the day, we need transformative investment, the sustained multi-billion-dollar kind, which our tiny tax base could never expect to afford as we pay our bills, and with the fresh scars of colonialism affecting generations of the Indigenous people in this territory, exasperating every issue, I believe it is a moral imperative for Ottawa to put that kind of money behind making it right and putting the North on even footing with the rest of Canada.

However, Mr. Speaker, I have to say I don't place all the blame on the federal government for not opening their wallets. Part of the blame lies with us, with successive governments who didn't articulate a clear enough vision of who we are as a territory. We negotiated devolution, and yet, for six years, we've hit the wall in fulfilling its true vision of further devolving powers to Indigenous governments. We've released strategies to renew children in care and to deal with our education crisis, and then the federal government via the Auditor General made it clear that we are letting too many children fall through the cracks and inflate our graduation rates. Most recently, we've answered a housing crisis by failing to put 42 inexpensive units at risk because we couldn't get our ducks in a row.

How do we get beyond the narrative of stasis? We need to tell our story, Mr. Speaker. We need to present a vision for what this territory can be, and we need to back it up. What's the biggest story I believe we can lead in this Assembly? Mr. Speaker, it's reconciliation, and, as blockades line the tracks across our nation, we in the North have a chance to show our country how to bring people together and break down the barriers dividing us.

We have already come a long way compared to our peers. We have settled a lot of big land claims, and, as those claims were settled, we saw the potential of our Indigenous governments unleashed. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is paving the way with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets. Communities like Deline are finally self-governing, setting their own path forward for the future. The Gwich'in jumped us by seven years on electronic voting. The Tlicho are world leaders in mine logistics.

Mr. Speaker, I could go on, but we all know we have so much more to do. We need to settle the Akaitcho and Dehcho claims. For too long, we've seen too many stories of how our government is standing in the way. It's self-defeating, Mr. Speaker. The vision after devolution was to get our house in order and continue to devolve powers and resources to Indigenous governments across this territory. The vision was to realize a Denendeh and Inuvialuit where public and Indigenous governments interacted nation-to-nation, and it's not just about finishing this long, painful process. It's about untying our hands and embracing the economic opportunities settling these questions would bring. Akaitcho believes there's $1 billion on the table when their process ends. The Deh Cho is a home to unbelievable sites and minerals. We need to get UNDRIP on the books during this Assembly. After a century of damage, we need to show we're ready to make the next step in decades of healing.

For the people who have lived on this land for thousands of years, their relationship with Canada has been devastating more often than it has been beneficial. We in Canada have much work to do in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and reconciling what our identity is as a whole. Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize that I am a patriot, a word not often used by people of my generation, and I may not sound it at times, but I am, in fact, strongly committed to this venture that we call Canada, something, very understandably, many Indigenous people are not as committed to. That is understandable, and, if I were Dene, I am sure that I would have few nice things to say about our federal government.

As a Canadian, it is my role to acknowledge our history and our present. In the face of this reality, I am not here to give up or feel guilty. I am here to take some responsibility and amend the wrongs. This is what reconciliation truly is. It is about hope for this nation and hope for the people of the North. It is not a hollow buzzword, but a reshaping of Canadian identity. Right now, all across this country, you can hear young Indigenous people on the steps of their legislature yelling, "Reconciliation is dead." This is because people in power failed to acknowledge our history and, in turn, failed their people.

Mr. Speaker, you will hear me speak over the next four years about colonialism. I say this not for shock value, but it is the reality at the heart of northern identity. The history of Canada is one of colonialism by definition. Canada was a colony of Great Britain and, in turn, the French colonists were conquered by the British colonists. This land we are now in was given to some man named Rupert, who is even less relevant than that monarch on our money. In turn, that land was given to the Hudson's Bay Company, and finally, what is left is the Northwest Territories, a territory that was carved off, and is only northwest in its relationship to Ottawa. From where I stand, Mr. Speaker, it is exactly where it needs to be.

Mr. Speaker, the introduction of resource extraction from the North, with profits sent to other territories, took an Indigenous way of life that had sustained itself for thousands of years and forced it into a commercial and industrial system, whereby a nomadic way of life was no longer sustainable. The taking of northern resources to benefit foreign corporate entities is something we are still reconciling with today. This land, the Northwest Territories, must find a path forward, must be a leader in Canada, Mr. Speaker. I believe we must also take a strong political stance to push all other governments in Canada to do so. Northerners, better than anyone, should understand the right not to be controlled by those who don't understand the reality on the ground.

Now, Mr. Speaker, why am I speaking about all this history? It is because it is of fundamental importance that we all understand how we got here in order to understand how to move forward. For those of us who love the North and wish to move forward as part of a united and prosperous Canada, we must first remedy the wrongs of the past. That is done through our current land claim process, in which Canada, through the Crown, returns to the land to the Indigenous peoples to whom, in fact, it always belonged.

It is my hope in time, Mr. Speaker, that all Indigenous people will be proud to call themselves Canadian and view themselves as part of this country and be able to comfortably walk with a foot in both worlds. Yet, that is something I have no right to ask any person until their proper rights have been restored. You cannot use the withholding of rights as a bargaining chip in reconciliation, Mr. Speaker. The only way true northern unity can occur is willingly and with a passion to progress forward together.

Canada has often asked Indigenous people to join into this Canadian identity at the expense of their own. Mr. Speaker, reconciliation by force is a paradox. If one party remains unwilling or can't enter on their own terms, then it isn't reconciliation. It is assimilation at best. I want to emphasize that my goal in the small part I have to play is to build a strong North and a strong Canada that, in turn, builds strong Indigenous nations alongside of it. This is the complexity of northern identity that we all must reconcile, and the only way to do that is through trust, Mr. Speaker.

I must also emphasize that we are together in the midst of a large social contract. As we settle land claims and self-government to give Indigenous governments more power to be free, more power to be independent, I also hope that through that independence will come unity.

Now to the lawyer in me, Mr. Speaker. Reconciling with Canada comes with certain inalienable conditions, and this is the point where much of the tension will exist going forward. All Canadians, Indigenous and not, must respect the rights and responsibilities of our charter. All Canadians must respect the law and the institutions we use to enforce them. Mr. Speaker, I emphasize that respect does not mean one cannot be frustrated by them or work to change them. I myself am frustrated by the rigidity of many of our institutions and the resistance to change that they perpetuate. This is exactly why I stand here, Mr. Speaker, to bring about change to our institutions from within.

If Canada is going to succeed and the North is going to prosper, and I am going to be proud to call this place home, I will spend the next four years and, in fact, the rest of my life building relationships so that everyone prospers and is truly welcomed on their own terms into this weird and beautiful creation called the Northwest Territories. Maybe we could change the name, but I'm not going to go there, Mr. Speaker.

In this right, I would call upon this government, along with our Indigenous governments, to begin the push to once again enter into constitutional reform. For too long, this country has been tied up in disputes about federalism, with everything an argument about provincial or federal jurisdiction, a dispute that fails to address territorial or Indigenous rights. It is time for Canada to amend its constitution and rightfully place both Indigenous governments and territories in it. We are leaders in the North in this regard, and we must pressure Canada to do so. We are stronger united, we are stronger when we go to Ottawa with one united northern voice, and we are stronger when we demand the world take meaningful action on climate change, which disproportionately affects us, with one voice.

Mr. Speaker, the North is on a precipice. When that monarch on our money dies, to whom we all pledged allegiance, will her son or grandson unite the North? When we speak of the honour of the Crown in negotiations and courts, does anyone other than lawyers really buy into such a concept? If the Bathurst caribou herd disappears, is that caribou on our money something to be proud of or just a testament to our collective failure?

For far too long, the only reason Canada paid any attention to this place was one of resources, first furs, then gold, and now diamonds; but as our diamonds come to an end, and the NWT identity is not directly linked to resource extraction, some very pressing economic realities come into play.

Firstly, Mr. Speaker, the NWT is a fake economy. Our economy is entirely dependent on federal funding, so when we live in a fake economy, where it makes more economic sense to just stop fighting a losing battle, pack up, and move down south, all of us must ensure we have a convincing answer as to why the rest of Canadian taxpayers are paying for all of this when there is no fur, gold, or diamonds for them in the deal.

The answer to this, Mr. Speaker, lies in the inalienable rights of all Canadians, the right to be provided with adequate services wherever they live in Canada. If economic efficiency were the only factor in nation-building, we would all simply live in urban centres where the reality of economies of scale make providing services significantly cheaper. Yet, Canada, in exerting control over these lands historically, has an obligation to both reconcile Indigenous rights to the land and support those who call this place home with the same level of service that a Canadian anywhere else gets, regardless of cost, Mr. Speaker.

This, Mr. Speaker, is the nature of public government. Given our small population, we may, in fact, spend millions of dollars providing services to a single person, but that is part of the Canadian social contract. We provide the same level of healthcare to all Canadians, no matter the cost.

Mr. Speaker, I am convinced that the federal government has forgotten that this is the heart of the social contract. We took on devolution as an interim measure to undo colonial control from Ottawa, but such power must inherently be used to undo colonialism at all levels.

The resources in our land are our savings for the future, and to only allow our continued existence to be contingent on the resources we send back to Ottawa is unjust. Canada needs to stop using the North and its symbols as a uniting cultural aspect without providing the people who live in the North an adequate level of government service.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you all for listening to me. I hope this address can spur some larger conversations about what the NWT is and where it is going. I also ask any who may disagree to please come and speak to me. First and foremost, it is all of our jobs to listen more than we speak, something that is a little ironic, given that I just spoke for 20 minutes, Mr. Speaker; but I believe that it goes without saying that the only way to reconcile and build a united and prosperous North is through healthy dialogue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We need to establish territory-wide building standards to meet the cost of climate changes today. While the standards of the national Modern Energy Building Code are required, there are no assurances that these standards are met due to the lack of small-community inspections and enforcement systems.

Project management capacity at the community level is also a concern, Mr. Speaker. For example, there is no guarantee that a new community building won't be sited on permafrost for lack of a geotechnical survey. This raises major concerns. Public safety can be put at risk. Without standards, there is no assurance of operational quality, energy efficiency, durability, or security of investment, because the best expertise for northern construction resides with our northern architects, engineers, and consultants. Lack of standards can allow our public dollars to leak south to those unfamiliar or under-qualified with northern requirements. We need to ensure GNWT funds transferred to communities are used to build long-lasting and efficient buildings, Mr. Speaker.

The NWT Association of Communities has long called for the creation of an NWT-wide building and inspections capacity, and pass resolutions pointing to the needs for improved construction. The Northwest Territories Association of Architects has repeatedly brought forward the needs for standards and compliance. The Northwest Territories Greenhouse Gas Strategy and new ministerial mandates call for NWT building standards to assist communities in reducing their energy costs via efficiency.

A northern building code would meet our responsibility for addressing these concerns, but we will also need to help our communities and citizens meet these standards by establishing an advisory and inspection capacity and by establishing systems to require professional assurances that standards have been met. We need to aim higher by ensuring our NWT standard for energy efficiency recognizes our northern conditions and exceeds southern standards.

Mr. Speaker, last week, I plagiarized a Member's statement by my predecessor, Mr. Cory Vanthuyne. The Member's statement I just read practically word-for-word was plagiarized by my predecessor's predecessor, Mr. Bob Bromley, in 2011. This issue should have been addressed a long time ago. It is the start to get the ball rolling, and once again, the simplest and most effective tools in implementing our Energy Strategy is a building standards act. I will have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am happy to hear 2022 for the board of governors. That is sharing my term, so I can see that step. Hopefully, I will see a senate formed. Then I just want to clarify. This is to transform Aurora College over the next six years. Are we on track, and do we believe that, in 2026, Aurora College will be a university, accredited as such?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know that there have been a number of questions on this, but one of the very exciting things about a university is that, once you actually get it to that point where it is accredited; it has a board of governors; it has a senate; it is arm's length from government; professional universities go and get their own funding. They raise money through endowments. There are lots of donations. The potential for a university to go and get 100 percent funding is much greater than it is for the current Aurora College structure, which is essentially the GNWT going and getting money.

I am just looking through this. Can I get a sense of the timeline of when we expect Aurora College to have a board of governors again? A senate was recommended in the Aurora College review. What timeline can we kind of expect it to be arm's length from the GNWT, and what is the end date we are looking at in that it will actually be a university? Thank you.

I would like to begin, on behalf of Frieda, saying the headquarters will remain in Fort Smith. Also, I think I would like, on this issue specifically, to move on from the number of conversations that have happened around the president and begin to look to the future. I am very excited about this. I have been to a number of university towns across the circumpolar North, and the key is they are economic drivers. They employ hundreds of people. They are very inspiring. Yukon College, unfortunately, is going to beat us and will become Yukon University in two months. I am going there in two weeks from now to get a tour. They are doing amazing things. I hope we can put a lot of things behind us and get forward on the path. My specific question here is: can we have an update on where we are working with the federal government to access infrastructure funding immediately ongoing? Do we believe we are going to be able to capture that funding, and what is the chance of it being 100 percent funding?