Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be here today to celebrate a vision that began in the 1960’s and has become a reality today.  I want to thank Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette and Federal Ministers Amarjeet Sohi and Carolyn Bennett for joining us in this celebration.

This is an important day for the Northwest Territories and Canada. Today marks the opening of the first highway to connect our nation by road from sea to sea to sea and creates a northern transportation corridor that makes access to tidewater on the Arctic Ocean a reality.

YELLOWKNIFE (November 8, 2017) – Premier Bob McLeod issued the following statement today to clarify numbers provided in recent interviews on the future of the Northwest Territories:

Last week I issued a public red alert calling for a national debate about the future of the Northwest Territories. This call was based on continuing questions the Government of the Northwest Territories has concerning federal plans for the North and their commitment to investing meaningfully in its ongoing social and economic development in a strategic and coordinated way.

OTTAWA (November 1, 2017) – Premier Bob McLeod issued the following statement on the future of the Northwest Territories:

“Today I am issuing a red alert and calling for an urgent national debate on the future of the Northwest Territories.

The promise of the North is fading and the dreams of northerners are dying as we see a re-emergence of colonialism.

Madame Chair, members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to present to you today in relation to your study of modern treaties and self-government throughout Canada.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has made it a priority to advance, finalize and implement land, resources and self-government agreements, including post-devolution initiatives.

We appreciate this opportunity to participate in your Committee’s study and hope that it will contribute to continued progress on this important initiative for the people of the Northwest Territories.

Delivered on October 20, 2017

Mr. Speaker, before Members finish this Sitting and go their separate ways ‘til the House sits again, I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on our experiences together over the past few weeks and the past two years.

When the 19 of us met in November 2015 as newly-elected Members, we agreed that the 18^th Legislative Assembly needed to change the way it does business. I supported that priority then and I still support it today. So too, I believe, do all my other colleagues on both sides of this House.

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Delivered Friday, October 13, 2017

Good morning, I am pleased to be in Iceland this week representing the people and Government of the Northwest Territories.

The Northwest Territories – along with Nunavut – is one of two Canadian jurisdictions where Indigenous people are in the majority. Our two jurisdictions are also the only two in Canada whose Legislative Assemblies typically have a majority of Indigenous representatives and whose Premiers have historically also been Indigenous.

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Delivered Saturday, October 14, 2017

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today on the achievements, opportunities and challenges of Canada’s North from the perspective of its people. Not only am I Premier of the NWT, I am also a proud Indigenous northerner who was born in raised within its borders.

Delivered October 3, 2017

Mr. Speaker, since 2013, September 30^th has been marked as Orange Shirt Day, a day for all Canadians to remember the survivors of the residential school system.

Organizers chose an orange shirt as the symbol for that day based on a story told by Phyllis Jack Webstat, a survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, BC. In her story, Ms. Webstat tells of having the shiny, new orange shirt her grandmother had given to her being taken away on her first day at residential school.

YELLOWKNIFE, NT /WHITEHORSE, YT/IQALUIT, NU (September 22, 2017) – Northwest Territories Premier Bob McLeod, Yukon Premier Sandy Silver and Nunavut Premier Peter Taptuna today released the Pan-Territorial Vision for Sustainable Development. In it, they declare that residents of the territories deserve the opportunity to achieve the same aspirations for themselves and their families as other Canadians – including good health, high-quality education and sustainable middle class jobs.

Delivered on September 19, 2017

Mr. Speaker, as we begin the final sitting of the Second Session of the Legislative Assembly, many people are looking back at the past two years and our mandate successes. We have many successes to look at and we will discuss them in more detail during this sitting. Right now, I want to look in a different direction, Mr. Speaker. Today, I want to talk about the future of the North.