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Mr. Speaker, when we started the 19th Legislative Assembly, Members put forward as one of its priorities ensuring that government procurement maximizes benefits for Northwest Territories’ residents and businesses. We knew that procurement policies had not been meaningfully updated for several years, and we wanted to make sure we were getting as much value out of every dollar as we could.

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Mr. Speaker, today I want to focus on the Government of the Northwest Territories’ accomplishments in road, air and marine transportation during the 19th Legislative Assembly.

Enhancing our all-season highway system has been a top priority. In November 2021, the GNWT opened the Tłı̨chǫ Highway to traffic for the first time, adding to the territory’s roster of all season highways. This 97-kilometre all-season road was advanced in partnership with the Tłı̨chǫ Government and will reduce the cost of living in the region.

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Mr. Speaker, substance abuse continues to challenge residents, family, friends and communities in the Northwest Territories. The Health and Social Services system has a range of options to help Northerners recover their health and well-being. I am going to summarize a few of those options that have taken shape in the 19th Legislative Assembly.

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Mr. Speaker, as Housing Minister one of my main goals was to strengthen and develop partnerships and relationships. Now, as we come to the end of this Legislative Assembly, it is evident that partnerships have played a critical role in our success. One of our most important relationships is, of course, with the Government of Canada. We have a number of programs and new projects that would not be possible without this partnership.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) has released a renewed workplan to advance protected areas and conservation areas in the territory.

Healthy Land, Healthy People has been updated to outline priorities and actions to guide the GNWT’s collaborative approach to identifying, establishing, and implementing protected areas and conservation areas – known as the Northwest Territories’ (NWT) conservation network.

The workplan outlines actions under five priorities: 

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Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories recently completed a comprehensive strategic framework aimed at addressing the concerning rates of family violence in the Northwest Territories.

The framework is called Reclaiming the Capable Person: We Are All Capable Persons When We Have Community. In it, Elders from communities across the territory provide their definitions of a capable person based on traditional knowledge passed down from generations.

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the progress we have made in strengthening our mental health support services. Our focus is  on the pressing issue of suicide prevention, as well as our ongoing efforts to enhance the Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery system.

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Mr. Speaker, this Legislative Assembly has made it a priority to advance universal child care for residents of the Northwest Territories. In December 2021, we signed the Canada-NWT Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, and since then we have worked closely with licensed early learning and child care programs and early childhood educators to advance this mandate.

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Today, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) released its final report outlining the key accomplishments from the GNWT Disability Action Plan 2018-2022.

The Action Plan addresses gaps and barriers identified through a collaborative engagement process involving persons with disabilities, non-government organizations, and other partners.  The Action Plan’s objectives were built on the priorities of the NWT Disability Strategic Framework 2017-2027 to advance equity, accessibility, inclusion, and partnership.