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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the value of tourism in the Northwest Territories we often speak in terms of the dollars spent and the number of visitors tallied.

In 2018-2019, the tourism industry showed record numbers in both of these categories, emphasizing once again that the approach to, and investments in, our Tourism 2020 Strategy are working. In fact, over the last five years have increased the number of visitors to our territory by 42% and boosted spending by 43%.

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Mr. Speaker, the transformation of Aurora College into a world class polytechnic university is well underway. As the Legislative Assembly is aware, the transformation will happen in three phases. We are currently in Phase One, which is what I want to talk about today. Phase One is focused on strengthening the foundation of the existing college, ensuring we understand the detailed steps ahead of us, and determining what we, as a territory, want the polytechnic university to be.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge International Women’s Day.  International Women’s Day is held annually on March 8^th to celebrate women and girls’ social, cultural and political achievements throughout history, across nations, and to raise awareness about the work left to be done.  The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Because of You.

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Mr. Speaker, good oral health is important to our overall health and quality of life.  Healthy mouths and teeth in children promote healthy growth, nutrition, speech development, good school performance and social well-being.

Cavities, however, are the most common chronic infectious childhood disease, and they place a substantial burden on our population.  Poor oral health contributes to a child’s inability to eat, speak, sleep and learn.  In adults, oral disease has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, pneumonia and Alzheimer’s.

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Mr. Speaker, supporting the housing needs of seniors is very important to our people, to our communities and to this government.  A key approach to supporting our Elders is to recognize their desire to have friends and family close by as they age, and to remain in familiar surroundings.

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Mr. Speaker, we all want better health for our families and communities.  The choices we make are important for our overall health and well-being.  By eating good food, being physically active, reducing the amount of alcohol we drink, living tobacco free, and making healthy choices, we can help reduce the risk of getting chronic diseases like cancer.

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Mr. Speaker, the 19^th Legislative Assembly believes our decisions must reflect a full understanding of our communities and regions. It is our responsibility to ensure that the needs of our residents are reflected in the decisions that will impact them.

This is especially important when it comes to decisions about the land, Mr. Speaker. That’s why our northern Indigenous governments and communities are at the heart of our northern approach to establishing and managing protected areas.

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Good Morning and thank you for being here with us today.

It’s so great to have Invest Canada North taking place this year during PDAC – it will inevitably open up opportunities for our Northern territories, in a way that we’ve not previously experienced at this conference.

Across the North and in the NWT we recognize that competition for exploration and development dollars is strong, but I believe we offer unique benefits for those looking to do business, and I am going to tell you what those are.

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Good afternoon, and welcome again to everyone.  

Before I start, I’d like to welcome my Ministerial counterparts and all the stakeholders and Indigenous representation both in the audience and on stage with us this afternoon.

This is my first PDAC experience as Minister of ITI and Infrastructure, and I am pleased that my first PDAC speaking engagement is at an important one like this.

Mr. Speaker, each year the Dead North Film Festival inspires people from across the Arctic to get out and shoot short film creations in the depths of winter. It also brings Northerners together to support the film sector and have fun at this horror and fantasy genre event.