Keynote speech delivered by Premier R.J. Simpson for “Canada’s Next Economic Transformation: Industrial Policy in Tumultuous Times,” a daylong conference held in Ottawa on September 16, 2025, by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. A video version of the speech is available here.

It's an honour to be part of this gathering. The IRPP has always been a place where Canadians wrestle with big questions, not necessarily agreeing, but always committed to making the country better. The theme of this conference – Canada's Next Economic Transformation – couldn't be more timely.

Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we're on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. As the premier of the Northwest Territories, I come from a place where partnership with Indigenous governments is at the heart of how we govern. So, I want to recognize the Algonquin people, their enduring presence here, and the example they set for all of us about connection to land, language and community.

Now I suspect many of you don't spend a lot of time thinking about the Northwest Territories. You're not alone. The NWT is far away, figuratively and literally, from most Canadians' daily lives. Maybe we pop up in your news feed every once in a while. Maybe you know someone who's done some work up there, or maybe you've been lucky enough to visit for a canoe trip or even a conference.

That said, times are changing, and I suspect, and I've heard today, many of you are thinking about the North more than you used to. Canada is slowly awakening to its own potential, and we're beginning to realise that the choices we make in the North over the next decade will help shape the sovereignty, security and prosperity of the entire country.

Let me give you a sense of scale to begin with. The Northwest Territories covers 1.3 million square kilometres; larger than France and Spain combined, larger than Alberta and Saskatchewan combined, but our population is just 45,000 people. To put that in perspective, imagine Ontario, if everybody left the province except for the residents of Timmins. That's how vast, how open and how different the Northwest Territories is. This vastness combined with decades of under-investment in basic infrastructure means that we have an infrastructure deficit that touches every community.

Fewer than half our communities are connected to the all-season highway system, relying instead on barging and winter roads: modes of transportation that are becoming less reliable and more expensive as climate change continues to warm the North at four times the global average, and as weather patterns become more extreme. Energy is twice as expensive than the Canadian average, with most communities relying on stranded diesel generation grids and basic services cost significantly more to deliver in the North.

Contrast this to southern Canada with a well-developed east-west rail and highway system and interconnected and redundant power grids.

Despite these differences, distances and challenges, the Northwest Territories sits at the heart of many of the issues you're discussing today, securing critical minerals and supply chains, advancing Reconciliation through Indigenous economic leadership, strengthening sovereignty and security in the Arctic and preparing for climate resilience in a changed world.

So, what I want to do today, I want to tell you the story of the Northwest Territories, not in the language of acronyms and policy manuals, but in plain terms that connect our history, our reality today, and the future of Canada.

First, we'll start with the basics: NWT 101. Then I'll talk about Reconciliation, because Indigenous peoples, the people of the Northwest Territories, have been national leaders in that area for decades. From there, I'll explain why the NWT matters to every Canadian. Why it's essential that the federal government recognizes and acknowledges our differences, and I'll lay out a path forward on infrastructure development. Finally, I'll close with a message of hope that you can carry forward.

The North is different by design and essential by nature.

So, let's start with the basics. The Northwest Territories stretches from the boreal forest in the south to the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole in the North, it's home to 45,000 people across 33 communities. Half of our population is Indigenous, made up of Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis, primarily, the other half non-Indigenous. That mix of cultures and histories isn't just an interesting fact, it's the foundation of how we govern ourselves.

Our political system is different from what most of you are used to, as Carolyn alluded to. At the territorial level, we have a consensus government system, which doesn't actually require consensus, though that's always the goal. What consensus government really means is that we don't have political parties. 19 MLAs are all elected as independents, and then collectively set their priorities for the term. They elect a Premier and Cabinet from among themselves and form a committee system to hold cabinet to account. The Premier and Cabinet then develop a government mandate based on the priorities set by the Assembly.

Although this is not how things are usually done in Canadian politics, in a territory with so few people spread across such a vast land, collaboration is not optional. It's a necessity.

Our unique public government is only part of the story. Nearly the entire Northwest Territories is covered by land claims, some settled, some unsettled – still being negotiated. There are dozens of Indigenous governments, two numbered treaties, four modern treaties, two self-governments and two reserves. That's a lot of voices to bring together, and we do that through a forum called the Northwest Territories Council of leaders. The Council of leaders brings together our full cabinet, myself and the six cabinet ministers and Indigenous government leaders as partners and equals at a shared decision-making table. This is not something symbolic. Indigenous governments hold real authority through modern treaties, land claims and self-government agreements.

When decisions are made about land, water and resources, Indigenous governments aren't consulted. They are at the table making decisions with us.

This is a key difference between the Northwest Territories and our provincial counterparts. The Northwest Territories is not a province. And, although we have dozens of almost exclusively Indigenous communities, we're not a reserve. We're something distinct. Provinces have constitutional authority. Reserves are governed under the Indian Act. The territories exist in a different space, one that has always required adaptation and partnership.

Our relationship with the federal government reflects that. For much of our modern history, Ottawa made the decisions for the North those decisions were made by a Commissioner appointed in Ottawa, not by elected officials chosen by Northerners. It's only been about 50 years since we gained an elected legislature with real authority, and even during my lifetime, we had an unelected Commissioner making government decisions.

In the 1960s and 70s, gradual steps brought more power to the people of the North. Since then, devolution agreements have transferred responsibility for lands, resources and finances to the territorial government and to Indigenous governments. Today, we're still on that journey.

That's the context in which we operate: a vast land with a sparse population, a consensus political system that demands cooperation, a partnership model with Indigenous governments that is woven into law and practice, and a relationship with the federal government that is still evolving, but moving steadily toward greater local control.

For many Canadians, this may sound unfamiliar, but for us, it's daily life. It's the system we built because it fits our reality, and it's a system that holds lessons for the rest of Canada, lessons about Reconciliation, collaboration and how governments can reflect the people and the land that they serve.

The name itself, Northwest Territories, is telling. It doesn't actually reflect anything about the people or the land. It only suggests that there's something more important to the southeast. The NWT is what remained after other jurisdictions were deliberately carved away. Decisions were made about what to take, far less thought was given to what would be left behind. Our very name reflects that history. The Northwest Territories was an afterthought. Despite that, Northerners built something remarkable, a culture of consensus, a habit of partnering with Indigenous governments and an ability to define ourselves while no one else was watching.

Now that the eyes of the country are on us, Canadians may be surprised by what they see.

The early history of the territories is also marked by deep injustices and painful truths. Federal Commissioners wielded power on behalf of Ottawa while Indigenous peoples endured the impacts of anti-Indigenous racism through many means, such as forced attendance at residential schools and Indian hospitals and relocations from traditional home homelands. All this tied to the Indian Act. While these injustices are often framed as part of the past, we have to acknowledge that colonial policies are ongoing. They continue to shape the realities of Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Territories. That too is part of our story, and it can't be ignored.

In often unfortunate ways, much of the world's history also runs through our communities. Uranium mined for the Manhattan Project left lasting harms in Deliné whose people are now self-governing, carried that burden without knowledge or consent. The Yellowknives Dene discovered the gold that built Yellowknife. Their children later died from exposure to arsenic, a byproduct of the gold mining process, and the community still lives atop millions of tonnes of legacy contamination.

These are hard truths, but they're also reminders of why Northerners insist on doing things differently today. When we acknowledge hard truths, we make it possible to learn from them and be purposeful about doing better. That is truth and Reconciliation.

The NWT’s history is full of powerful lessons, lessons of global potential, of what happens when things go wrong and what becomes possible when we commit to doing better together. In the Northwest Territories, Reconciliation is not a slogan or an aspiration. It has been advanced by the enduring presence, leadership and strength of Indigenous peoples. It has become a living structure of governance rooted in Indigenous rights, knowledge and vision. Modern treaties and land claim agreements negotiated over decades have reshaped who makes decisions. Decisions about land, water and resources. Indigenous knowledge and jurisdiction are central to the co-management boards that govern environmental and resource decisions. The Council of Leaders has created a permanent table where Indigenous governments sit as equals with the territorial government.

Reconciliation is not something we mark once a year. It's built into how we govern day by day, and it's at the heart of the future that we're building together.

I want to stress that while I can stand up here and talk about Reconciliation and the advancement of Indigenous Peoples, it’s not perfect in the Northwest Territories, not by a long shot. There's still gaps, tensions, and disagreements. But what makes the Northwest Territories unique is that Reconciliation is not an afterthought. It's a recognition that Indigenous peoples have led, governed and cared for these lands since time immemorial. So, when we talk about development or infrastructure or sovereignty, Indigenous governments are not stakeholders. They are governments.

Consider the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement. The Tłı̨chǫ government and the Tłı̨chǫ citizens own roughly 39,000 square kilometres of land, surface and subsurface, held in fee simple between the great Slave Lake and the Great Bear Lake. That is what shared jurisdiction looks like in practice, and that's why our regulatory, land use, and benefit sharing models start from partnership, not after-the-fact consultation. That distinction matters because it shows the rest of Canada and the world that Reconciliation isn't just about apologies or symbols. It's about who holds power. It's about partnerships. It's about designing governance so that Indigenous and public governments work together, not in parallel and not in competition, but together.

So when I say that the Northwest Territories is a grand gesture of Reconciliation, I don't mean that we're a museum piece. I mean that we're a proving ground: living proof that Reconciliation can be more than just words. That it can shape institutions, drive economies and strengthen sovereignty. And that is a lesson the whole country needs right now. And that's why the Northwest Territories matters deeply in the national conversation we're having. As Canada struggles to turn the promise of Reconciliation into reality, we can Point to the North and say, here's a place where it's already happening, not perfectly, not completely, but tangibly, in every single day.

So why does the Northwest Territories matter to the rest of Canada? I'll give you four reasons, four ways the North is already shaping Canada's future.

First, sovereignty and security. Sovereignty in the Arctic isn't an abstract concept. It's not a line on a map. It's a permanent presence, and it's the people of the North who are asserting Canada's sovereignty every single day. When Canadians live in Tuktoyaktuk or Inuvik or Fort McPherson, that's sovereignty. When a hunter goes out on the land, that's sovereignty. When children go to school in in Ulukhaktok or Aklavik, that's sovereignty. This is why infrastructure in the North isn't just a convenience, an all-season road is a lifeline. Clean energy isn't only about lowering about lowering emissions. It's about ensuring that communities are viable, resilient, and able to stay on the land. Canada's updated defence strategy, Our North Strong and Free, makes the point clearly: the Arctic is now a front line of global competition. The Northwest Territories is part of that reality.

Yellowknife, a Canadian Armed Forces Forward Operating location, is home to Joint Task Force North headquarters, which coordinates, supports and conducts military operations in the most unique and challenging environment in Canada. Inuvik, another Forward Operating location, and one of Canada's three Northern operational support hubs, has the longest runway above the Arctic Circle, and is a logistics hub for both the research and security.

In other words, the NWT is not preparing to contribute to sovereignty. We're doing it.

The second way the Northwest Territories will shape Canada's future: critical minerals. The NWT is home to 25 of the 34 critical minerals on Canada's critical minerals strategy list. Lithium cobalt, copper, rare earth elements, the building blocks for batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles and drones. We have some of the largest cleanest and most promising, critical mineral deposits in the world, and those are the ones we know about through a recent partnership with NRCan. We're using artificial intelligence to digitize tens of thousands of old drill cores. That means companies can reanalyze decades of exploration without disturbing the land. This reduces risk, will help attract investment, and accelerate development. The resources are there. Canada and our allies need them. The question is whether we will make investments and put the systems in place to unlock those resources.

If we are willing to do that, I have a few suggestions.

First, is a federal North of 60 mineral exploration tax credit. A 20% top up to the existing mineral exploration tax credit would recognize the higher cost of doing business in the North and help spur private investments in capital and de-risk the early stages of resource exploration, our estimates are that it could be another $50 million a year in exploration expenditures in the North—the Northwest Territories, specifically.

Second the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, the proposed all-season road and port would open up the Slave Geological province, one of the most mineral rich areas in Canada for exploration and development, with a link to tide water to the proposed Grays Bay Road and Port in Nunavut, situated on the Northwest Passage.

The third element is the expansion of the Taltson Hydro system, in addition to helping stabilize energy costs and cutting diesel power generation in our communities, increased capacity and expanded transmission lines will make mine development more viable in more places. If we want big infrastructure and to develop new mines, we need to ensure we have a regulatory system that ensures success.

Nationally, Canada is moving to the one project, one review approach to speed up approvals and create certainty. Bill C-5 doesn't really apply in the Northwest Territories, because we already have a one project, one review model in which Indigenous governments are equal partners with real authority, which helps provide industry with the certainty they need. I always tell industry, you won't have roadblocks from Indigenous nations in the Northwest Territories, because they're part of the process from the beginning.

The Government of Canada is also a full partner in our system, although they've been relatively absent over the past decade. However, with some clear federal policy direction from Ottawa, our review boards can focus on practical mitigations, align environmental reviews with regulatory steps, and apply consistent standards. That means shorter timelines, stronger investor confidence and decisions that stay rooted in both conservation and development.

The third the Northwest Territories will shape Canada's future is through Indigenous economic self-determination. In the North, economic leadership is shared Indigenous governments and development corporations, co-own projects, shape Benefit Agreements, set investment priorities and guide development on their lands. Two of our major projects that we're advancing are actually being Indigenous led, and these are multibillion dollar projects. This is Reconciliation in practice, decisions made with Indigenous governments, not about them, and that's what gives projects legitimacy, durability and prosperity that last across generations. Indigenous governments are exercising real power over their economic futures, and that strengthens Canada because it means development is done in a way that is sustainable, responsible and lasting. If you want a model of Indigenous economic self-determination that works, look North. It's already happening.

Fourth, climate resilience. In the NWT climate change is not a future scenario. It's here. In 2022 the NWT experienced the biggest natural disaster in its history: a flood in my hometown of Hay River. This was due to record high water levels on the Great Slave Lake, one of the biggest lakes in the world. I was evacuated to Yellowknife for two weeks. The following year, 2023 the Great Slave Lake, again, one of the biggest lakes in the world, recorded record low water levels. So, from the highest to the lowest water levels over the course of a year. And that year, wildfires set a new record for the biggest natural disaster in the NWT’s history. So, the flood only stood for a year with that record.

In 2023, two thirds of the NWT population, 12 communities, including the capital, were forced to evacuate out of the territory. Not even within the territory. We had to leave the territory, and I was set up in Grand Prairie and Fort McMurray and Edmonton for much of the time. My community was actually evacuated twice that year for a total of about two months.

Every Northern community has a climate change story for us. Adaptation isn't optional. It's about survival. A community and economy can't last if everyone just leaves for two months at a time. The solutions we're building community protection, reliable evacuation routes, renewable micro-grids and resilient emergency response are lessons every Canadian community will likely need to learn sooner than they think. This is why all-season roads like the proposed Mackenzie Valley Highway are necessities, not luxuries.

These four reasons, sovereignty, critical minerals, Indigenous self-determination and climate resilience are why the NWT matters to Canada. When Canada invests in the NWT, it's investing in sovereignty for all Canadians. It's fueling the clean energy transition. It's advancing Reconciliation, and it's preparing the country for climate change.

There's no question that the NWT has immense potential for Canada. But to unlock that potential, Ottawa needs to recognise that the territories are different. The Northwest Territories is not a province. We don't have the same authorities, we don't have the same population to raise revenues, and we haven't seen the same level of infrastructure investments that have allowed southern Canada to prosper. Despite our demographics and the fact that we have dozens of almost exclusively Indigenous communities, we're not a reserve. We're a territory, distinct by history and by design, that means our needs can't always be met, nor are opportunities realised by frameworks designed for different jurisdictions with vastly different realities.

A housing programme designed to work in Toronto won't work in Ulukhaktok, where supplies arrive by barge once a year. A Health Policy designed for Vancouver doesn't always fit in Łutselk’e, where care can depend on a medevac plane making it through a snowstorm. A regulatory system built for Alberta doesn't make sense in the NWT, where our system is built on the promises made in modern treaties.

Too often, these national frameworks are written with provinces in mind and then lightly adapted for the North. Or they're tailored to reserves under the Indian Act. Both missed the mark. The recent changes to Jordan's Principle highlight this problem. Changes to the program mean that the small Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories, which would likely be reserves in southern Canada, are treated like any other non-reserve community in Canada. On-reserve school boards can continue to make funding requests through Jordan's Principal to help support their students, but Indigenous school boards in Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories cannot. The result is a download of federal responsibilities and costs to the NWT, one of Canada's smallest and poorest jurisdictions. We do our best, but our resources are limited, and we can't fill those gaps.

We're not looking for special treatment, just fair treatment. If Canada truly wants to succeed in the North, it has to recognise that different contexts require different solutions. This principle doesn't only apply to the territories. Provinces, reserves and territories are all unique. Each reflects its own history, culture and relationship with the federal government. Recognizing those differences isn't a weakness, it's a strength. It's what allows Canada to be flexible enough to hold together such a vast, diverse country.

When national policies are designed as one size fits all, they almost always fail somewhere. But when policies are designed with differences in mind, when Ottawa recognizes that the North is not the South, we get approaches that can actually work.

That's what we're asking for. Recognition of difference, not as an excuse, not as an obstacle, but as the starting point for real solutions. Because when Canada treats the territories as afterthoughts, opportunities for all Canadians are missed. But when Canada treats the territories as distinct and essential partners, then together, we deliver on sovereignty, Reconciliation and prosperity for all Canadians.

So, what does a path forward look like? In the Northwest Territories, we're making investments in clean energy and transportation infrastructure that connects communities and connects industry to resources. These aren't new ideas. We've been working towards them for years and in some cases, decades.

What we're asking from the federal government, and from Canada as a whole, is partnership, not ad hoc announcements, not one-off pilot projects, but long term, predictable investments. Investments that match the scale of the challenges in the North and the scale of the opportunities. Three major projects we're advancing aren't just Northern projects, they're national projects.

Take the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and when I say this, I use the term highway very loosely. It's not a four-lane paved highway. It's a narrow dirt road with no shoulders. But it will provide reliable, all-season access for communities. Safer, more resilient supply lines, faster emergency response, a connection between the two forward operating locations in the Northwest Territories, and it will open up a vast area of Canada to resource exploration and responsible development.

Phase One of the Mackenzie Valley Highway project, which is our current focus, is a 321-kilometre gravel road from Wrigley to Norman Wells, which is an area rich in oil and gas. Phase two will be a 400 kilometre extension North that will connect with the existing road network through the Mackenzie Delta to the Arctic Ocean, each of which also have significant oil and gas reserves.

The Arctic Economic and Security Corridor, which is often the first nation building project that the Prime Minister mentions, is a proposed 400 kilometre corridor that I mentioned earlier. It would open up mineral rich the mineral rich Slave Geological Province, connect the Northwest Territories and Nunavut by road for the first time, and would actually be Nunavut first road connection with another jurisdiction, and would serve both civilian and defence needs. The Talston Hydro System expansion, which I also spoke of earlier, is our third major project, and it too would make new resource development more viable and cleaner.

Each of these projects is transformative on its own. Together, they're a nation-building agenda for the 21st Century, an agenda that includes infrastructure investments, interterritorial and interprovincial collaboration, regulatory streamline, and enhanced labour mobility. I've spoken a lot about the investments we need, but we're not looking for a handout or short-term relief. We're looking for Canada to make investments in sovereignty, security, and prosperity for all Canadians, and that's what investments in the North are. The question isn't whether the North is ready. We're ready. The question is whether Canada is ready to match that readiness with vision and investment.

The Northwest Territories is different by design. Our geography is vast, our governance is unique. Our partnership with Indigenous governments is woven into every decision we make. These differences aren't obstacles, they're strengths. They make the North a model for Reconciliation, a leader in climate resilience, a cornerstone of Canada's sovereignty, and the foundation of Canada's future economy.

We're essential by nature, essential to securing the Arctic, essential to supplying the world with the minerals that power the energy transition, essential to advancing Indigenous economic self-determination, essential to showing Canada what adaptation and resilience look like in the face of climate change.

This is not the time for half measures. It's the time for clarity and commitment. The NWT is ready. Our Indigenous government partners are ready. Our projects are ready. The question is whether Canada is ready to match that with a long-term vision and the political will to act.

So, my message to you and to Canada is this: look North. Look North for the minerals that will drive our economy. Look North for the partnerships that make Reconciliation real. Look North for the resilience we will all need in the years to come.

We've talked about the North for long enough it's time to start building it. Thank you.