(March 4, 2013) - Ladies and gentlemen, Parliamentary Secretary Rickford, , leaders, honoured friends…

I am pleased to be here today to speak to you about the bright future the Northwest Territories looks forward to and how we can all benefit together, as a territory and as a nation.

There is no better place than this room to address the intersection of two of the most important  issues for Canadian governments today, Canadian companies, and Canadian communities.

We are all here this weekend to talk about mining and the natural resource sectors.  I think that’s a fair thing to say.

But an idea that has emerged in the public consciousness over the last several months – and this is something that has always been known, and true, in our territory – that it is not possible to separate the issues of resource extraction and Aboriginal participation in the economy.

A generation ago, our nation’s economy was predominantly urban.  But the ground has shifted.  Gone are the days when Canada’s wealth and prosperity was a creation of cities, with rural and remote communities often an economic afterthought, an assortment of so-called “have not” regions, or a source of people for an ever-increasing migration South and downtown.

Today, it is Canada’s so-called “remote communities” that are fueling our national economy – increasingly producing energy, and developing the precious metals and minerals for which the entire globe is hungry.  And it is the so-called hinterland that has buoyed Canada’s economy through the great global economic downturn.

More and more, ladies and gentlemen, it is becoming evident that the North is the future.  And for those of you here representing companies in the resource development industries, I know you know that this is true.

Today’s Northwest Territories is a land of opportunity.  And we are also blessed with the resources the world wants.

Our territory exports $2 billion annually, just in diamonds.  We currently have three diamond mines in operation, and a fourth – Gahcho Kué – will begin production in two years.

We have gold.  We have bismuth, cobalt lead, zinc, silver….  We have the largest deposits of rare earth metals outside of China.  By 2017, a new project – the Nechalacho mine near ThorLake –  will begin production of “total rare earth oxides”.

And that is just mining. I am not even talking about the 81.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the nearly seven billion barrels of oil waiting to be developed, or the 11,500 megawatts of hydroelectric output potential that could provide clean, renewable power to new resource development projects and export markets to our south.

We have what the world needs.  We have what the world wants and, in particular, what the world’s hungry emerging markets want.

But we are not only endowed with natural riches.  We are blessed with a talented, innovative, and hard-working people.  You might even say, resourceful people.

Due to events in recent months, people across southern Canada are now discovering and debating concepts such as resource royalty sharing with Aboriginal communities, and the “duty to consult”.

These quote-unquote “new” ideas are not new.  In our territory, they are a way of life; it's just how we do business.

We are unique, in that we have an additional order of governance in the North.  We are proud to have seven regional Aboriginal governments – governments that represent the Dene, Inuvialuit and Metis people of the territory, and which are responsible to their communities.

Ladies and gentlemen, we do not have to make special efforts to integrate Aboriginal people into the economic life of our territory, they are already an essential part of it. Aboriginal governments sit at the table with us and participate in the decisions. Consultation isn’t about legal or constitutional obligations for us, it’s in our governance DNA.

In the Northwest Territories you don't hear the refrain of so many Aboriginal people in the south, "we want in". Aboriginal people are already "in" in our territory, and more than that, they are our essential partners in everything we do.

Aboriginal people fill the ranks of workers at mines and other developments and thriving Aboriginal businesses that know how to do business in the North already provide essential goods and services to mining and energy companies.

Looking to the future, we expect to see more Aboriginal participation in enterprises large and small where they aren’t just employees, they will be owners.  Aboriginal claimant groups already receive a share of the federal government's resource revenues from development in the MackenzieValley and they will receive more from our government when we have devolution.

As you may be aware, devolution will see the administration and control for public lands and resources in the Northwest Territories pass from Canada to the Government of the Northwest Territories. We, along with our Aboriginal government partners, have been negotiating a deal that will give NWT residents increased control over our fate and future, and increased control over our natural resources.  I am pleased that these discussions have been going well, and I truly hope we will be in a position to announce an agreement in short order.

I cannot stress enough the importance of devolution to our future economic development, and to the increased prosperity and economic participation of all our communities.  This is the first step in building and attracting capital investment and developing the infrastructure that will further fuel our development.

I am also pleased to add that five out of seven of our Aboriginal governments have already endorsed the devolution agreement in principle.  We cannot underestimate the importance of this.  This means that as our territory moves forward in greater self-reliance and self-determination, we will be doing this as a cohesive community of communities.

I also need to point out that one of the benefits of this partnership with Aboriginal people in our territory is a focus on sustainable, responsible development. We have a special relationship to the land in the Northwest Territories. Many of our people still depend on it as an important source of food and income. But this does not mean that development does not take place. It does, and it takes place sustainably, in a way that protects our environment, preserves harvestable resources and ensures the benefits of development are broadly shared among our people.

Devolution will enhance our abilities to promote development in our territories while continuing to reflect Northern priorities and values. And devolution will mean that when you come North again, the people you already know and work with there will be the ones you can rely on to make the decisions to move projects forward.

Now make no mistake.  We have challenges in our territory – just as everyone does.  For example, we need communications infrastructure like the proposed Mackenzie Valley Fibreoptic Link. We need housing.  We need transportation and energy infrastructure. And in the Far North, these things are much more expensive to develop than here in Toronto.  But as I see it, social and economic development go hand in hand.  Partnered investments in infrastructure like broadband Internet and housing will help create the conditions our people need, to achieve success for themselves.  And increased control of our resources, and a stronger base of taxation, will be the financial underpinnings of the investments we need to make in a manner that is responsive to the individual needs of each and every one of our communities.  And frankly, that means that all roads lead back to Devolution.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by saying this.  The North is Canada's future.  We are proud of our accomplishments to date, and we are on the verge of taking a quantum leap forward when we successfully conclude devolution in the very near future.  As we continue to move forward, more boldly and more successfully – realizing our potential as Canada’s North Star, we have a lot to offer to our friends in the South. We can lead the way in sustainable, responsible development.  And not the least of the lessons we can share is how we have successfully worked with Aboriginal governments, with Aboriginal people, and included ALL Northerners in every aspect of life and our economy.

In the Northwest Territories, there is no “us and “them”.  There is only “us”.  And we are proud of that.

Thank you.