Mr. Speaker, on September 12th, negotiations towards a Délįnę Final Self-government Agreement reached a significant milestone. After many years, the negotiators have agreed on the draft text of a Final Self-government Agreement and financial agreement. This achievement is important as it lays the basis for the Parties to ratify the Final Agreement. As Mr. Yakeleya noted when this was announced last month, the move towards self-government complements the Sahtu Comprehensive Dene and Metis Land Claim and gives Délįnę the opportunity to make their own history.

October 23, 2012

Mr. Speaker, last month I travelled to China with my colleague Mr. Robert Hawkins and   business delegates from the Northwest Territories as part of the Council of the Federation Trade Mission. The business representatives from the Northwest Territories were Don Bubar, President and CEO of Avalon Rare Metals, Mark Downey, CEO of Fur Harvesters Auction Limited, Verda Law, the Operations Manager of Yellowknife Tours, Huizhong Yang representing Blachford Lake Lodge, and Yanny Cordero, Project Development Consultant.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Members back to the continuation of the Third Session of the 17^th Legislative Assembly.  I hope everybody was able to enjoy some time with family and friends this summer and has come back rested and ready to continue working on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.  It has been almost one year since we took office.  As we get started with this Session, I would like to look back at some of the things we have accomplished together this past year.

AKLAVIK (October 15, 2012) – Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) Premier Bob McLeod and Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) President Robert A. Alexie signed three agreements on Friday to formalize their government-to-government relationship.

The three agreements were:

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Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I am always pleased to support northern businesses in their partnerships to strengthen and diversify our economy.

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Thank you, I would like to welcome you to this conference on northern governance and the economy on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories. I am pleased to see so many people here with an interest in the long term economic and social well-being of the people of the Northwest Territories.

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Thank you. I am pleased to be here today and to see so many people that have an interest in the sustainable economic development of Canada’s north. I would like to thank Conference Chair Bob Gomes, the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Centre Edmonton for bringing us all together to talk about ways we can encourage and support northern economic development.

Thank you for inviting me to be here today.  I would like to speak to you about the place of the Northwest Territories in the world and how fostering strong relationships has been, and will continue to be, an important part of promoting social and economic progress in the North.

HONG KONG, CHINA (September 20, 2012) – Premier Bob McLeod, MLA Robert Hawkins, Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure, and the NWT business delegation met with potential Chinese investors and business partners to discuss ways to diversify the NWT economy and keep the territory prosperous. The meetings have focused on the potential for developing the Chinese markets for the NWT’s wild fur, oil and gas.