(March 11, 2013) - Prime Minister, honourable ministers, Members of the Legislative Assembly, Aboriginal government leaders, guests; this is a big day for the Northwest Territories.  It is a day of hopes, a day of dreams, and a day of transformation.

(March 11, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, the Education Renewal and Innovation initiative is examining a wide range of issues facing education in the NWT, and developing a comprehensive plan to address these. The development of this plan and many aspects of the plan itself will involve participation of other GNWT departments.  I am happy to report that a wide range of GNWT departments have dedicated staff to participating in this process. The plan itself is scheduled to be completed by this late fall/winter.

(March 11, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, sustainable agricultural initiatives play a key role in lowering the cost of living across the Territory and diversifying our economy.

(March 11, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to update the people of the Northwest Territories one of our key initiatives to respond to the global climate change problem:  The NWT Greenhouse Gas Strategy.

(March 8, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, International Women's Day honours women's advancement towards equality and reminds us of the vigilance required to ensure that equality is maintained in every aspect of society.

(March 7, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, we know that impaired driving leads to injuries, death, and millions of dollars in property damage across Canada every year.   Statistics Canada recently reported the NWT and Yukon had the highest rates of impaired driving across the country in 2012.   Ninety four NWT residents were convicted for impaired driving last year.

(March 7, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, a lack of affordable, adequate, and suitable housing creates challenges in recruiting staff for the GNWT, Aboriginal governments and for community governments. Staff need homes to live in if they are going to continue delivering the programs and services the people of the NWT rely on their governments for.

(March 7, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, to live in poverty in Canada is to live with insufficient and often poor quality food. It is to sleep in poor quality and/or unaffordable housing, in homeless shelters, or on city streets and parks. It means making difficult and painful decisions on a daily basis involving trade-offs, whether to pay the rent or feed the kids, pay the electric bill or go to the dentist, buy a new bus pass or forego socializing with friends.

(March 5, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment continues to improve its Income Security programs to ensure that residents of the Northwest Territories receive the support they need to tackle barriers they face to enter the workforce and meet their financial needs.

(March 5, 2013) - Mr. Speaker, the universal skills required to lead people, champion innovation and manage change are becoming even more important, given the GNWT’s complex and ever-changing work context. These skills combine with our staff’s technical skills and knowledge to make them strong, capable leaders. I am pleased to announce that our new Senior Management Competency Model will guide the development of management expertise within the public service as we work to achieve the 17^th Assembly’s vision and goals.