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Good afternoon.

It is a pleasure to be here today representing the Government of the Northwest Territories and as the new Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Infrastructure and WSCC.

I am especially pleased to be here to celebrate the Women in Mining, NWT Chapter launch. A timely one, given our recent territorial elections.

The new territorial government – who I am representing today - is the reflection of an incredible evolution in our territory.  

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Good afternoon everyone.

It’s a pleasure to be here to welcome you to the 48^th Yellowknife Geoscience Forum.

To begin, I would like to recognize the partnership between the Northwest Territories Geological Survey and the NWT and Nunavut Chamber of Mines that makes this event possible each year.

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Good morning and thank you for having me here today to mark the opening of the 2019 annual meeting of the Canadian Marine Advisory Council.  Before I begin, I’d like to thank a few people.  

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Good evening and welcome to the NWT Tourism Gala. 

I’m pleased to be here this evening to welcome you to the gala, and use this opportunity to introduce myself as the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and Infrastructure.

Being Minister of these departments is an important responsibility and I’m looking forward to working with the Premier and my Cabinet colleagues on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories to advance the priorities of these departments. 

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Good evening.

It’s a pleasure to be here this evening at the Dominion Diamond Blue Collar Gala to celebrate trades professionals in our territory and support Skills Canada NWT.

I am also pleased that I have the opportunity to speak to you this evening on behalf of the Premier of Northwest Territories, Caroline Cochrane.

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Good afternoon.

I am pleased to be here today for the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road.

Before I begin, I would like to take a moment to thank and welcome our special guests:

M. le Président, le Bureau des titres de biens-fonds du GTNO s’occupe d’enregistrer et de protéger tous les renseignements sur les titres de biens-fonds aux Territoires du Nord-Ouest. Dans le passé, ces dossiers publics étaient seulement disponibles pendant les heures de bureau; de plus, s’il était nécessaire de consulter le fichier réel, il était seulement possible de le faire au registraire.

Mr. Speaker, today there are increasing numbers of women leaders who are working at the local or regional level for the betterment of our communities. But only a handful of women have ever taken seats in this Legislative Assembly. 

Mr. Speaker, it’s time to change that.  Our governing bodies should be representative of the populations they serve, and women make up half of our population. We need more women in political leadership at all levels, but especially here in this House. 

Mr. Speaker, as the 18^th Legislative Assembly comes to an end, now is a good time for us to look back at the past four years and the good work we have done together for the people of the Northwest Territories.

The 18^th Assembly has been the first full Assembly since the federal government devolved responsibility for public lands, resources and waters to the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of the 18^th Legislative Assembly, our government committed to explore options for renewable and alternative energy sources and to improve our energy conservation efforts. The 2030 Energy Strategy was released in 2018 to provide a long-term vision for energy use and supply in the Northwest Territories and we began implementing the six strategic objectives outlined in the Energy Strategy last year, through initiatives detailed in a three-year Energy Action Plan.