Madam Speaker, the Northwest Territories has a resourcebased economy. Mining has driven our development for decades. It has built roads and power lines, provided high paying wages, apprenticeships, and other opportunities for Northerners. Mining has also driven significant secondary business development throughout the territory, including within the service industry and through contracting. NWT communities benefit from socioeconomic agreements, and Indigenous governments who have signed onto devolution share in the resource royalties our primary industry creates.
Madam Speaker, without resource development, the Northwest Territories would be a very dismal place, with little opportunity for residents to better themselves financially. It is with this in mind that I want to recognize and celebrate the mining companies that are driving business development in our territory. At every opportunity, we should be encouraging junior companies to continue exploring and help them to expand their operations.
In January, the GNWT, along with Indigenous governments and MLA Weyallon Armstrong, attended the AME Roundup conference in Vancouver. Roundup is a longestablished conference that I attended way back when I was a student at UBC and continues to be one of the largest resource conferences in Canada. It is a great opportunity for the GNWT and Indigenous governments to build relationships, establish partnerships, and attract business in the NWT.
When I attended Roundup in 2020 as the Minister of ITI, I was thrilled to witness the partnership announced by Det'on Cho Nahanni Construction, a corporation owned by the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and Cheetah Resources, to manage the operations of Nechalacho rare earth mineral project. This partnership was the first time in Canada that all mining operations were contracted to an Indigenous firm, enabling them to be miners on their own lands.
So today, Madam Speaker, let's recognize and celebrate the value of mining in the NWT. And especially the progressive and innovative partnerships that are emerging, showing a new way of doing business where Indigenous people are the decisionmakers and the beneficiaries of the rewards.
And, Madam Speaker, I'd like to take a moment to wish MLA Weyallon Armstrong a happy birthday. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
