Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In one word I can summarize this Assembly. That word is locusts, because that is the only natural disaster we have not had to deal with. My heart goes out to all those residents who either lost their homes or were adversely affected by the floods, the COVID pandemic, or the fire. It has been a very trying three and a half years for all of us.
We started with 19 Members of which 12, including myself, had no prior experience as MLA. Nearly 50 percent of which were women which was unprecedent in Canadian politics. I am proud of that and I will speak more to it when I talk about my Cabinet colleagues. To say it is a steep learning curve as a new MLA is an understatement.
Mr. Speaker, those of us that were lucky enough to be seated onto Cabinet had to learn our roles as Cabinet Ministers and as MLAs just where one role started the other one began. I am going to start off by talking about the challenges we faced as Cabinet and Regular Members when we responded to pandemics, floods and fire. Of course we all know, just as we were getting our feet underneath us as MLAs and Ministers, the COVID pandemic hit early in 2020. As Minister of Health and Social Services at the time, there were many late nights trying to stay on top of all the new information and directions from the chief public health officer and relay that information to Cabinet, committees, Members, residents. The one thing that kept me up all night was realizing that we did not have the medical resources at our hospital to treat such a mass outbreak. We had to keep COVID out of the territory to keep residents, and especially our elders, safe. Closing the borders was a radical step but one we needed to do. It was the right decision at the time.
Next up, as newlyminted Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister Responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, we were dealing with the aftereffects of the 2020 ransom attack on the NWT power corp and the 2021 floods affected South Slave and resulting in the evacuation of Deh Cho communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River that also impacted our highways, airports ,and power plants. With the exception of Jean Marie River, NTPC staff and community contractors were able to keep water out of the power plants. We were able to shut down in advance of the flood event, and NTPC was able to get back up running quickly as the water had receded and it was safe to do so.
The efforts of infrastructure staff and contractors to keep airports and Highway No. 1 open and deal with multiple road washouts were incredible. The work that NTPC crews did in getting power back up and running and dealing with flood damages was also greatly appreciated by residents as well as myself, Mr. Speaker.
In 2022, we faced more floods in the South Slave with the evacuation of the K'atlodeeche First Nation as well as the town of Hay River. The damages were significant to the residents and to the infrastructure of the communities including Hay River airport and Highway No. 2. Again, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank infrastructure crews and community contractors that were able to get the airport back up and running and the highway made safe for reopening and the work that was done to deal with the floods affecting Highway No. 1 between Enterprise and the border which was due to high water and very capable beavers.
This year we saw Hay River and KFN evacuated in the spring due to the Hay River flooding again, and then the unprecedented fire season that led to the evacuations of Hay River, K'atlodeeche First Nation, Fort Smith, Enterprise ,Jean Marie, Behchoko, Wekweeti, Dettah, N'dilo, and Yellowknife. As a territory, we never had to deal with a climate disaster of this magnitude.
We definitely need to look at what happened, how we as a government reacted, how communities reacted, and how we can better work with Indigenous groups in planning and actual disaster management. There is a lot of work to do but in advance of that, my heart breaks for the residents of Behchoko, Paradise Gardens, and Enterprise that lost their homes. We owe an immense debt of gratitude for the efforts of the firefighters and volunteers that held the lines, kept the damage from being much worse, and the work of communities that created the firebreaks to further safeguard communities. Through all of this, NTPC kept the power on in Fort Smith, provided power to Northland Utilities to keep the power on in Yellowknife, and got the power back up running in Behchoko as soon as it was safe to do so. Highway crews and contractors worked closely with ECC incident response to open and close highways when it was safe to do so to keep essential goods, equipment, and personnel flowing on the highways when able and to restrict access to communities under this evacuation notice. All this to say, Mr. Speaker, that this government and NTPC employees have went above and above and gone beyond in responding to the crises of the last three and a half years and kept lights on and providing the regular expected government services. I am proud of them.
So anyone listening to the picture I have painted so far might think that the Department of Infrastructure and NTPC were all consumed with reacting to disasters and the major projects did not proceed. Yes, there were delays to some of our projects because of COVID, floods, fires, but major projects along Highway No. 9, the Tli Cho to Whati, and the High Point wind project in Inuvik were completed. Significant progress was made or is being made on the Inuvik runway extension, the refurbishment of the existing Taltson dam facility, and repairs to highways across the NWT. This is very good news, Mr. Speaker. We will be submitting the developer's assessment report to the Mackenzie Land and Water Board for the Wrigley to Norman Wells during the life of this Assembly. Actually, I think it went in on Friday, Mr. Speaker. And we continue to work in collaboration with our Indigenous partners on the Slave Geological Province Corridor. And we will also be submitting permitting applications for gravel sources along the proposed alignment. The Taltson Hydro Expansion business case is out for consultation with our Indigenous Partners, as well with the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
I need to thank many people.
I was Minister of Health and Social Services when COVID hit, the advice of deputy minister Bruce Cooper and Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer, was greatly appreciated. It was a crazy time. the long hours were long that were put in by Dr. Kandola and her staff to keep residents safe cannot be forgotten.
As Minister of Infrastructure, I need to thank deputy minister Steve Loutitt and his team. And in between the hard work, we did have fun on our constituency tours as well as our travels to the south. ADM Robert Jenkins took some awesome pictures on our travels. If you ever need a picture of me with my half head missing, call Robert. I am proud of the work that was done by the Department of Infrastructure. They kept our roads, airports open, and managed the construction and renovations of all government assets. And they have done this through COVID, through the floods, the fires, with minimal delays.
As Minister responsible for NWT Power Corporation, I was pleased to appoint Cory Strang as CEO, who is the first Indigenous NWTborn CEO. I admire his passion for making sure the corporation is reflective of the people it serves, and I appreciate his advice on the operation of NWT Power Corporation.
As MLA for Inuvik Boot Lake, I want to thank my constituency assistant Arlene Hansen for keeping me organized in Inuvik and tracking all of the constituency requests to make sure they were addressed. Your hard work on behalf of me and the residents of Inuvik Boot Lake are appreciated.
As Minister, I need to thank the staff in my office for all of their assistance. I had three executive admin coordinators that worked with me, starting with Rachel Marin, then Corine Sanderson, and finally Val Daniels. Thanks to all of you for keeping the paper flowing. My ministerial advisor Robert Collinson has an excellent grasp of how the GNWT works and rules for Ministers and MLAs. I thank him for all of his advice.
I also want to recognize the staff at the Legislative Assembly under the leadership of the clerks, first Tim Mercer and then Glen Rutland, for all of their efforts on our behalf. Quyananni.
For my colleagues across the floor, while there has been conflict at times, for the most part we were able to get past that and keep working for the betterment of NWT and our constituents. Thanks to each and every one of you.
For my Cabinet colleagues, I was proud to be part of the first Cabinet in Canada with a woman majority. I thank you for your friendship and your work on behalf of all residents of the Northwest Territories. Special thank you to Minister Simpson and Minister Thompson for doing their share of the housework, mahsi.
When the 19 of us came together in late 2019, it was like the first day of class in a brandnew school. Most of us did not have a personal connection with each other and we needed to learn to work together, at least tolerate each other. Some of you I consider to be really good friends; some of you I would like to have a chance to get to know you better. Let's just say you can't expect 19 people stuck in a room together to be automatically besties. But I do wish the best of luck to all of you in the upcoming election. If you are running, good luck.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the residents of Inuvik Boot Lake for the trust they placed in electing me. It has been a great honour, and I hope I can continue to serve you.
And thanks to you, last of all, Mr. Speaker, for your sense of humour and control of the asylum.
