Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to first bring my Member's statement today about one of my and begin by acknowledging one of my favorite sections in the GNWT. That's the NWT bureau of stats, my goodness. I don't know how I'd get along without them, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, one of the recent updates talked about the capital investments in the Northwest Territories and its decline by 11.2 percent. Now, that adds up to almost 900 $900 million to the North. But the bad news doesn't start stop there, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker. The NWT labour force activity has showed continual drops. In other words, our unemployment rates continue to increase. So, Mr. Speaker, what's happening in the 83 days since this Cabinet's taken office?
Now, I'm not saying they directly relate but one could say it's coincidental.
Mr. Speaker, the only person who only section in Canada that has a worse employment sector than us is the Yukon. So, Mr. Speaker, are people giving up, or are they just leaving? I don't know. But, Mr. Speaker, sometimes in our problems therein lies the solution. The Government of Canada has said publicly before, in the summer of 2023 has said, hey, we need military bases for these 88 new F35 planes they want to put around Canada. And the delivery starts in two years, Mr. Speaker. That's two years. It's very close. Not far away.
Mr. Speaker, the defence department wants to establish three bases, whether they're going to renew old ones or build or develop new ones. So they want to put one in eastern Canada, one in western Canada, and guess what? They're shopping around for the North saying hey, we'd like to put one somewhere up there. Mr. Speaker, this means new federal infrastructure dollars could hit the Northwest Territories if we did it right. New dollars are good for investment, good for people. It creates an economy. It helps stimulate the North and the activity. Again, going back to the minus $900 million going into our current economy. Mr. Speaker, we cannot miss out on this particular opportunity.
Now, I can tell you the airport plan for years in Yellowknife has reconsidered options about redeveloping and extending its runway. Is this the right opportunity for Yellowknife? Well, maybe. Maybe not. I would hope so. But that said, Inuvik is another prime location this airport could go to support the military and their development and their action in protecting Canadians, all Canadians throughout the North. Mr. Speaker, don't let this opportunity fly over us and miss Northerners a genuine opportunity to stimulate our economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife South.
