Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be asking questions for the Premier. I'd like to reflect back my questions towards my Member's statement regarding NATO's 2 percent spending requirement. And for the record, I believe, if I'm correct, Canada currently commits 1.37 percent of our GDP towards it so we're -- that's billions of dollars falling short of that commitment. So my question for the Premier, Mr. Speaker, is simply what is the government doing on the projects and initiatives I had pointed out in my speech with respect to the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Bathurst port, including the expansion of northern airways to suit the F35s, to get northern investment -- or sorry, national investment in our northern economy. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So an update on F35 facilities, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, and the Bathurst port, so that's quite a bit of information. I don't think I can get it all to the Member here. But I've met with the Minister of National Defence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Northern Affairs, and these are what the topics that we talk about. I have these same conversations with my northern Premier colleagues, and together we push for infrastructure development in the North. And I know that the Prime Minister is listening and has unprompted -- reiterated those comments back. And so I know that is on their mind, and they recognize the importance of this. And so we are always pushing these projects. I'll leave it there. I won't get too far into the details of, you know, where we are with these projects. Timelines and things like that is probably better suited for a different Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, listening is great, but it doesn't put food on the table. It doesn't put gas in the car. It doesn't buy Christmas presents, etcetera, Mr. Speaker. So I'm going to ask the Premier what type of campaign is the territorial government doing through his department of executive to launch and suggest this is the best investment opportunity for the North, but it's also the best investment for them to help meet their 2 percent requirements. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, the eyes of the world are on the North now and the discussions about Arctic security, defence, have taken up an inordinate amount of my time. I can say I did not expect this when I became Premier of the Northwest Territories I'd be having these national discussions and international discussions, but the fact is we are. And so what I can do from my end as a politician is talk to the politicians who are making decisions about what we need for infrastructure. And so we have provided detailed information to the federal government about the types of projects that we want to advance. When it comes to military installations, that's federal government jurisdiction, but I have told the federal government we need to work with them on those. We need to ensure that any military facilities in the North provides benefits to the North and that the Indigenous governments on whose land those facilities are need to be part of those discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Premier what type of proactive aggressive campaign are we selling? When the territorial government went so far as building the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, it wasn't just cap in hand saying we'll wait until they do this. Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Premier is he willing to look at either striking a formal committee to get Members, including Cabinet, to work on an aggressive campaign to sell these types of initiatives. Because if we sit here and do nothing, that's exactly what we'll get, being polite, but we'll be overlooked. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a team to sell these projects to the federal government. It's your Executive Council, it's Cabinet, and we do it every single day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Well, first of all, Mr. Speaker, this is the first time I've heard of this Cabinet team that's been selling this. I've not seen in one year any result to that. Hence I'll ask the question, would the Premier be willing to form a working group with some Regular Members so we can help push this initiative collectively and territorially so we don't miss this billion dollar opportunity. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member wants to put a framework around this amorphous idea of pushing for billion-dollar opportunities, I'd be happy to have a look at that and consider how we can use that, but I'm not going to spearhead the Member's initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.
