Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, investing in our Arctic road to resources, Mr. Speaker, it's the highway north of Yellowknife, is an excellent, if not a major significant economic opportunity for the North and Canada. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the NWT's GDP alone, you'd start to wonder in this territory, is it trending that people are quietly quitting? Our GDP is shrinking and things are -- maybe no one's taken the opportunity to inform or tell the Premier.
Mr. Speaker, we're going to need some bold brinkmanship action to get in there, lock down, and get some investment in the North, because as the North starts to shrink, and continues to shrink in the direction it's going, you don't have to start to see the stark difference between when you look east or west, when you see Nunavut and Yukon, as their economies continue to grow year over year because it starts to make you wonder what's happening and where is the call for urgency. Mr. Speaker, frankly, the only growth, really, we see in the Northwest Territories in our GDP is the public administration. And in lay terms, that's for the public to know what that means is basically that means government with more government on top of government, Mr. Speaker. Government's bursting at the seams. It's our best sifter.
Mr. Speaker, but all isn't lost. There's hope on the horizon. Mr. Speaker, recently, Canada has elected a new Prime Minister. Mr. Speaker, that Prime Minister made a particularly interesting statement. I'll say it. He said build big, build bold, and build now, Mr. Speaker. So there's the message I'm sending to our Premier.
So, Mr. Premier, while you're travelling to the First Ministers' junket in two weeks from now and in between the wine, the cheese, and those fancy cute little tiny crackers, take a moment and ask the Prime Minister to help you build big, build bold, build now. We have partners here in the Yellowknife region - the Tlicho government, the Yellowknives - they want to work together to build that road north to the Bathurst port because we could build big, bold, and now, and that will help stimulate this economy.
Mr. Speaker, subjects such as the Arctic road to resources I think would be good, accelerating the Mackenzie Valley Highway is critical, and if Taltson isn't going to work it's time we pull it off the table and say let's run a power line north from Alberta because we have to start making some good choices. So I implore the Premier, do not be a Where's Waldo; be aggressive. Be big, be bold, and do it now because we can't wait any longer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member from the Sahtu.
