Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome back, colleagues. I, too, would like to congratulate Mr. Erwin Elias on his election as IRC chair and the chief executive officer. As well, to thank Mr. Duane Smith for his 10 years of excellent leadership in the region as well.
Mr. Speaker, as the Premier stated, the eyes of North America and, indeed, the world continue to be focused on the Arctic. With the recent federal procurement notice of up to $10 billion in spending in the northern operational hubs of Inuvik and Yellowknife, we have the potential for a huge economic benefit.
Mr. Speaker, this is more than just infrastructure. This can be a gateway to further economic opportunities, much-needed resource development, LNG, critical minerals, roads connecting our territories and bridges, Mr. Speaker. We have to be ready. And as the Premier said, there's an urgent need to get work done. We have work to do. We have to resolve the issue around land transfers so communities like Inuvik can be prepared when land is required to build this infrastructure.
Mr. Speaker, we have to ensure that our ongoing infrastructure projects, such as runway expansions and bridges and gravel sourcing, are on track and completed without delays. We have to ensure that our federal government has the confidence in our government that we are ready to meet this challenge, Mr. Speaker, that we are engaging with our Indigenous government partners to ensure we are working shoulder to shoulder.
On the heels of this procurement announcement, now is the time to convince and lobby our federal government that the Mackenzie Valley Highway is a true nation-building project and that funding it and connecting the two northern operational support hubs will be significant for defence and sovereignty, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're all pulling on the same rope on this one but we, as a government, as my colleagues in this building have to ensure, that we are, indeed, pulling hard enough. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
