Thanks very much.
Good afternoon, Chairperson Carr and members of the committee. My name is Ben Hendriksen, and I serve as the mayor of Yellowknife, a city that stands at the crossroads of Canada’s northern resilience and sovereignty. We are a city with a long history of welcoming and collaborating with the Canadian Armed Forces, Joint Task Force North, the Canadian reserves and the proud Canadian Rangers.
I join you today from Chief Drygeese territory, which is the traditional land of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, the traditional land use area of the Tlicho and the home of the North Slave Métis. It is with respect for this land, the indigenous peoples whose land I call home and all the people I represent as mayor that I offer my remarks.
Due to our geography, Yellowknife is no stranger to the challenges of climate change, geopolitical uncertainty and economic transformation, but our story is not just one of reaction and recovery. It is one of renewal.
In my recent state of the city address, I spoke about the need for a new northern playbook for prosperity, rooted in strategic infrastructure, economic diversification and community resilience. I believe that Canada’s defence industrial strategy must reflect these same principles. As the deputy premier and finance minister of the NWT has said recently and often, “It can't be on the backs of 45,000 Canadians to support Arctic security or to unlock the wealth of the North.”
In December of last year, the Yellowknife city council unanimously supported a resolution welcoming investment in Yellowknife from the Department of National Defence. The Arctic economic and security corridor, which our council also endorsed unanimously by resolution earlier this year, is a nation-building opportunity that aligns defence priorities with climate resilience, indigenous partnership and economic sovereignty. It is a project of national interest that the city is pleased to see on the short list of potential projects for future consideration. As a Yellowknifer, it is great to see the leadership of indigenous governments on this potential project, to see the collaboration across territorial borders with Nunavut and the West Kitikmeot Resources Corp, and to see the sense of urgency from the federal government.
To make this opportunity a reality, the north needs the investments in municipal infrastructure and in dependable, affordable power. Investments that strengthen Yellowknife and other communities across the north for sovereignty are dual-use and really triple-use investments. Infrastructure investments in the north are investments that support sovereignty but also support daily life, including access to water, sewer and traditional ways of life. If done right, they can and should also help to mitigate and adapt the north and Canada against the ever more real and frequent climate threats.
A defence industrial strategy with a northern lens must empower communities to thrive in a changing world. That means prioritizing clean energy, housing and infrastructure because, ultimately, without land that is kept healthy and that balances the needs of today with the needs of the next seven generations, what are we seeking to maintain sovereignty over?
In closing, I ask this committee to recognize the north not as a distant concern but as a central pillar of Canada’s north. With that political lens, I'm going to pass it over to our city manager for the remainder of our joint five minutes.
Go ahead, Stephen.