Good afternoon.

It’s great to be back home in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Minister Alty, for the introduction – and Minister Chartrand, Minister McGuinty, and Secretary of State Fuhr for helping make today happen.

Thank you to the members of the 440 Transport Squadron for hosting us, and for your service defending Canada and our communities.

I’m pleased to be joined by Indigenous leadership from across the North and Arctic. Your partnership has made today possible.

Indigenous Peoples have been stewards of this land since time immemorial.

Only by working in partnership with territorial governments and Indigenous rights holders can we build lasting prosperity, develop the North sustainably, and ensure that the people of this region fully benefit from its riches.

This historic day has been a long time coming.

In 1958, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker asked Canadians to consider a “new imagination of the Arctic”.

He portrayed the North as Canada’s last great frontier – a vital part of our national consciousness.

Certainly, an area that contains 40% of our landmass and 75% of our coastline is at the heart of our nation – but it hasn’t always been treated as such.

Over my lifetime, successive governments have helped make investments in new mines, ports, roads, bridges, outposts, and satellite systems.

But, too often, these steps have been taken with great caution or after long delays. Too often, investments were made one at a time – piecemeal and not connected.

In short, they lacked the scale of ambition and the depth of strategy worthy of this vast region and its peoples.

That’s why – in response to input from Indigenous rights holders, territorial governments, and other stakeholders, last September I referred to the Major Projects Office (MPO) a transformative strategy: the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor.

Since then, the MPO has been engaging with Indigenous rights holders, governments and partners, territorial governments, federal departments and the private sector to translate a high-level strategy into an action plan with an integrated set of projects that complement the major investments we are making in our defence and security in the Arctic.

The federal government has the capacity to deliver a vision of this scale.

At this pivotal moment, when our economy and our sovereignty are facing new threats, we have an imperative to do so.

From day one, Canada’s new government has been clear that true Canadian sovereignty is anchored in a strong and secure North.

Four days after being sworn in – almost exactly a year ago – I was in Iqaluit to announce that the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) would establish a sustained, year-round presence in the Arctic to protect our sovereignty across land, air, and sea.

We have already delivered. Today, the CAF patrols the Arctic 365 days a year, including through Operation NANOOK.

In our first federal budget, we launched the $1 billion Arctic Infrastructure Fund to build new roads, rail, airports, bridges, and ports.

Last month, the Minister of Indigenous Services announced new measures to make life more affordable for Indigenous communities in the North, including lowering food costs and improving access to child care and education.

Today, we are announcing a series of transformative initiatives that will help unlock the full potential of this vast region.

Canada’s new government is moving forward with an ambitious new plan – backed by more than $40 billion of investments in Canada’s North and Arctic.

To defend our sovereignty and deter new threats.

To connect, build, and transform Northern and Arctic communities.

With this plan, we are taking control of our future.

We will no longer rely on others to defend our Arctic security or to fuel our economy.

We are taking full responsibility for defending our sovereignty.

We are unleashing a range of new economic opportunities for 140,000 Northerners who will benefit from stronger, more connected communities, more opportunities, and a higher standard of living.

The government’s first job is to keep you safe.

To do that, last June, our government set out on an ambitious mission to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the CAF.

Recruitment to the Armed Forces is up by 13%.

We are on track to meet NATO’s 2% target this year.

As part of our plan to rebuild, rearm, and reinvest in the CAF, we must ensure that the women and men who serve have not only the presence, but also the reach to defend every corner of this region.

To that end, we are building four new Northern Operational Support Hubs and Nodes, in Whitehorse, Resolute, Rankin Inlet, and Cambridge Bay.

And we’re upgrading our National Defence infrastructure in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Iqaluit, and Goose Bay.

These locations are at the heart of our mission to defend our territory.

They will enable us to deploy aircraft across remote areas of the Arctic.

We are building military centres of critical importance, which are also essential for enhancing the safety and security of communities.

These stations enable faster response times in search and rescue operations, natural disasters, and emergencies, even in the most remote areas.

These defence investments will strengthen our military’s presence and, at the same time, they will require us to build new energy infrastructure, broadband and telecommunications services, and wastewater services – transforming and benefiting surrounding communities.

The combination of these defence investments with the nation-building projects we are announcing today will strengthen Arctic security, open new economic opportunities, and connect communities.

When Diefenbaker asked Canadians to re-imagine the potential of the North with his Roads to Resources Program, he envisioned new airstrips, a railroad to the Great Slave Lake, and a winding, man-made line carved through this rugged terrain.

Since then, as people of the North know all too well, climate change has only reinforced the need for action.

Isolated communities in the Mackenzie Valley rely on a seasonal winter road and summer resupply barges, which are both becoming increasingly unreliable with melting permafrost in the winter and low water levels in the Mackenzie River in the summer. Right now, there is no road open in all seasons.

Ever since I was a kid in Fort Smith, I have been hearing about the possibility of the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

For decades, there have been a series of false starts and endless assessments. That record ends today.

Today, we are referring the Mackenzie Valley Highway to the Major Projects Office.

This summer, we will start construction.

The first phase of this all-season highway will stretch more than 800 kilometres from Wrigley to Norman Wells. The second phase will extend all the way to Inuvik.

When complete, this vital artery will link Yellowknife and Inuvik – cutting in half the time it takes to drive between them.

The new McKenzie highway will be resilient to both the changing seasons and the changing climate, providing year-round access to isolated communities, allowing for critical supplies and medicine to reach people in remote areas.

The highway will also unlock immense potential for the mining of copper, zinc, gold, and other critical minerals.

We are building in partnership with territorial and Indigenous governments, so that benefits promised nearly 70 years ago reach communities.

We are moving fast, with construction of the Oscar Creek Bridge Relocation, Christina Creek Realignment, and Highway 1 Targeted Resurfacing all beginning this summer.

As we connect communities on land, we will also connect them by air.

We are modernising runways at Rankin Inlet and upgrading Inuvik Airport to allow larger aircraft to land, to reduce costs, and to ensure that there are reliable, fully operational airports for the communities that depend on them.

As we connect our communities to each other, we will also connect them to the world.

Despite our unique strategic advantage in bordering and connecting three oceans, Canada does not have a deepwater port on the Arctic Ocean.

Grays Bay Port and Road will change all that.

We will build a new deepwater port and airfield at Grays Bay in Nunavut and a 230-kilometre all-season road connecting it to the territory’s border.

This will help unlock untapped mineral resources and enable their easy export.

The MPO will work in partnership with the Kitikmeot Inuit Association to realise the transformative potential of this decades-long dream.

And to connect the Grays Bay Port and Road to the wider North, including Yellowknife, we’re referring the new Arctic Economic and Security Corridor to the MPO.

This corridor will build a 400-kilometre all-season road through the Slave Geological Province to Nunavut’s border.

Together, Grays Bay Road and Port and the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor will:

• Become the first all-season road connecting Nunavut to our National Highway System.
• Enable new resource exploration and development in the mineral-rich Slave Geological Province of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
• Open access to new export markets so we can realise more of the multiple new trade deals we are securing abroad.

It is not just about what we build, it is also about how we build.

We are building sustainably, reducing emissions and investing in the clean energy future.

We are building in solidarity with Canadian workers – creating hundreds of thousands of high-paying careers.

And we are building in partnership with territorial and Indigenous governments to ensure major economic benefits for the people of the North.

This is a generational plan to build and connect the North – bringing security, prosperity, and opportunity to workers and families.

To sustain that growth, we need clean, reliable, affordable power.

Fuel prices in the North can reach six to 10 times higher than the rest of Canada, reinforcing the need to transition to cleaner options.

So, we are unlocking the North’s enormous hydropower.

In November, we referred the Iqaluit Nukkiksautiit Hydro Project to the Major Projects Office – Nunavut’s first 100% Inuit-owned hydro energy project.

It could save nearly $2 billion in diesel costs over 50 years while providing affordable, reliable, and emissions-free power to the Arctic.

Today, we take another major step toward the North’s energy future by referring the Taltson Hydro Expansion Project to the MPO.

Taltson Hydro will add 60 megawatts to the existing system, doubling hydro capacity in the Northwest Territories, creating a unified hydro grid that links 11 communities and powers 70% of the territory’s population with reliable, clean electricity.

The major projects we are referring today represent around $10 billion in investment and more than 10,000 jobs during construction.

More fundamentally, the projects we are advancing today are force multipliers.

Their construction will unleash new career opportunities, higher paycheques, faster trips, stronger communities, and large investments made possible by a connected Canadian North and Arctic.

Our plan to defend, connect, and build the North will reinforce our strategic autonomy. That independence will be bolstered by new trade and defence partnerships with trusted partners.

Tonight, I’ll be travelling to Norway to strengthen our cooperation with our Nordic allies in the areas of defence, trade, and critical minerals.

My visit will include joint military exercises aimed at enhancing operational cooperation and readiness among key allies in the defence of our territory.

And next week, I will meet with Prime Minister Starmer to talk about strengthening our collective defence.

The foundation of our sovereignty, our independence, and our strength lies in what we build at home, together.

When John Diefenbaker set out to re-imagine the North, he rightly envisioned more than a stronger economy and a more secure border, but a future where Canadians have “control of their own destiny”.

Where we are masters in our own house.

Today, we are taking major steps to realise that vision.

To take control and build the true North, strong and free – together.

Thank you.