Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, thank you Gary Lunn for your introduction, and thank you for all the work you’ve done as our Minister of Natural Resources to make today’s important announcement possible. Greetings to Daniel Caron, Jeffrey Murray and to everyone here who has joined us at the Library and Archives Canada, which is acting as our gracious host this morning.
Ladies and gentlemen, later today I will begin another tour of Canada’s North. I’ve done this at least once each year since becoming Prime Minister. I look forward to going north because I see some of Canada’s most spectacular landscapes and I meet some of Canada’s most hardy and dynamic people. As Prime Minister, I have visited all of the territorial capitals, met polar bears in Churchill, tried dog sledding in Yellowknife. I’ve looked over the breathtaking Nahanni Falls, visited the future site of a year-round military training base at Resolute Bay, concluded a land claims agreement at Kuujuuaq and stood at the future deep water port of Nanasivik.
I’ve even dipped my toe into the Arctic Ocean at Alert, the northernmost human settlement on Earth. Each time I do this, it’s really a great experience, and I come back to Ottawa inspired by the vastness, the beauty and the potential of our North. And each time I return more determined than ever to draw the gaze of all Canadians northward.