The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen delivered the following member's statement in the legislature on Monday: Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, the Northern Association of Community Councils (NACC) hosted its 43rd Annual General Meeting and Tradeshow here in Winnipeg. I, along with my colleagues, the Premier, the Minister of Healthy Living, Seniors and Consumer Affairs as well as the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation were pleased to have attended, and to have had the opportunity to hear from the communities present and speak to the association. I wish the opposition would have taken it seriously and attended. The NACC represents up to 56 northern and remote community councils, and was the first association to incorporate both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in order to work together toward organizing, planning and developing their communities. The theme of this year's conference was 'Strong Communities, Stronger Future'. Mr. Speaker, we know that a great deal of our future as a prosperous province depends on the well-being and success of our people and our communities in the north. We want to ensure that people who live in northern Manitoba are able to fully benefit from the opportunities already available to them and we want to encourage the creation of new opportunities. At the Annual General Meeting, we discussed the new northern development strategy, Opportunities North, which is helping to plan for Manitoba's future. The principles guiding this strategy are ensuring that economic development in the north benefits northerners, reflects northern community values, promotes economic diversity and environmental sustainability, reduces economic disparity, respects Indigenous rights and helps to further the goal of reconciliation while also providing clarity for all those involved in the development process. Mr. Speaker, the NACC represents communities throughout the Flin Flon constituency including Herb Lake Landing, Brochet, Sherridon, South Indian Lake, Granville Lake and Nelson House. It was great to have a chance to meet with some of these communities and hear their ideas and perspectives on how we can continue to develop and better our province. Thank you to everyone who was involved, especially NACC President, Reg Meade; Eastern Chairperson, Helgi Einarsson; Northern Chairperson, Glen Flett; and Western Chairperson, Anne Lacquette. I would also like to congratulate all the recipients of the Years of Service & Service Excellence Awards. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
