The NWT’s MLAs are back for their first public exchanges of 2026 as the legislature reconvenes on Wednesday afternoon.
Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek will deliver her seventh budget on Thursday afternoon, setting the territory’s course through a mangled economic maze.
On one hand, the Diavik diamond mine is closing, neighbour Ekati’s status remains imperilled and Imperial Oil is pulling out of Norman Wells, all massive klaxons blaring on the GNWT’s control panel.
Signs of economic trouble are not hard to find. Yellowknife’s only theatre is closing, transport truck traffic on NWT highways is down 20 percent year on year, and business groups have called for major changes and an end to “pointing fingers,” citing the territory’s flatlining GDP.
On the other hand, the federal government appears on the verge of pouring billions of dollars into defence spending in the NWT and exudes renewed interest in the North. But the impacts of old economic engines shutting down might be increasingly felt before any new investment can meaningfully arrive.
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Reflecting this, in a short advisory, the GNWT said Wawzonek’s budget this week – she is now one of the longest-serving finance ministers in the territory’s history – will “speak to how the GNWT plans to support stability for residents while the territorial economy continues its transition.”
NWT Premier RJ Simpson is expected to open the latest legislative sitting with a territorial address on the themes of public safety, healthcare, housing and collaboration with Indigenous partners.
The legislature sits from 1:30pm on most weekdays and from 10am on Fridays.
This is the year’s longest block of sitting days for MLAs. They’ll sit from February 4-6, 9-13, 16-17 and 24-26, then March 2-6. After that, there’s just a one-week sitting in late May and a three-week stint in the fall.
You can watch each sitting day live on the legislature’s YouTube channel.
