Today, Mr. Speaker, I stand here to extend thanks to my colleagues and counterparts, as well as the federal government and outside cybersecurity experts, for their generous support and guidance in bringing most of Qulliq Energy Corporation’s information technology operations back to a functional state. As many of us are aware, QEC was hit with a cyber-attack in January 2023, shutting down access to critical data and applications. In response, QEC and the Government of Nunavut’s Community and Government Services Information Management Information Technology department immediately began restoring IT infrastructure and rebuilding a modern and secure network for the corporation.
I would also like to take this opportunity to formally thank customers, our vendors, and other stakeholders for their patience while interim IT solutions
were put in place to continue providing a critical service to Nunavummiut. QEC employees worked diligently to continue day-to-day operations in an unexpected and challenging situation and were quick to implement contingency plans while delivering on the corporation’s mandate despite IT limitations.
Considerable collaboration and concerted efforts were required to successfully restore administrative functions, however, QEC’s ongoing IT needs are significant. Further investments are being planned to modernize and transform the entire network so that the corporation will be better equipped to protect important data and applications. These new investments will create one of the more secure environments going into the future. To complete the rebuild and sustain its operation, the decision has been made to transition QEC’s IT system to the GN’s network on a permanent basis.
The GN adopting QEC IT systems is in the best interest of the territory in continuing the transformation required to build a more secure and modern IT infrastructure. The GN can now extend its established systems to help further improve critical services for our communities. Being part of the GN umbrella will benefit day-to-day operations and deliver on QEC’s mandate to supply safe and reliable electricity to the territory.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.