Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know I've made the statement many times, especially to the federal government, that one shouldn't be penalized for where they live. I certainly had great empathy this summer when I was up in the Beaufort, and I saw the clouds of dust on the Dempster. It reminded me of the old days on the Mackenzie Highway.

We see providing services to small communities as a priority. We want the communities to be healthy communities, sustainable communities, and that was part of the rationale for re-establishing the joint Cabinet and standing committee on small communities, where we have six MLAs and three Cabinet Ministers who all work together to improve in those areas. I remember the days going up to Fort Providence where the ferry would be out twice a year for substantial amounts of time. I know it was a difficult period with the increased costs, and I think that's an area that we need to look at, because it affects a whole region.

We talked to the federal government about the fact that we need more investment in the region. If you're going to take away trillions of dollars of oil and gas and leave it in the ground, we need an economic strategy to replace that, and we are working with them on an Arctic framework development policy which will allow us to work together in those small communities in our territory. This is an important area for us, and we're going to continue to work very hard to improve the delivery of programs and services. Thank you, Mr. Chair.