Thank you, Mr. Chair. As a government, we are very concerned about the state of oil and gas in the Northwest Territories. We recognize that in this economic downturn, it is the time to get ready and prepare for when we can expect the commodity prices for oil and gas to improve. First and foremost, I believe we have been working with industry so that we can see the pipeline maintenance continue, so that it can be done as quickly as possible so that the production can restart in the Norman Wells oilfields.
We are also working really hard with the Inuvialuit to restart negotiations on the devolution on the offshore, and we are also participating with the federal government to a five-year review to remove the permanent moratorium of oil and gas in the Beaufort. All those things will help create an investment climate for oil and gas. We are also developing an oil and gas strategy. We have a committee that is working on an Arctic corridor that we think will allow us to have more investment. There were studies done where we looked at what we would do when we can’t go east, west, or south. We have the benefit; we have significant amounts of oil and gas, and we also have access to tidewater. Thank you, Mr. Chair.