Thank you for the question. There has been a lot of talk today about how do we build economies in small communities and in the regions, and I hope that this next Assembly joins me in focusing on regional empowerment. I think that we need to think about how to devolve not just government jobs, but also authority, to regions and communities, because once the people in the regions can start making decisions, they can start making decisions that actually work for them and that aren't just handed down. Some of those decisions might be about who gets funding to start a new business or things like that or who gets funding to Northern Farm Training Institute for training. Don't find a reason to put jobs in Yellowknife. Find a reason to put jobs in the communities and in the regions. It is easy to find reasons why not to do that. We need to task ourselves with finding reasons to do that.

We need to support people in the regions who want to do things for themselves. We heard some success stories from the Sahtu. I know of success stories in other small communities. The government, when they see that, needs to support that. The government doesn't have to do everything. If someone is doing something for themself, support that.

I think that we have to consider the fact that we may need to reconsider or reimagine what economies are in small communities. There are some small communities where their economy was the fur trade. Well, the fur trade isn't the way that it used to be. What do we do for that community? We are not going to shut it down and move it. Those days are long gone. So what do we do? Is it better to have people unemployed, because there are costs associated with that, or is it better to maybe subsidize a small industry where people are working? They are getting up, and they are going to work, which means that, when they get up, they are taking the kids to school. If they weren't getting up for work, maybe their kids weren't going to school.

I think that we need to start having those conversations, because the status quo isn't working. I think that we need some bold ideas, some ideas that might make us uncomfortable, but we have to try. The question of how we are going to access the federal funds is, again, partnerships. We need to build better partnerships with Indigenous governments and go together to Ottawa. I think that that is how you do it, and I have seen success stories around the territory when it is done that way. Again, it comes down to partnerships. Thank you, Mr. Chair.