I guess the concern that I would have, and it is something that we have spoken about before, with respect to

the Business Loan Fund, or the Business Credit Corporation, as it is now called. I think there is a feeling, certainly amongst the standing committee, and I know at a personal level, that this Business Credit Corporation should really be at arms length.

It should not be necessarily Chaired by a bureaucrat, as it currently is. I think it not only has to be seen as independent, and the control the government has is through its board of director appointees, it all has to be appointed by the Minister, anyway, and the same with its chairmanship.

While I appreciate, and I did say yesterday that I commended the department and the increased loan authority at the regional level, I still do not think it is satisfactory. $50,000 really cannot do a heck of a lot, if you look at it in quantitative terms, and the cost of doing business in some of these Arctic communities.

While I applaud you for moving in that direction, and actually giving the authority to the regional superintendents, I understand, without having to say "please" to Yellowknife, I am not sure that $50,000 goes a long way in today's world when you are trying to develop a small business.

Two things, on the loan board, Mr. Chairman. I would like to see an acceleration of it becoming more independent. I certainly want to see the Chair being a non-bureaucrat, because I think there is a sense of fairness then, an appearance of fairness, and there may be no political intervention, say, if it is bureaucrat reporting to the Minister. I would think that it would be in the best interest, frankly, of the Minister for that to happen.

I would also like to say that we need to clearly, again, in my opinion, increase the level of authority at the regional level. The frustration is felt by a lot of people, in my opinion, is that it is the small loans, it is up to the $75,000 or $100,000 loans, you hear every time you turn around.

A guy is trying to get a boat, it takes so long, by the time they get the boat, the ice is in, so you have lost a year. We have all got horror stories, and we have also got stories of success that the former Deputy Minister had alluded to when he defended the department in the committee.

I have the belief that if you expand the authority at the regional level, the real authority, where the guy can say, yes, this is good, I believe that things will run a lot smoother, and then we will get the statement which say the ones who care, rather than the ones who do not.

On natural resources, I think we have some exciting prospects out there in terms of the fishery. Of course, my friend from Pangnirtung has spoken eloquently about that. It is my understanding that in the project over in Cumberland Sound, there is somewhere around 20 to 30 people employed in that fishery. I think we should see an expansion in that.

I know that some of that is currently being done by the E.D.A. in terms of the research, and if we are fortunate enough, and I hope we are fortunate enough, to find sufficient fish resources, then I think the department has got to be ready to gear up, because it does provide a significant employment component to people who want to earn a living in a somewhat traditional manner.

My third point, if I may, is in the business services task summary, and that is with respect to the S.T.E.P. program. I had spoken to the Government Leader earlier about this. The S.T.E.P. program provides money to do community-based employment programs. The department has cut it significantly, and we spoke about it yesterday.

We need to, I have said on a number of occasions prior to being elected, and now that I have been elected, develop programs that are going to provide employment opportunities for a number of people who are on social assistance, or cannot get into the government. This will, at least, provide them with sufficient employment opportunities that they can then seek, as every other Canadian does, access to the Unemployment Insurance Act.

The S.T.E.P. program, while it has small dollars in it, $846,000 last year, is one example where that could take place. I think, you have to develop your fishery the same way, rather than paying a person per pound for fish, we should be paying them, hypothetically let us say, a fishermen comes in, he has one hundred pounds of fish, he gets a dollar a pound, he has $100.00. We should develop, as we did in the old days, not that long ago, in the early 1970s, these impressed accounts at the community levels, where you would then provide him with a pay cheque, take the appropriate deductions, and 10 or 12 weeks down the road these people would then be able to access legitimately, unemployment insurance programs.

We have to think a little more creatively in terms of the way in which we do these programs. We have to look beyond the budget. We have to look at how can we tag people on to another program that is going to make them feel good about themselves, continue to pay their rent, and feed their families. I think this department has an equal responsibility, as other departments, and they should be looking at it. When they look at there fishery and there arts and crafts, they should be looking at those kinds of fundamental changes.

Thank you.