Mr. Speaker, I was advised by representatives from Canadian Airlines yesterday that the amount of money that the Government of Canada has agreed to use as a loan guarantee, the $50 million will enable them to keep going, and as they are a major carrier in the Northwest Territories, they continue to keep us updated. Our position has been that, in the overall scheme of things when you are talking these kinds of dollars, we are a fairly small player in that regard, Mr. Speaker.
We do, however, support those employees who are struggling to maintain their jobs. The economic impact to the Northwest Territories would be considerable if Canadian Airlines were not to function up here. That is not to say that nobody else would move in, Mr. Speaker, but that airline does spend a lot of money in the Northwest Territories.
Having said that, we also have to recognize that there are other air carriers in the Northwest Territories. First Air, who has also been quite vocal in keeping us up-to-date with what impact the assistance to Canadian Airlines by the federal government would have upon them.
So what have we done? We have been listening and we have been encouraging those employees to try to preserve their jobs and their airlines and at the same time, down the road, there would appear to be an opportunity for us to make some recommendations to the federal government with regard to regulation of airline industry in the Northwest Territories. I think the federal government is heading in that direction and I think it is a good direction.
Speaking personally, Mr. Speaker, it seems that the airline industry in the Northwest Territories started to take a wrong turn... Or, when deregulation took place there was a lot of confusion and from the federal government, if they are going to get involved in making the airlines viable in this country, there is going to have to be a move back toward some re-regulation of airlines, and perhaps that is where we will play a role. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.