Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know Economic Development and Tourism has done its best to create employment. However, from listening to Members' comments, I think too much emphasis is being placed on putting more money into the highway corridor system to serve settlements which already have these facilities. Mr. Minister, my riding is only accessible by First Air and Ptarmigan. If you are rich enough you can go by kayak from Yellowknife to Coppermine. These things are not noticeable to the outside world.
Tourism is good. I do not dispute that. However, Mr. Minister, the tourism season in the Northwest Territories is five months. It does not qualify a person to go on U.I.C. What this government should be doing is looking at taking alternative measures to create the cottage industries within the communities so that people can get off the welfare system and sustain their livelihood. A lot of our native people cannot afford washers and dryers. We could have a launderette in Coppermine. We had one, but it has been out of commission for a long time. We do not even have a restaurant in Coppermine open to the public. These are the things that we really need. Our community is over 1,000 people. These are the things that the general public in my riding have to make people aware of. The people from the Keewatin are aggressive people. They have to focus on how to create jobs. That is what we need in our riding. I am not going to wait for the boom to hit my riding. I want to get things going, but it is hard to get the people in my riding to open their eyes and learn how to be aggressive. We have just as much ability as any other region, and our region is the least touched in the territories. The potential is there, but we are accessible only by air. We have a beautiful river, Coppermine River, Bloody Falls, Bathurst Inlet and these are the places in my riding where dollars can be put into, even to have a road from Coppermine to Bloody Falls. Not everyone can afford a boat and kicker. That would be good for the tourists that come to Coppermine. We are too passive, I think we should learn how to be aggressive. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.