Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Members for supporting the passage of Bill 9 on Friday to allow for the manufacture of beer in the Northwest Territories. Working on this bill has not been easy. I first started working on the bill in the previous Assembly as a follow-up to the Special Committee on Northern Economy's report. I believed a small manufacturing plant could replace imported beer, which after all is more than 99 per cent water. We have an abundance of water in the Northwest Territories of excellent quality. We even have very large areas of the Northwest Territories where high quality barley could be grown. Only hops and yeast and a few other ingredients, which are cheap to transport, would need to be imported.

What is needed, however, Mr. Speaker, is a provision whereby the Liquor Commission could establish a lower pricing regime for this northern product. This would result in a slight lowering of revenue for the commission. It would be consistent with our business incentive programs so that northern manufacturers could get a break. This also could be an initiative of our own to signal to the rest of Canada that we need to establish a base for our manufacturing with some form of protection. I would also thank my counsel, Virginia Schuler, for her work, and for the assistance given to me by the staff of the Department of Justice and the Department of Safety and Public Services. Lastly, I would like to thank Mr. Arngna'naaq, the Members of the Standing Committee on Legislation and staff, for their useful suggestions and advice. Thank you.

---Applause