Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I was to say that I could bring a written economic plan into this House, then I would be stating pie in the sky. The situation changes so rapidly. Is there an economic strategy? Yes, Mr. Speaker, our economic strategy is, by whatever means possible put people back to work. You can see that in this Cabinet it is being done, and by the responsibility of other departments, other than Economic Development and Tourism, to get involved in that.
Mr. Morin's departments are a good example of where he has gone out and negotiated contracts and made sure that northerners are put to work. In the area of housing we are breaking out packages so that people who manufacture goods in the Northwest Territories will have a chance to bid on those products and have them built in the Northwest Territories. We have an underlying strategy for more manufacturing in the Northwest Territories. We are encouraging large companies which may be in the oil and gas business or the mining business, to work with us and work with communities so that we can make sure that communities get a fair deal from these companies, that northerners are employed and northern businesses are engaged to support those companies.
We are working very hard in the arts and crafts industry. To that end we are looking at marketing. Across the Northwest Territories there is a great resurgence in fisheries, not only in Great Slave Lake but also in Rankin Inlet. There is interest in the Kitikmeot and, of course, in Pangnirtung where we are having quite a bit of success.
To say that there is a written strategy would be pie in the sky. We are trying to build on our strengths. We are trying to build on the strengths of the people in the Northwest Territories. It applies to all departments. The Department of Education has recognized that it must educate the young people of the Northwest Territories. If we are going to create jobs we must make sure that those people are educated well enough to do it.
Decentralization fits in, Mr. Speaker, as I have said before, in building strong regional centres. We believe that strong regional centres in the end will build strong regions and create a transportation system across the Northwest Territories that would allow commerce to flow. These are the goals that we have. There are a lot more, Mr. Speaker, but generally economic issues are discussed around the Cabinet table, and all departments are encouraged to make use of the funds or the activities within their departments to promote business and job creation in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.