Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this city miners are engaged in a bitter strike that threatens to damage the fabric of this community. It is the toughest strike that Yellowknife has ever seen. As an elected person in this Legislative Assembly, I am a very frustrated man. I see people suffering but I have no power to resolve that suffering or to resolve the issue that causes it.

Responsibility for labour, Mr. Speaker, as we all know, lies with the federal government. Only the federal government and the two parties to the dispute have any method whatsoever available to them to resolve this issue. The House of Commons, Mr. Speaker, shuts down for the summer this Friday, June 19.

Later, Mr. Speaker, I shall table a petition signed by 320 citizens, urging this government to press the federal government to urge its powers and to use them to resolve this labour dispute. Later on I shall also be asking the Minister responsible for safety to at least answer some questions in that area for which we do have responsibility, and that relates to the whole issue of mine safety.

In connection, too, with this strike, if I may, I would like to read a letter for Members, so they can get a flavour of what this city is like as a result of this strike. It is a letter from a group of three young people who have written to all Members, and I would like to share it with you:

"We are a group of concerned teenagers who dislike what is occurring in our town. As you know, our little city of Yellowknife is in the middle of a very intense and violent strike. There is a lot of hurt, anger, and hatred being spread through the people around us because of this strike. It is in the middle of its fourth week and has been carried on for way too long. We have sat around watching and listening, helplessly. There has been nothing we could do to stop it. So we formed our little group, trying to open the eyes of the public of the city, hoping that they would listen to us.

We do not like being affected by the strike. We are..."