Mr. Chairman, I think Mr. Lewis has hit the nail on the head. There are two things and it has been something we have been saying for the last year and that is, "there is no point in trying to tell people what you want them to do." If they want to develop an economy, they are going to have to do it themselves and we are going to have to assist them. They are going to have to be happy about what they want to do.
Secondly, the way we are backing that up is by saying in the smaller communities, "you tell the EDO what you want that person to go out and examine for you by way of economic prospects. In return for that we would still like you to deliver our programs to the community."
I think Mr. Lewis is also correct in that lust for profits has not been as apparent as we would like to see it, but I want to tell you Mr. Lewis, that I have recently returned from Fort McPherson, Arctic Red River and Inuvik. I was there to meet with the Gwich'in. Their attitude is "let us make some money. Profit is not a dirty word." So I think we are beginning to see that in the Gwich'in, now that they have settled their claim and they want to invest their dollars and put their people to work. We are seeing it with the Inuvialuit. It has been there for a considerable time. I think you will see that happen in the Sahtu as well, as people resolve their land claims and become landlords and owners of resources, then they are going to turn to the idea of making use of those resources and that land to make a profit. In each of the cases I have mentioned, those people are saying to us, "we are getting on to the economic stage right now and we want to be part of it."
If you move further down the valley and you get to the Dogrib nation, there is no question that they are out there trying to make a buck. There is that spirit beginning to evolve. As the land claim is signed off and completed with division of the territories, in the east you will see the same kind of thing occur. What we are seeing out there is some very aggressive northerners who want to get into business. That is causing us a bit of a problem. That is they want to get into business and there are already people in the Northwest Territories who are already in the business. For example, the construction industry are feeling threatened by the people who say, "well, we have watched these Yellowknife machines go by our door all the time with some driver from another part of the territories. We have seen the logos on the side of the Yellowknife machines and they are not representative of a company in our area, in fact, we do not own a company. We want part of the action." As these people get involved, they come to us and say, "we want to put our people to work." The rest of the construction industry in the Northwest Territories is saying to me, "hey, what about us? There are too many negotiated contracts." It is a question of balance. There is only one way to make sure that everyone gets a slice of this pie and you said it earlier on today, Mr. Lewis, that is you have to make the pie bigger. That is why, in addition to paying attention to these small things that are going on in communities and the regional issues, we are also, through Mr. Todd and Madam Premier, looking at these large scale developments as well. That is what it is going to take to make the piece of the pie bigger.
You also are correct, Mr. Lewis, when you say we do not have total jurisdiction over all of the things which are in the Northwest Territories, so consequently we do not have total power. This is a very real problem because it does hamper us when we want to see something go on in the Northwest Territories and find out that some agency of the federal government regulates this particular item, and it is not really within our realm. We see corporations going to Ottawa for one thing, coming to us for another thing, and there is a great deal of confusion. This is another aspect which must be addressed through constitutional development. Certainly, having constitutional development take place in the Northwest Territories is going to lead to a better business climate once businesses understand the rules and regulations. As for the entrepreneurial spirit, it is out there and it is growing. Our job is to find more things for it to do. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.