Yet, we have someone saying that these dams are going to do incredible damage to people. I find this a specious argument and hardly worth considering seriously. But it gives you the flavour of the concerns being raised, Madam Speaker.

The other concern is the flattening of wildlife sensitive eskers for airstrips. Madam Speaker, eskers, as we all know, are beds of gravel and we use them already. The argument that these are huge wildlife habitats that must be protected again is specious nonsense. There are no plans to use big eskers to develop long airstrips. It is a part of the environment and we have always used them as a source of gravel and will continue to with no damage to wildlife because it has already been going on for the last 50 years.

Madam Speaker, the other big argument is that there is going to be a huge port on the Arctic coast. Madam Speaker, we already have similar kind of developments at Nanisivik. We have it at Polaris. They are developed when you need a place for a boat to get into and to dock. We are not talking about Rotterdam, New York or Vancouver. We are talking about a place when a boat can tie up and we have already been doing it for the last 15 years. This proposal is no different from what we have already done in order to get access to those deposits in the two locations that I have just referred to.

Madam Speaker, my colleague Mr. Whitford has already talked about grizzly bears and I respect this and, in fact, I have some knowledge about this. It is an issue for people. People have respect for bears. There is a certain kind of mysticism. These are very important to people and we respect that. But, Madam Speaker, there is no evidence that the mining industry has been devastating the bear population. By the admission of the Department of Renewable Resources, of the 21 bears killed in that area last year there was one defence-killed bear by someone connected with the mining industry. They don't have a whole bunch of people going out with guns as entertainment every weekend shooting bears. It isn't allowed.

In fact, some people went to visit Lupin Mine not long ago and there were Members of the Standing Committee on Legislation on that trip. They were able to observe with their own eyes. When we landed at Lupin Mine, there were caribou grazing quietly along the airstrip. They didn't even look up, they just kept on grazing. There were even little white rabbits hopping all over the place. They have learned over a period of time that when those planes land, they don't knock the heads off the rabbits or the caribou. In fact, they stay away from them because they want to land on that airstrip and they don't want to land in the rocky area along the airstrip where those animals are grazing. Also, the people who go to those camps are not allowed to hunt those animals. They come right up to the kitchen and they are fed. They seem to live a very comfortable and contented life.

So, Madam Speaker, I am concerned that the exaggeration that is being placed by the World Wildlife Federation into the hands of the public on this issue is very weak reasoning and we should have some sense that we have to be able to sort out the things that are reasonable and the things that are ridiculous. The contents of this letter are ridiculous and on that note, Madam Speaker, I would like to sit down because I don't like to bore my colleagues. Thank you.

---Applause