Thank you, Madam Speaker. Over the past few weeks, mining has been a hot topic of conversation in this House, in our region and in the Kitikmeot region. The recent trip to an international mining conference in Toronto, followed by meetings in Ottawa, led by Mr. Todd, the Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, and attended by Mr. Dent, Mr. Zoe and Mr. Ng, demonstrated to all of us the tremendous and unusual opportunities which may open up to us in the next few months. They are opportunities that, at this point in time, very few people in the world have.

It also showed us the tremendous challenges that we face if we are to benefit from this activity. De Beers, BHP, Kennecott, and Metall are huge international companies with tremendous power and influence around the world. Each one of them dwarfs our government in power, employees and influence a hundredfold. The diamond industry, itself, is little known in the Northwest Territories; in fact, it is little known in Canada. So, we have a very steep learning curve to climb very quickly if we're going to have any impact on the results of mining activity.

I urge Minister Todd to take every opportunity here, in South Africa, Australia or wherever to bring us up to speed very rapidly. Otherwise, we will remain -- and I'm not afraid to say this -- cute country bumpkins in a potentially immense mining play.

We have to ensure that the environmental implications are fully understood and that we can overcome them. We have to ensure that aboriginal rights are protected and that aboriginal groups in affected areas are fully involved in decision-making. We have to ensure that we can maximize the benefits of development and are able to provide training, employment and business opportunities in a timely fashion.

It seems obvious to me that we must gain responsibility for mining and for oil and gas as soon as possible. We can almost guarantee that very soon that opportunity will be lost forever. The federal treasury will inevitably suck our resources dry in order to feed the insatiable appetite of southern Canada. And 60,000 people won't really make one little bit of difference. We must act decisively. We must act now.

---Applause