Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be very brief. We have talked for many years that renewable resources was a fundamental part of any kind of economic development plan that we would have for the Northwest Territories. I am afraid that those were too often just words. It was like lip service. You said it because it was the right thing to say, but it wasn't said with much conviction because people believed that there were much bigger ways in which economies could be developed which would have a far greater impact on people and provide greater wealth than renewable resources.
So I am delighted with this document. It is the first time, really, that this government, in my memory, has set out what you can really do about developing our renewable resource economy. I think that, in the past, we have just simply said, that is the thrust of this government, but you never saw much evidence of what government did. They always seemed to hope that the big bang would come along and there would be all kinds of wealth created, and these kinds of small things didn't matter.
But for those of us who worked on the economy committee some years ago, we certainly learned an awful lot about the real value of what goes on in communities as it relates to the use of the renewable resources of those communities. I remember Dr. Usher, one of our helpers, had compiled an incredible amount of information with regard to the value of meat, just simply as a replacement for imported products, and it was shocking when you tried to convert the value of that meat to the value of beef in places like Pelly Bay or some other places.
So the significance is obviously quite considerable, and the first to have an economic development strategy which looks at renewable resources as they relate to real things that could happen in communities. This is on the right track. It's the best thing I've seen in that area, and the department should be congratulated on it. Thank you.