Thank you. There are going to be some discussions with the Department of Economic Development and Tourism in the next week or so to discuss a strategy on developing new markets.
The European market is a good market for us. It demands high-quality fur, but it also is causing a great deal of stress to our people -- the totally irrational approach that the percentage of Europeans take to wildlife and the management of it and, I think, the irresponsible approach they take to trying to resolve issues.
So the market there is worth about $2 million to us now. We don't know what it is next year, but I am at a point where I think it has to stop at that level and, regardless of the European market, we have to give assurances to our trappers and hunters that it's not going to go any lower than it is now.
If anything, we have to find ways to give assurances to our trappers that the prices are not going to drop any more; in fact, we are going to bring them up, and this means we have to create a market ourselves here, locally. The government has to be prepared to support in various ways the trappers, and with Economic Development and Tourism, we will look at trying to maximize the access we have to the Asian markets for wild fur, and that work will be done.
One of the Members, last week, the Member for Deh Cho, was making some very good comments about the historical view that Europeans had taken to wildlife through their celebrated fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and the Pied Piper. I know we had commented on that during the last visit, and one of the people who was, perhaps, critical of the animal rights activists within the European Parliament remarked that Bridget Bardot would certainly not fly half-way around the world to kiss a baby wart-hog because it doesn't make a good photo. These are the kinds of people we deal with and they are the best in the world for media and mass communication. They are incredibly well financed.
We have an uphill battle, but after you get beaten up so much, it is hard to pretend that you want to do business with them any more. If we can, we will. If we can't, there are other places to go. There will always be Europeans who will want wild furs and good coats, and we are some of the few people in the world who can provide it to them. Whether they make it in Europe, US, or some other part of the world, it doesn't matter to us one bit. We intend to fight to maintain the market. Thank you.