Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we, in the Northwest Territories, are entering a new era of federal funding cutbacks, program downsizing and PY cuts. The regional economic development programs that we have depended on for so long are in the process of being cut back, not just here but across the country.

As I have said many times, the north is probably the most vulnerable region to these cutbacks. We are the most dependent on the federal government. Mr. Speaker, we have two choices. We can sit here and we can divide and redivide a shrinking pie amidst clamouring from regions, Nunavut and the west, all fighting for an ever-diminishing pie; or, we can go out and aggressively pursue our economic future.

I have talked many times in this House about the opportunities in mining, the opportunities in oil and gas and I feel it is very important that we aggressively pursue those opportunities. There are also opportunities in many other areas of our economy: in timber; and, tourism. Japanese by the thousands are coming to the territories and are very interested in the territories. I ask, why don't we have a high level delegation from the Northwest Territories going to Japan with some of our operators...