I think it's incumbent upon me as an MLA to say to the people of Yellowknife that things will change. The Yellowknife that we know is going to be changing rapidly, and we have to start preparing for that change. To try to put our head in the sand and say somehow the status quo will be maintained I think is misleading and dishonest to our constituents.
Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I think the western Arctic and Yellowknife have a tremendous future. We have everything going for us. There are only 40,000 people with vast resources. I think we have a very skilled population. Though we argue amongst ourselves, at the end of the day I'm convinced we'll come together and we're going to make it work.
In the future, I think Yellowknife has to draw upon its strengths. As I said before, it has unmatched infrastructure here in the territories. It has a trained workforce. It has a critical mass of population whereby you can have investment opportunity, whereby you can bring in the larger opportunities from southern Canada, where you can bring in the banking and financial institutions. So I think it's very important for the western Arctic to have a Yellowknife. It's also very important for Yellowknife to recognize that without the support and the interaction with the rest of the western Arctic, Yellowknife can't thrive.
I think that Yellowknife has to get back to its roots. It started off as a very important mining centre, and I see the potential in mining as tremendous. I'm happy to see this mayor and city council are trying to take advantage of that, and are out there pursuing opportunities in mining.
I also see Yellowknife having to really improve their relationship with regions. All too often, Yellowknife has sat in splendid isolation. We, in this House, have heard many times some of the frustration by people across the territories. I think it's time for Yellowknife -- and the mayor and council are starting on this-- to embrace the regions. I think that Yellowknife in partnership with the regions strengthens everybody.
So, Mr. Speaker, I think that at the end of the day if there is proper planning, if there is leadership, creativity and goodwill, I think the people of Yellowknife can move towards 2000 with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
--- Applause