Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's very unusual for an ordinary Member to take issue with comments made by a colleague in the Ordinary Members' Caucus. We try to stay together and work together in harmony. However, the Member for Iqaluit is continuing to question the credentials of a Yellowknife businessman, and I hesitate to use his name because it's been used so many times in this House and he hasn't been able to defend himself.
But, on my initiative, I phoned him yesterday because I'm getting a little tired of hearing his name being batted around in this place with no one rising to defend him. By the way, he doesn't need a defence, but I feel an obligation to point out that Mr. Mike Mrdjenovich, in fact, is a local businessman who has contributed significantly to the progress of this city. I would like to point out, Mr. Speaker, that although piles of information have been given to the Member for Iqaluit about the operation of Nova Construction, I would like to give you a bit more information to show you what this business means to the city of Yellowknife and to the people of the Northwest Territories.
Last year, the company paid municipal taxes, $208,206; land lease, $86,403; the Iqaluit office, $82,981; expenses of the Yellowknife office, $588,032; the economic impact of all the work undertaken by this company - $7,176,079; salaries of eight full-time people in the complement in the offices, $279,000. In other words, roughly $9 million a year is the economic impact of this company in the Northwest Territories.
The total capital investment in the Northwest Territories is $35 million. We are always on about capital. We need capital. We need to grow.
This man, in fact, attracts money and activity. He is revitalizing the downtown core. In fact, the crappy -- I don't know if crappy is a bad word, Mr. Speaker -- but there were two unsightly buildings right next door to the Member for Iqaluit when he lived on that street. They have now been torn down and there are going to be beautiful new buildings right near the old arena. Everybody should be happy to know that.