Thank you, Madam Chair. The planning session, Madam Chair, that we have had for the last two months, I think, was worth it. There were many people across the Territories very anxious to know what was happening. The business plan in this case has been drafted by all 24 MLAs. I think we should congratulate ourselves that we have done a good job. I basically like the Premier's statement on behalf of this government. I know there is apprehension among the public, among the politicians. I wonder at times why we are so apprehensive when, in fact, we are living in a wealthy land in terms of renewable and non-renewable resources. We have a high potential for tourism; in fact, we are living in the last frontier and people like to come to this country, to the NWT, to see the culture, the wildlife, and to take photographs, et cetera.
Madam Chair, in the recent past, there was an article in the paper talking about caribou clothing. In fact, according to the scientific findings, caribou skin was far more practical than the conventional factory-made clothing. This finding gave us the great opportunity to enhance the use of caribou skin clothing.
I have stated earlier that we are living in a wealthy land; we've merely scraped the surface of the potential that we have within the land. How can we use the full potential of renewable and non-renewable resources? What is the stumbling block in this case? I think, unless we can speed up the land claims process within the jurisdiction, Madam Chair, only then can we realize the use of non-renewable and renewable resources. The claimants in the Eastern and Western Arctic are willing to work together and they want development. Before that can be realized, they want to settle the land claims. That's where it's at.
I speak not as a person from the Nunavut area, I speak as a public person. Madam Chair, most of the people in the Northwest Territories, the majority, rely on the fur industry. During the last 30 years, the sale of furs has declined. This government has tried to talk to people in Ottawa and in other countries but I don't believe that we have used our full potential to try and promote and enhance the trapping industry.
Madam Chair, we have people in the communities across the Territories who depend mainly upon carving. Carving, being a by-product of wildlife, has been rejected by some of the countries. Again, in this area we have done very little to promote our industry within the jurisdiction. In terms of creating jobs for the communities, the Premier, who was the Minister of Public Works and Services, has come a long way in terms of using the community manpower, made in the Territories, made in the communities, but I think we have not used the full potential of the local labour force that is available in every community.
We are still seeing in my area that when there are government projects in the communities, we still see contractors coming from outside of the Territories. I believe if there is a project taking place in Yellowknife, Yellowknife should have the first crack at it. If there is a community project in Iqaluit, Pelly Bay and other communities across the Territories, it should be likewise. People in the communities should be awarded contracts because when you award a contract to a local business, the community people will get the jobs and many people only depend on seasonal work. The only time people are able to afford to buy hunting equipment is when they get the opportunity to work during the summer, get their hunting equipment and supplement their income by hunting and trapping. Those are the areas we should really concentrate on because of the bad financial situation we are faced with.
Madam Chair, with regard to trying to balance the budget within two years, I believe we should have a mid-term review of the financial situation of this government. I don't think we should be committed to balance the budget in one or two years. We should leave that open, have a mid-term review of the financial situation and take it from there.
Madam Chair, within the last two months, people have asked me what is happening with this. Are you still planning? Yes, we have plans for two months. Now we have a business plan in place and we can take it from there. We can make that plan work so when the time comes for division, two territories in this jurisdiction, we will be able to realize that, even through difficult times. I have every confidence, Madam Chair, with the Cabinet Ministers, the Premier, the politicians and the people of the Territories that we'll be able to pull through. We will be able to say we stood by the business plan, we made it and we will be able to reminisce that we were the great ones. Thank you.