Mr. Speaker, there are almost no protected areas in the continent of Europe because it is almost all polluted, irrigated, farmed or has been completely decimated from many species of wildlife. Here in North America, we do suffer from the unusual high expectations of organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund. We are still a remote, sparsely-populated, relatively clean, pristine environment and, with diligence, we can continue to keep the environment in that relative state with good management. However, in order to give good report cards themselves, organizations such as the World Wildlife Fund have to continue passing report cards on people like ourselves. I don't think it is deserved or necessarily productive, but it does keep their sponsors coughing up the pay cheques and the money to keep organizations like that alive. I say that to put things in proper context.
The Government of the Northwest Territories knows there are fewer than 60,000 people here in the Northwest Territories. We are one-third the land mass in Canada, with 1.5 million square miles of area. The whole place, as far as I'm concerned, is still a protected area. However, we are interested in engaging, as I've indicated to Mr. Monte Hummel, in any exercise that would ease the fears of people down south, that our wildlife and ecology is not going to be run over by industry overnight and, perhaps, we could demonstrate some ways that we are concerned about the wildlife.
As has been indicated by the Finance Minister, 75 per cent of our money is an outright grant from the Government of Canada. We are short by 3,000 houses in the Northwest Territories, we have severe social and economic problems right now that deserve the bulk of our financial resources. Any suggestion that we would be willing to spend millions of dollars designating certain areas and then protecting them simply to get a possible improvement in our report card from the World Wildlife Fund would be unrealistic, I believe. Thank you.