Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you all know, in 1995, the Arctic Winter Games Committee made a decision to hold the Arctic Winter Games for 1998 in the city of Yellowknife. There was an application put forth by the town of Inuvik and the surrounding communities of the Mackenzie
Delta, but they were told they did not have adequate facilities to host such an event. The people in the Mackenzie-Delta -- who have been known to stage large events such as environmental conferences, the northern games and the Midway Lake Music Festival -- took great offence to this decision. The people of the Mackenzie-Delta felt their ability to host such an event was misjudged.
One of the reasons the committee gave with regard to not awarding the games to Inuvik was the lack of proper facilities. A large gymnasium in the second-largest community in the region would only enhance Inuvik's ability to host the next Arctic Winter Games after division.
This is one of the questions I'll be raising later on with the appropriate Minister: What is the possibility of establishing a larger gymnasium in the community of Fort McPherson -they are presently constructing a new facility -- so that the ability of the Mackenzie-Delta region to host the next Arctic Winter Games will not be jeopardized because of not having the facilities? Thank you.