Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have often spoken on the importance of mining in the Northwest Territories, and the need for us to diversify our northern economy, and I know that Mr. Henry spoke on this a little earlier, and he has a good idea, but I think what we certainly have to concentrate on is to reduce our dependency on federal government financing. On Wednesday of this week, I attended a future focus meeting sponsored by the City of Yellowknife. They have held these meetings for the past year on various subjects such as seniors' education. This week's meeting was on mining. Mining is a $1 billion industry here in the Northwest Territories, and it employs some 1,700 people, and that makes it the largest private sector employer, and actually it is just behind the territorial government. They contribute to the creation of a lot of spinoff jobs, such as the chartered airline industry, the main airline industries, supply companies, and on and on it goes. So when we speak about 1,700 jobs, there is likely 1,700 other jobs in the Territories that are dependent upon mining.

But all is not good news on the mining front. The price of gold is dropping, and it will likely stay there for some time. What that means is that it puts some of the mines in a precarious position. Some of the mines are very old and nearing the end of their life. Polaris is another mine that might well reach the end of its life in 2001. We need to encourage mining here in the Northwest Territories and exploration, but what we need to do, and we certainly have to keep that in mind here as legislators, is that we need reform, regulatory reform.

Mining companies need a harmonization of regulations. They need a single efficient system. Land claims need to be settled quickly and fairly, so that mining groups can continue and know who to approach with respect to who owns the land. A database needs to be made accessible for geoscience information. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.