Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think it is important to clarify that what we are proposing to do, is open up the business of resupplying the Keewatin communities for its fuel and cargo so that it becomes a competitive field. Right now, it is not a competitive field. NTCL, which I am proud to say, has done well and is owned in large part by the aboriginal corporation which I happen to be a member of, has done very well in the Keewatin for many years. It is important to point out, that is due partly to the fact that in 1985, after the company was transferred from being a federal Crown corporation to its present owners, the Government of the Northwest Territories Cabinet granted it a carrier of choice designation for 8 years. Which is to say that the NTCL system in the Keewatin would be the one used by the government and therefore, gave it the monopoly situation that it has now. The agreement in 1985, was that the situation would end in 1993.
That was the estimation of how long it would take for it to become a viable company, and that is what it has become, very clearly. NTCL has come up with the best proposal for a very large three-year contract to resupply the eastern arctic, one that I just signed with them this past year, which is worth $90 million. So, it is clearly become very competitive. That is what we are doing. In a sense we are saying NTCL, is now a mature, able company that can go out and become competitive and win contracts. As I said the other day, they are in a very good position to be successful in winning a profitable contract, out of this, once it goes out.
The issue of how that would affect Churchill, as I understand it, the dry cargo and fuel that goes through the rail line through Churchill is five percent of what goes through that port. There is an awful lot of cargo that goes through the line and the port because all of the grain that comes from the Prairie Provinces, or a lot of it, goes through that port and taken out by tanker to other ports to the rest of the world.