Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could just refer again to Mr. O'Brien's report from a year ago, which talks about what would happen if we went to direct resupply which is what we, as the government, are doing.
I note in the summary of the findings, the fourth point. The tug and barge system, while more expensive, offers the highest level of service in terms of the number of deliveries. However, we go to another point, because it is more expensive, and if we went to the direct resupply route which we are doing, it points out it will not be economically feasible to operate both a tug and barge delivery system and a freighter tanker system.
What our concept here or plan envisions is that the tug and barge system, unless the value of the proposal came lower than what I am not sure a company would do, would be probably a thing of the past.
As for northern companies in the field, the Member is right. There are not many. There are interested parties, I understand, that are interested in the transportation field. I, as Minister, encourage that. It is a healthy thing to have competition where it is viable. The north has gone through so many changes recently and advancements that there are right now, many different partnerships and where especially, aboriginal birthright companies using monies from land claims, have been able to partner up with firms that are already set up.
For instance, NTCL for instance. There are others. The Baffin Regional Inuit Association, it used to be called. KYA now, the business arm of that company owns several trawlers that fish offshore for turbot and shrimp. They do very well internationally. So, it is possible to create these partnerships and for these companies to form.