Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the benefits of not being a business person is that as a Minister I take the view that if it does not make any sense to me, then it probably does not make any sense to most people, especially in the smaller communities. If it does not become readily clear to me how things are useful, then it is probably the same in the minds of most people. That is one of the things I do not see as a liability. I also have the benefit of the advice and support of the Premier and the Minister of Finance through the Cabinet Committee on the economy. We have undertaken a very systematic approach to setting up this department, to getting ourselves organized so we can be useful to communities and regions.
We are now in the position where we can actually go and meet with the regional leaders, with community leaders and be able to sit down, for a day or two through workshops, through planning conferences and meetings to come up with some suggestions. Some plan on how we can develop, enhance, support existing economic activities and create new ones.
We are now in a position where we can go, on request into the different regions and communities to do just that. It has taken about a year and a half to come to this position. The Northwest Territories Development Corporation, for instance, as I have said, was not in a position to do much for any particular community. Earlier they have managed to address each of their subsidiaries, to shore up their operations and to minimize the losses they were suffering. They are now in a position where they can, with some confidence, travel with us, or travel by themselves, to offer assistance, particularly to level two and level three communities.
We have moved a lot of money into the regions. Most communities and regions do not have to deal with Yellowknife in trying to access grants and access loans. It is only the larger loans that are now being dealt with in Yellowknife, through the Business Credit Corporation. So, in many ways, we have worked hard to do what we can to move towards community empowerment, to decentralizing. Mostly just to getting organized, getting our shop in order so we can be of some support and assistance to communities. Thank you.