Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by sending greetings back to my wife and children back in Inuvik.
Mr. Speaker, on February 19th, Mr. Kakfwi, the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development informed this House that the process to develop a Protected Area strategy would begin in Inuvik in the week of March 3rd. I would like to thank the Minister for selecting Inuvik as the site to start this historic initiative. Not only will the meeting give the town a badly needed shot in the arm, Inuvik is a wise choice for this meeting. Inuvik means the place of man. Mr. Speaker, the word man is used in the broadest sense to mean people, mankind.
Since its birth, Inuvik has been a crossroads where people of many cultures from many places have met. The community is an everyday meeting place for the Gwich'in, Inuvialuit and non-aboriginal residents. It has been and remains a centre for research. The region has been a testing ground for new technologies and ideas. Inuvik is an ideal place to bring together the many varied interests which will be needed to develop a strategy that will meet the economic, social and environmental needs of the northerners in the future.
The town of Inuvik has hosted big conferences and meetings in the past. Mr. Speaker, Inuvik always welcomes visitors. I am sure those who travel to Inuvik for the meeting on a Protected Areas Strategy will be greeted as warmly as other visitors and have a time which they will long remember. Mr. Speaker, all MLAs have been invited to attend the Inuvik gathering. I encourage my fellow Members to visit my community and participate in the deliberations on a Protected Areas Strategy. This is an opportunity to get on the ground floor of an exciting initiative that we will hear much about in the future. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I extend a welcome to those who will meet in Inuvik. We all have a responsibility to look after the land, to manage it, to use it properly and protect it to meet our needs and the needs of our future generations.
Those deliberating at the conference in Inuvik have an important role to play in our future. They face a task that can be best completed by working together. I wish the Minister and the participants the best in their deliberations. Once again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my thanks to the Minister and hope the other Ministers will follow his lead by holding conferences in Inuvik as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause