Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last several days, I have spoken about the economic downturn in Yellowknife. A lot of our recent problems have to do with the low price of gold which has resulted in the closure of mines and the layoff of personnel. It may interest the Members to know the plummeting price of gold was triggered last year when some industrialized countries started selling off their gold reserves. Imagine my surprise, Mr. Speaker, to discover Canada is leading the way in this action. In 1980 Canada held 21 million ounces of gold in its central reserves. During the decade, Ottawa sold off 6.2 million ounces leaving our reserves at a still healthy 14.8 million ounces coming into the 1990s.
In the past seven years, Canada has virtually depleted its gold holdings so that we are now down to 3.1 million ounces, yet our G7 partners have all held their reserves steady at much higher levels. Instead of protecting a major segment of Canada's mining industry, Canada's actions have helped drive the price of gold down leading to mine closures and layoffs of hundreds of workers. Canada is a gold producing country. The federal government needs to demonstrate confidence in gold markets. The federal government needs to be constructive. They should rebuild Canada's gold reserves by buying at today's low prices and reselling when the price rebounds. That would help stabilize gold prices and express confidence in the industry. Ottawa would benefit from royalties, employment, corporate and income taxes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.