Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is regarding the plight of rural communities. We have seen in southern Canada, on the prairies, in regards to a lot of farming communities that have vanished from the face of the map, and also on the east and west coast where fishing communities no longer exist. It is fair that I have this view as I come from a rural, small riding where the trapping industry was once strong and where aboriginal people congregated and came together from their trap lines. Today with the downturn of the oil, gas and the fur industry in my riding we are slowly feeling the impact of no economic opportunities and an economic base that we can depend on.

Mr. Speaker, in regard to the views I have about the approaching date of division, I do have some problems with division. Coming from a rural community in the far western corner of the Northwest Territories, there may be a time when we too feel like my colleagues from the east where distance is a factor in the way we are being served and the way we are being heard. Mr. Speaker, I feel that economics, the social well-being and the health and education of all people have to be expanded upon. Especially, in the rural communities where we do not have an economic base and we need our jobs for our young people so they do not go away and we lose a very important part of the population, which is the young people with the skills they have learned through their education and the benefits that they can offer to our small communities.

Yet Mr. Speaker, I see in the west a large influx of our younger people leaving our ridings and our small communities to go to areas such as Yellowknife where a lot of expansion is happening as far as the diamond industry and government. To see the influx of work, jobs and the money that is being spent by this government. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.