Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, regarding the oil and gas sector there is potential for a gas field at Parson's Lake and there was also the potential at one time where we had a refinery in the Northwest Territories. At the present time it is shut down and no longer exists. We are importing our oil from southern Canada because we do not have a refinery in the Northwest Territories. They came to this government to ask for assistance and there was no assistance given. On one hand, you say you are doing such a great job for the northern gas industry, but in this case those guys really need it and so do the people who buy shares with regard to Bre-X. They really needed it too, but so be it. That is the chance you take when you invest in the mining industry.
For us to start going out there and giving grants and loans to a risky business, I think that the precedent that we are giving to this process here is a bad one. I think that for myself, who basically grew up in the Mackenzie region, worked in the oil patch and saw the booms and busts in the area, there was no
one there to help us. It happened, it happened. Au revoir. Good bye. Twenty years of work came out of that region, which supported the Northwest Territories, and yet when we are down and out there is nothing there to help us get that economy going again.
Yet a mine which has been making money for over 50 years now comes to us and asks for a subsidy for power rates of $1.2 million and then puts out the other hand and gets a $1.5 million grant based on the price of gold. Four hundred dollars U.S., that is almost $500 per ounce Canadian. I do not think you are going to see any $500 per ounce Canadian in the next while. This initiative is something that should have been discussed by all western regions and western Members to ensure that we are all treated fairly and equitably in regards to any initiative such as this in the Western Territory.
I would like to ask the Minister exactly, he made reference that there has been an effort to bring on side Con Mines. What other mines are out there that this offer was made to?