Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when I see this motion I am not sure whether I can support the principle that tobacco companies from the profits that they have made should take the responsibility and help with the health problems that they have contributed towards. At the same time I think we are all very aware of what amounts of financial resources that it takes to go to court and the length of time it takes. Although we do not have a guesstimate of what types of money we are going to spend to try and obtain these funds, I would ask the mover of the motion to give some indication of what types of scarce financial resources he would be encouraging the government to commit to a project like this. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Whatever it costs. In the United States several state governments went together and started a lawsuit and if I remember correctly, I think they received a couple of billion dollars in an out-of-court settlement with the tobacco companies and I suspect that a similar thing might happen here. Considering the amount of dollars that we have to spend dealing with ailments caused by smoking, we know that we probably have the highest rate of smokers in Canada and this causes harm particularly to young children. They have hearing infections. Smoke inhalation causes damage to their lungs while they are still developing, and it causes a lot of long term effects. We also know that children start smoking at a very early age in the Northwest Territories. You can walk down the street any day and see a little kid smoking. The committee feels that it is time that the tobacco companies stood up and became responsible for the damage that they are causing to children and adults alike. Mr. Chairman, in response to the question, whatever resources it takes is what they should put into this endeavour. Thank you.