Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleague, Mr. Dent, I noticed talked earlier about the constituency meeting that the Yellowknife MLAs had in the Great Hall last night and I would like to continue and add some of the points that I noted at that meeting.
The vast majority, as was mentioned, of the constituents at the meeting were Giant employees who were very concerned about the potential of losing their jobs, security and also pensions that they worked so hard for. For about two and one-half hours, the four MLAs from Yellowknife listened to the union officials and family members and concerned constituents about their fears of losing up to 300 jobs in our community because of a deal being negotiated with Price Waterhouse Coopers and Miramar Con Mine to potentially take over the Giant Mine.
Yesterday afternoon union officials were advised by Price Waterhouse Coopers that rumors of Miramar takeover of the Giant Mine are official. Last night we heard the many pleas for help and direction from the people of our community soon to be affected if this takeover proceeds. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we MLAs felt powerless to provide any concrete direction to the employees of Giant, nor were we able to offer any assurances that this government has any jurisdiction to intervene in the negotiating process. DIAND officials should have been the ones hearing the voices of the people here last night. These constituents came to us for help and guidance and we were powerless to offer anything that would reassure them that help was on the way.
How easy it would have been to have officials with responsibility and jurisdiction meet with these employees if these officials were in Yellowknife. Instead, Mr. Speaker, the people in the driver's seat are sitting in Ottawa behind their bureaucracy of the federal government. This again, is another example of why we need to have control and responsibility in the North. As MLAs we are certainly limited in what we can do and this was displayed last night. As much as we may want to help in an economic crisis of this magnitude, our hands are pretty well tied. DIAND had better heed what is going on. Not only can Yellowknife not afford to lose 300 jobs, the entire Territory will surely feel the effects as well, if the fear of those lost jobs come to pass.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.