Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There were a number of questions that were raised but generally I think the Member is concerned about number one, the funding requirements on an overall basis and where we will obtain funding from.

This particular plan that has been put forward, Mr. Chairman, was developed over a period of time. It was used to support the Non-Renewable Resource Strategy, and it is a component of that particular strategy. It identifies some areas that we feel need to be worked on for the federal government. It was never meant to be a complete package because the federal government needed generalities to look at funding areas.

As we are proceeding in this area, of course, we are looking at expanding and looking at flushing out the areas where there may be, as the Member has pointed out, questions arising. I should emphasize that we do have $500,000 that we have identified for use in this particular area to address training and employment issues related to resource development and that forms in the interim. We are proceeding with what we can.

The request was to the federal government for this funding. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, I have had an opportunity to present the paper to the Honourable Jane Stewart, Minister of Human Resources Development Canada, who is one of the contacts. She is my contact in my particular area. She is very familiar with the request. We have not yet had a decision on that, but once the election is over, we may start readdressing it.

We may not stop at that, Mr. Chairman. Of course, we are interested in proceeding. This particular document starts to develop an approach to handling some of the activity that is going to take place in the oil and gas sector, as well as in the mining sector, or wherever in resource sector development. That is the purpose of having the document, so that it starts to identify the areas of interest.

The effect of the document is dependant upon more work to be done. When the Member speaks about what we hope to achieve out of this, well, we have set some general goals in this. We need to be more specific on an annual basis. This is a four-year plan. We need to be more specific with the dollars that we have and the future, for instance, the next half year, what can be accomplished.

That is what the Member spoke about in terms of targets. It is true that there are many individuals who are available for employment. As we know, they do need training. Some need basic training, some need perhaps more advanced training. Is it our intention that every individuals' needs will be addressed with this plan? We are trying to do our best with the amount of money identified to address the specific issues that may be out there. Will we be able to address employment for all 3,000 people? I certainly hope so, but we need to make an impact with all areas.

I have also been working with the oil companies, meeting with them to start identifying what their contribution area is, what can they do on their part. This is going to be a partnership situation. It will not be just our particular contribution here. What are the industries going to contribute here? How can the aboriginal groups contribute?

I think I have addressed the questions in generalities for the Member. As I say, if we need to get into specifics, I would be more than willing to call my officials in to address some of those. Thank you.