Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have heard many announcements in the last couple of days regarding the oil and gas potential that exists in the Beaufort Delta. In the last couple of years, lands have opened up. Currently, Petro Canada is doing a seismic project. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation has opened lands in the Inuvialuit settlement region. The Gwich'in have submitted letters to people in Ottawa to look at doing the same thing.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to travel to Calgary to meet with the oil and gas industry. I met with Embridge Resources, BP Amoco, Paramount, Trans-Canada Pipelines, Ranger Oil, Petro Canada, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and West Coast Energy.

One thing I discovered during these meetings is the inadequacy of information that flows between the Northwest Territories and people in Calgary who do not understand the regulatory process in the North, nor the claims that have been settled. They do not understand the demands the industry has to meet, especially in the area of having trained people and infrastructure in place, so their costs will make it more realistic to produce and drill in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I found the industry is willing to come back to the North. They want to make a presence in the North. They see a potential in the North. At the present time, there are very few lands left in Alberta to put out for leases. Due to that, the industry is looking northward. I think it is critical that this government refocuses its priorities of developing the oil and gas industry. In the long term, the oil and gas industry will be generating in the area of 1600 jobs because of these developments, compared to 600 jobs for one diamond mine.

Mr. Speaker, I will be asking the Minister responsible for Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development about what this government is doing to stimulate the oil and gas industry in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.