Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many Canadian professional hockey players launched their hockey careers on natural ice, Mr. Speaker. They usually spent their first hour on the ice shoveling the snow off. We were used to seeing guys in sweaters with no padding flying over bumps on natural ice. However, what was good for our hockey legends is no longer there for us now, Mr. Speaker. Having natural ice in September is no longer possible.
What this means is that the window of usage on natural ice is mostly closed. We have some communities that still use natural ice. That is because they have no other choice. In 1983 in Rae-Edzo, we used to have ice from October until the end of April but because of global warming and warmer temperatures, now we are lucky if we get ice in December and it is gone by the first of April.
Our kids are running around the community with nothing to do because we have a big empty building sitting unused for nine months of the year. We put sport infrastructure into the communities, but the communities' needs are not met. This is not an effective use of resources, Mr. Speaker. A facility in Rae can only be used maybe three months out of the year due to the changes in the weather. Teams cannot compete because it is such a short season and there is no time to practice.
What some of our communities in the North need is artificial ice so we can stretch the season to be able to compete and keep our kids off the streets. I will have questions for the Minister of MACA later, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
-- Applause