Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to again make the case for the support of manufacturing in the North. I think it is a good time to be looking at this, considering our current review of the Business Incentive Policy. We know that the underlying philosophy behind BIP was to level the playing field between northern and southern businesses looking to do work in the North. I think it is obvious to all of us here that northern businesses provide both employment for Northerners and also make investments that stay here in the North, Mr. Speaker.
I know some people have asked why our government should be considering incentives for manufacturing or tourism, for example, when we have oil and gas or mining. I think it is important to realize that an additional job in mining is not the same as an additional job in tourism or manufacturing for a couple of reasons. The first reason, Mr. Speaker, is diversification. I think it is critical that we look to diversify our economy. We do not know what is going to happen with commodity prices and it makes a lot of sense not to have all our eggs in one basket and be too reliant on any sector in our economy.
The second is self-sufficiency, Mr. Speaker. We have to look to replace imports. We are not alone here. I think all countries strive to be self-sufficient. There are examples in the news continually. Some examples we may not agree with. In the United States, exploration for gas in Alaska is very controversial. They are looking to replace Saudi Arabian imports and I think this just highlights the fact that this is going on all over, Mr. Speaker. I think that if we can agree that diversification and self-sufficiency are important, then I think we have to agree that we need to support northern manufacturing, Mr. Speaker.
So now it is up to our government to work with the manufacturing sector to determine two things. Number one, what is our definition of northern manufactured products? We tend to think of things like auto manufacturing, but in the Northwest Territories, it can be anything from fibreglass power poles to tents and canvas bags or even clothing. I believe the Premier was sporting a moose hide vest made last week in the North. It was a beautiful vest and I believe even his mother did some value-added work in the form of embroidery on that vest. I have to say we were all very jealous of the vest on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker.
The second thing we have to ask is how we can best support our northern manufacturers. Can we do more than give preference on direct Government of the Northwest Territories contracts? What about employment subsidies or other tax credits? Mr. Speaker, I think it is very timely to consider this given that we are under...