Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the smaller communities, the economy is less well-developed and more intervention is required. Let me illustrate this with an example from my riding of the Deh Cho, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Needs Survey 2000 states that the Hay River Reserve has the highest proportion of core need in the entire South Slave district at a tragic rate of 61 percent. The community of Enterprise follows closely with a rate of 54 percent. The community that I come from, Mr. Speaker, Fort Providence, has a rate of 40 percent. Compare these rates to 11 percent for Yellowknife and 14 percent for Fort Smith, Inuvik, and the town of Hay River.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for this government to get serious about the housing problem in the Northwest Territories. We cannot simply ignore the problem and hope it will go away. The challenge for the Minister of Housing and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation is to develop an appropriate program that will address the needs of our population in a meaningful way. Let us do it now, Mr. Speaker, and not allow another generation to grow up in substandard housing conditions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- Applause