Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our Territory last year saw economic growth of more than 20 percent. The diamond industry, together with exploration for natural gas, has largely driven this impressive growth. We are now poised to see tremendous economic impact form the development of our petroleum resources, but we must act now.

Mr. Speaker, I applaud Premier Kakfwi and Mr. Handley's continued efforts to convince the federal government that our need for infrastructure funding of the full $133 million is critical to our viability and unquestionably beneficial to the whole of Canada's economic well-being. The Corridors for Canada proposal that the Premier presented to the federal government showed the Northwest Territories could contribute an estimated $65 billion to the national gross domestic product. The federal government, on top of that, would also retain most of the $17 billion that would accrue from royalties and taxes.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has clearly failed to recognize the critical juncture the Northwest Territories is at.