Thank you, Mr. Speaker, honourable Members. Mr. Speaker, government and public bodies have a responsibility to support northern businesses. It is not long ago that nearly all GNWT capital projects were built by southern firms. It took guts for the government to say we are going to support development of the northern economy by giving preference to northern business. By taking that step, it led to a dramatic growth in northern contractors. Now, northern builders compete on a global scale. We have developed a lot of specialized expertise.
Mr. Speaker, it is time we took a similar approach to information technology contracts. It is time for this government and public bodies to better support the development of information technology firms. Let us stop overstating the requirements for IT contracts and let northern firms show how well they can deliver. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause