Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had four things that I wanted to say and I was thinking that I could do it in the first 10 minutes, but this is my third time trying here. The last thing that I wanted to talk to the Minister about has to do with the Yellowknife airport authority and I found that I made a note of the fact that he did not mention it in the opening statement. There was no mention of it there. I am not sure if I have put this on record, but when I first heard of this concept I was intrigued by the idea and I think it is an issue that we should address our mind to. I think there could be lots of reasons for that and the Minister had indicated already very well about why we need to study this. It is the present and the future circumstances that we find ourselves into and we are aware of where the Northwest Territories and Yellowknife are located in terms of trans-Atlantic air traffic. With the end of the Cold War with there being a lot more freedom in the areas that planes from different countries could fly, we are really located now at the heart of air traffic. Any way we can look into to find how we can capitalize on that and make the Territories or Yellowknife or wherever the surrounding areas to become a player, I think we should look into that. I envision Yellowknife as being a major player in that and we have to get ready for that. At least to look at possibilities of it.
With the diamond industry in the North we are getting more connected to European countries in a way that we never were before and we have Europeans moving here and living here. Our Ministers travel to Europe more often maybe. So, there is a potential for tourism there. We could see a day when we could have a direct flight to Europe.
Also, every time I go out to the airport I see so many visitors from Japan and I would love to see a day when they could travel directly to Yellowknife from Asian countries and not have to go through Vancouver and Edmonton. With the time difference and the hours that they have to travel, the more they have to go through different flight changes the more need they have for interpreters and so on. So, I see so much potential for this. When I heard of the first forum a couple years back I went to it and I thought there were a lot of people out there too. So obviously this is an area of interest to everyone. Well, a lot of people in town.
I guess the wrinkle that puts into this is, we do not know what is going to happen with the security questions that are being raised post-9/11. I do not know if it is positive or negative, but also with the changes that are being implemented in the United States as to air travel I am not sure if there will be a decrease in the traffic going to the United States. These are all these fluctuating circumstances that we find ourselves under, but I think that is more of the reasons for getting ready for it and exploring what we can do and whether or not we should consider different ways of doing things at the Yellowknife airport.
Having said that, I support this in principle. I think that it is the kind of thing that we should be progressive about. Of course, I think what we could do better and the department could do better if we extend and widen the buy-in. Obviously whenever there is a change in governance structure, it does raise the concerns of employees and Mr. Bell addressed that concern very well. I would encourage the Minister to do everything he can to ease any concerns there as much as possible and work with the union. This is to address the concerns of the employees because without their support everything will become impossible. I am sorry, I understand that there is nothing there, this is just in the concept stage and it is just a step-by-step. We have to do a good job in making sure that everybody is informed about what is happening.
Another thing that was brought up to me in my constituency meeting at Tim Horton's, and this is sort of the underlying skepticism and question that is being raised by the public is whether or not this is an off-loading exercise. That the Government of the Northwest Territories is not able to perhaps where we do not have enough money for Yellowknife airport or something and this is being looked into as a possible way to off-load this responsibility. I think this speaks to the need for good information out there and having people understand why this is being done. I need to indicate that to the Minister. So, I am just wondering in that area, what is the game plan for the department in this area? Is the department just being a facilitator, a conduit for this exercise or does the department have a position in this area on this topic? Thank you.