Agreed.

---Agreed

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in the area of capital acquisition, where does the Housing Corporation get their materials -- the raw lumber -- to build and repair houses in the Northwest Territories under its mandate?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The normal process is that we tender to the various building suppliers across the territory. We sometimes get into an arrangement with a local corporation that can provide with us dimensional lumber.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, some of us in this House have constituents and constituencies that have a larger renewable resource in the forest industry. Has the Housing Corporation ever considered using northern products to build for Northerners? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Fort Resolution community, through the NWT Development Corporation, had a sawmill for the longest time. That sawmill was badly managed and they shut it down, leaving an economic void in that community. There is still a great desire in that community to get back into the sawmill business. I'm wondering if there is room within the capital acquisition or the purchase of the materials that the Housing Corporation could make a commitment to a sawmill of that nature to buy raw materials from that sawmill so that they have an economic base, and that raw material be used in the construction and repair of housing projects for NWT residents. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, it's certainly refreshing to hear a Minister responding in that nature. It's going to be this kind of collaborative work that's going to ensure that we can maximize the economic potential of the Northwest Territories and its resources, including the non-renewable resources. I'd like to ask the Minister if he could commit his corporation to determine what materials, all materials required by the Housing Corporation to see what market areas a portable sawmill or a larger sawmill with finished products possibilities are not only in Fort Resolution, but in other communities in the Northwest Territories. I think it's about time that the money that we spent in building homes for our people in the Northwest Territories is spent here in the Northwest Territories supporting our local economies. I believe that the political environment today is conducive now to this type of economic development, and I would strongly encourage the department to look deep and hard to see what kinds of materials could come out in the Northwest Territories and could be used by the Housing Corporation so we don't send our money south. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we have another session coming up in June. I wonder if the Minister could come back to us with some kind of plan or a draft discussion paper, some kind of position so that we could start looking at this seriously. I don't want to just leave it in the discussion form. I'd like to see what kind of commitment I could get from the Minister to return to us with a draft direction or whatever it's going to take, with collaboration from the Minister of RWED and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation being the end market for lumber in the Northwest Territories, would the Minister and his staff also hold discussions with the current suppliers, the people who sell these materials in the stores in the Northwest Territories, to see if they could also be a market for these sawmills so that we don't cut off any businesses midway? Thank you.