Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would argue that that clearly paints a picture where the government jobs are and where the government benefits are. This tells me that we are managing a welfare state in those communities. This tells me that all the dollars and promotional dollars that we give to the Department of RWED, all the business planning that they do, the business promotion, the promotion of diamonds, the promotion of oil and gas, et cetera, et cetera, is not being spent in those communities. People can't utilize those dollars in those communities if they don't have government people to deliver them. We know we have development corporations, but you have one or two staff who are totally overworked. You see a high turnover in those positions because of that problem. The way I see it, we're spinning our wheels here. We spend a lot of dollars on business opportunities and business promotion, tourism, the fur industry and the fishing industry, on the renewable and non-renewable sides. But if we're not providing people at the community level to understand these programs and services and to assist in delivering these programs and services, what are we doing it for?

In Fort Resolution they used to have a sawmill there. Under the NWT Development Corporation, that provided jobs. That provided an option other than income support. But we took that back because it wasn't making money for the corporation. It was badly managed by the government. There was assistance and recommendations and advice given by the communities, but the government decided not to listen. Under the mandate of the NWT Development Corporation, they don't go into these businesses to make a profit. They go into there to create employment. But that mandate obviously was forgotten when they took the sawmill away.

So I ask the Minister what is he planning to do in this fiscal year to ensure that there are people on the ground to help deliver the programs and services, and maybe create some employment in all those communities that he's mentioned, and help to create an economic base at the community level so that we are not just a social state for this government to manage from a regional and central location. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.