Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, honourable colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I'll say again, this bill includes permitting approvals and loan guarantees worth nearly $18 billion U.S. That's $22 billion Canadian, as I've said. To make that point, as I've stressed, clearly that's 24 times what the GNWT will get over our life of this project. Mr. Speaker, that does not make any fiscal sense. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT should be working with the Americas about buying off and sitting still for 20 years because we'd be much further ahead making a side deal than trying to charge into this in competition with them.

Mr. Speaker, if the Alaska pipeline goes first, what happens to all our time, money and efforts that we've invested over the last many years? What happens while we wait for the next 20 to 30 years? I think that may be a waste without any type of certainty.

Mr. Speaker, I do want to support this pipeline, I truly do, because I see tangible benefits. All our northern peoples can gain from this. But from where I'm sitting, it looks like this territory is carrying all the risk and this hasn't changed over the years. We need rock solid guarantees from our federal government that warrant our investment. We need a change of attitude from the federal government for us to truly get on board.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I look upon the United States as being a big giant, those Philistines of the Americas. Mr. Speaker, tell me our Premier is not our little David out there on the plains with an unloaded slingshot.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, we need something concrete, not guarantees and promises where we take an empty leap of faith. Mr. Speaker, our shepherds better have a pouch full

of concrete investment of smooth, solid rocks before we take on that giant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause