Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to offer my congratulations to you on your new duties as Speaker of this esteemed House. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is well known for its natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable. In recent years, we have seen the world arrive on our doorstep to exploit our diamond resources. Soon, with the construction of the Mackenzie gas pipeline, our energy resources will be exploited to meet the needs of the foreign nations. The cornerstone of the agreement to allow this kind of development has been the negotiation of socioeconomic agreements with affected communities.

There are impact benefit agreements, access agreements, and northern hiring quotas. It has not always been like this. Developers have not always been required to provide benefits to the people who live here. Many of you will recall the experience of the Norman Wells pipeline. Developers were not required to provide impact benefits, they paid no access fees, and they were not required to hire local people. Fortunately, that situation has begun to change, and it will continue to change as we take our rightful place in this world as masters of our own destiny.

But the situation has not changed in all sectors of our economy. In the renewable resource sector, southern business interests are still allowed to operate without recourse to the needs and aspirations of our communities. This is certainly the situation in my riding of Nahendeh where we have a number of big outfitters operating on traditional lands. It is time that the outfitters also are required to provide meaningful benefits to the people who live here. Giving away a little meat as a charitable donation does not qualify as a meaningful benefit. In my riding, the confrontation has grown between outfitters and the Deh Cho First Nations, and a solution needs to be found. Since all outfitters must be licensed by the Government of the Northwest Territories, the government has a key role to play in negotiating a solution.

Mr. Speaker, there is a new way of doing business in the North, and it is time that all businesses and all sectors of the economy subscribe to this new regime. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause