Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it is a very good point. I agree with the principles. Of course, it is a little different when we are talking about contribution programs. There is a reporting. There is auditing. As I have indicated, maybe I used the word steer. We'd like to steer people toward northern resources. We aren't absolutely prescriptive in which businesses are used. Again, it is application based, so we work with the applicant in that regard. If it were a program that we were delivering specifically and we were carrying out the training and the capacity building ourselves, then we can certainly affirm our contracting process is well understood by Members.
We could apply that strict northern preference to those contracts. Because it is a contribution, there is a slightly different task. Let me leave the Member with this. I know, from our meetings on the ground and communities, discussion with Hay River town council, public meetings in Norman Wells, that we have had a number of people say, what are you going to do to ensure that northern businesses and northerners get these opportunities first? We are very cognizant of the fact that northerners are aware that there are some real meaningful opportunities here. They want to have the level of training and expertise to take advantage of them. They want to know that our government is going to advocate on their behalf. They are not expecting that we are going to insist that certain specific companies be used and that we get involved with some of those contract negotiations. They do want to
know that we are going to try to push for northern involvement and work for northern businesses.
I would certainly say to the Member, that it would be quite hypocritical of us to on one hand push for Imperial Oil and the Producers Group to use our Northern businesses and then as a government, in our contribution funding, absolutely pay no regard to that. That is not our intention. We do take this very seriously and absolutely would like to see this money spent in the North where it possibly can be. I think that is a priority of this government. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.