Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The concept of residency is something that we consider in many different aspects of our business, law-making and our program development here, Mr. Speaker. A few come to mind, and there is quite a range of qualifications here depending on what kind of a program or what kind of criteria we are setting up. For instance, Mr. Speaker, if you live in the NWT for three months, you can become qualified for a health care card. In one year, you can become eligible to vote in territorial or municipal elections. But it takes you two years' residency, I understand, to get a resident hunting licence. One of the other aspects of residency, Mr. Speaker, is that we have tried to use it as a basis for helping grow our population and get stability in the onset of bringing new development up here. One illustration of this, Mr. Speaker, is that the Snap Lake agreement that the government has negotiated calls for people to be residents of the NWT for six months in order to be counted as a northern hire to go against the commitment that De Beers has made in their socio-economic agreement with us. But it is interesting to note, Mr. Speaker, that in this context of enabling the North to truly benefit from some aspects of big development, the socio-economic agreement that we just signed off with the Mackenzie Valley pipeline proponents sees us yet again toying with the aspect of residency. One of the criteria here, Mr. Speaker, is that there essentially has to be no proof of residency before someone can be declared a northern hire.

Mr. Speaker, here again, we have lowered our standards. We have given in to the needs and the demands of the world's biggest corporations. We have compromised the interests of northerners and our communities in the name of expediency. Why, Mr. Speaker, are we playing so fast and loose with things that are so important to our communities?

---Applause