Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just picking up on the Minister's opening comments, there's been numerous references in there to the importance and the significance of ensuring that we have a diversified economy in the Northwest Territories and, admittedly, a lot of the attention has turned towards the non-renewable

resource sector. They're kind of nice ones to deal with because pretty much someone else is driving the agenda; someone else has got a big incentive to make sure it works and make sure there's a profitable bottom line that they can report to their shareholders. Some of the ones that I want to focus on when we talk about a diversified economy are the renewable resource sectors. I think it's difficult...I don't think there's any easy magic answers to the support that needs to be provided to some of these industries, but they still are potentially viable sectors and there are sectors that, I think, have had a lot more play and have produced a lot more towards our economy in the past than what they are now. I think that in some of the renewable resource areas we've actually gone backwards rather than gone forwards and I think that that's unfortunate but they do require more support, and not just financial support, but just more support in general from this government. So I want to talk about the support that's needed for what could be a viable commercial timber harvest in the Northwest Territories. It seems like we've run into lots of roadblocks. I speak of that only because it's particularly relevant in the South Slave and in the area that I represent. It is a land-based activity and it is something that does have its political aspects to it, but in the past this is a particular activity which created a lot of jobs -- not relatively speaking to some of the big industry -- but it created jobs, it created economy, and it is part of that diversified economy we're talking about.

The commercial fishery is another one. Commercial fishing was, at one time, hugely significant to the economy of Hay River. Now, I think we're down to a closed fish plant in Hay River, and maybe two or three fishermen out on the lake this winter, probably the lowest the fishery has ever been on Great Slave Lake for commercial fishing. Fishermen are basically fishing for domestic use and the little bit that they can sell. They are faced with all kinds of challenges to do with the cost of operating and making sure that their equipment is adequate and efficient. But there is a sector that was very vibrant at one time and no longer is. I think that our government has not done enough in terms of trying to figure out what we need to do. There is a resource under that water; it's sustainable to harvest it; there's a quota; the fish can be taken; it is readily marketable; it is a quality product; it has the potential of creating jobs and economy for people in the Northwest Territories and we just can't figure it out, either because of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation and that monopoly that's federally imposed or...Anyway, I won't go on about some of the challenges, but that is another viable sector that requires some intervention on the part of this government, but it's one that's just going to waste right now.

Then there is the issue of agriculture and the opportunity for this sector, again, has a lot of potential. The weather patterns and zones for growing crops is moving north. What used to be viable to produce in the U.S. mid-west has moved up into Canada and is now moving up into central Alberta and many things could be done in terms of livestock, in terms of crops, that could be done in our area but we lack a framework, we lack an agricultural policy and again we just seem to lack the will as a government to address things like the Property Assessment and Taxation Act, which would allow people to own enough land of significant enough quantity to actually do something in the agricultural sector. Again, an untapped economic sector with relatively little support.

Mr. Yakeleya mentioned the arts and craft area. We've seen good examples of where this does provide jobs and economy in communities. I would say that the model that we saw in Fort Liard was a good one and I think the key to that model was the cooperation, the cooperative... It's hard for people to do these activities on a stand-alone basis. They need a central agency where they can get materials, through which they can market their products, and where they can just get the kind of encouragement that they need to continue at it and create some economy for themselves in doing it. Again, I think that most times when you go into our communities, with a few exceptions, if you can come across the artisans, if you can come across the products, it's like finding a needle in a haystack and it's a happy, lucky day when you find somebody that has something that's for sale, because it's a very disorganized particular sector of our economy in the Northwest Territories. I know that, through the Dev Corp, efforts were made to try and organize things and the art of trading company, but sometimes we need to just provide the support at the community level and let the folks there figure out the best way to work together cooperatively.

Things like the muskox harvest have contributed to our economy in the past. When we talk about the caribou, somebody needs to just be more creative. I think there are a lot of caribou hunted in the Northwest Territories, but maybe somebody needs to think about how we could maximize the benefit from that particular harvest, whether it be aboriginal harvesters or whomever. You can buy commercially tanned deer hide. Why can't you buy commercially tanned caribou hide? Why is it just better to leave the hide sitting at the place where you shot the animal after you've skinned it, than it is to bring it to someplace where it could potentially be processed, which would create a job or two and could be sold which would create more money for the person that's actually investing and going out there hunting the caribou? Everybody seems to want antlers that's in the outfitters business. Maybe we should be selling the antlers, too. I don't know; there just has to be a way of being more creative and responding to how we might be taking a more businesslike approach to some of these things.

On the area of tourism, I just want to say another very important sector, potentially very little environmental impact. It's just quite an industry when people will come here by the thousands to use all our services and do aurora viewing and things like that. But I think there's also a huge potential for cultural tourism. Again it's a matter of getting people organized and realizing that there's money to be made in doing it. I think studies in southern Canada have shown there's a tremendous interest in cultural tourism. Again, it's very low impact but it could employ a lot of people and create a lot of economy.

One of the other things that has been talked about in the past and I don't know if it's ever been explored very far, but all kinds of different people have different interests. Some people might not be so interested in the aurora viewing; they might be interested in...Diamond tourism is one thing that was considered at one time. There are people who have hobbies and interests in geology, that have all kinds of different interests that are perhaps reflected in some of the things we have to offer here in the Northwest Territories. So I think we need to not get in a rut in the way we think about what visitors would like to do here and how we can attract visitors to the Northwest Territories through tourism, and we need to continue to

listen to people's ideas, to encourage people to brainstorm, and continue to provide support to some of these renewable resource sectors because they have contributed to our economy and hopefully will continue to do so. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.