Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I start my statement today, I'd like to make special mention of our women leaders and mentors in our public gallery today. I truly appreciate their work and their commitment. Like our Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod, has said about his wife, I, too, wouldn't be here without the support of my wife, as well.

Now, Mr. Speaker, with today being International Women's Day, I think then it's now fitting and appropriate to talk about what the Mackenzie gas project socio-economic agreement is doing for women. Women make up roughly a quarter of the positions in the oil and gas industry. Many of these women are clustered in support, sales and clerical positions, as opposed to technical and managerial positions. Women account for roughly 47 percent of Canada's total labour workforce and we need to ensure that they are given full opportunity to take part in this employment sector.

The Mackenzie gas project parties undertake in section 2.4.9 of the SEA to support and encouragement the participation of women on an equal basis with men in all aspects of training and employment. They propose to do this through mandatory gender training, workplace policies, security measures promoting women, job market understanding, and seeking skilled female role models.

These sound like good practices on the surface but, when carefully examined, they are not very proactive and specific. Support and encourage are not especially strong words. For the most part, these measures listed address the need for the workplace to be safe for women. Which is an unfortunate necessity, but certainly not adequate to increase participation in the workforce. They do not

convey the impression that the Mackenzie gas project parties are prepared to actively get out in the communities and recruit women and train them for the jobs.

In contrast, the Snap Lake socio-economic agreement includes specific commitments by De Beers to put in place scholarships and award programs, establish a female role model to visit schools, and develop and further offer trades programs for women in communities. These are proactive steps, Mr. Speaker, and I expect that they will make a real difference in getting the interest of women in these sectors.

In closing, we often state in this Assembly that northerners must be the primary beneficiaries of development with women making 49 percent of the North...