Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I, too, would like to comment, especially on the potential that we have with our forest sector in the Northwest Territories. I think that it is a potential that we have never really developed in any sense of the word and the economic potential it has for job creation and job opportunities. More importantly, we need to use the resources around us, especially around our communities where we do have timber stands and forest stands. I think we also have to realize that we don’t want to cut down all the key forest stands. If anything, we should be using the by-products by way of willows. We are looking at what they call wood that is basically dead wood and harvest those types of species so that we don’t find ourselves in the situation where we are cutting all the good potential timber stands. We have to look at the other products that are around our communities and I think that we have to start considering potentials.

I know that we might not be able to look at the potential of having the wood pellet factory in the Northwest Territories, but I think we do have potential with woodchips and the technology that is out there now and having the equipment brought into our communities or have a community development corporation or through our renewable resource councils or individuals, consider that type of investment and look at the potential that we have in regards to biomass and heating our public facilities regardless of if it is a school or hamlet garage or fire hall or whatnot as a secondary heat system.

I think that we have to realize that the systems we are looking at are compatible with the systems we have already where you are going to have to have a secondary heat system anyway. I think that we should seriously consider looking at pilot projects like has been mentioned. I think that we should maybe consider looking at pilot projects in the immediate future in the different regions so that we could consider some means of getting this process going because I think that it is like anything else; education is key.

I think we also have to realize that we have been using wood products from the North thousands of years for heat and I think that people already can adapt to it and I think that we also have to realize that there are communities... I’ll use the community of Old Crow in the Yukon in which they built a brand new school and they heated it by a wood boiler. They harvest their trees and basically use that as the heat source for their school. I think that is something that we have to look at for where we have the potential timber stands, but, again, we have to look at more than just biomass. I think we have to look at the economics of it and the benefits that it has for small communities for job creation and I think, if anything, if we can even generate 10 jobs in a community that will go a long way to the

sustainability of our isolated communities. I think for me and also for the sake of the environment, where we have a win/win situation and weed ourselves off of the dependency of fossil fuels.

I would just like to question the Minister, considering there are forest inventories that have been done in certain regions, I know the Gwich’in Settlement Region have completed their forest inventory. They are working with the department to take it to the second step. So I would like to ask the Minister if he is seriously considering looking at pilot projects for those regions that are willing to take this on and consider looking at biomass as an alternate means of heating public facilities.