Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate this opportunity. The first general comment refers to the decrease in this department, about 7 percent, and most of that was on the back of the energy initiatives side of the equation. I don’t think that’s in line with the priorities of this Assembly. More on that when we get to that page, but I did want to raise that for the Minister’s attention.

The increasing employment opportunities where they are most needed. I’m not sure that there’s a good match between the mining industry and many of our small and relatively remote communities. I think there are different kinds of work that needs to be done there. Also, it’s a bit of a scale issue. I

think there is a role for the GNWT, for example, to help communities meet their basic needs with local resources, so much of the support we provide to the communities in terms of cash could actually be supplied to the system in meeting their own needs with local resources. This builds skills. It builds connections with the land which are starting to be severed. It builds a self-reliance that will result in entrepreneurship, a willingness and a capacity to get into other issues. I think the benefits would ricochet or ripple through the economy.

I see a tremendous amount of planning happening, planning dollars without the on-the-ground programs that I think we need. I think we will get into that with the detail. I do agree with the Minister that a truly healthy economy is one that is diversified. I will be looking forward to working with the department on that goal, economic diversification, in a good, sound Economic Development Strategy that is socially and environmentally beneficial as well.

The proposal for another $300,000 to invest in the Come Make Your Mark national marketing campaign, I have supported that. It is just that we are in a dilemma here when at the same time we are raising our electricity rates by 30 percent with no end in sight or instituting mechanisms so they will just annually be adjusted upwards according to various factors and so on.

We are fighting ourselves a bit here. I think one of the major things – and I talked to the Minister of Human Resources about this – is people these days want to see environmental sustainability. If we show that in a very progressive way, people will be attracted. They will want to be part of this society. I saw that today at the Greenstone Building with the showing of the public showing up to have a voice in how we govern our affairs in Canada and in the Northwest Territories. Those are real values that I think we need to incorporate and be sure we are addressing.

Again, the reduction, ITI proportion of energy initiatives, $1.15 million is a ghost of what was in there for the previous number of years. I am concerned about that. I see the discussion here is really dabbling in energy when what we need is really clear initiatives that address the cost-drivers that we clearly have. On that front, the $100,000 for Inuvik, again I see that is dabbling. This is a very serious situation. We need to put some significant resources into the Inuvik situation and some assistance for the Norman Wells situation. I don’t think this budget really does that.

I do appreciate the Minister’s continuing to fund the Sport Hunt Outfitter Marketing Support Program with the $300,000. This is so important to our outfitters to keep them alive while we wait for the recovery of our caribou herds which, to some degree, I hold government accountable for, in terms

of the degree to which those herds declined and the failure of this department to work in a straightforward manner with the outfitting industry and allow them to go ahead and make commitments that they were not able to fulfill once the hammer came down on the availability of tags and so on. I do appreciate that. I support that. We may need it another year or so. I will be looking forward to the results of our caribou surveys and the actions based on those results.

I think I will leave it at that and just get on to detail here. I appreciate this opportunity again. Thank you.