Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his kind comments. I appreciate that and I know our staff appreciates his comments as well.
We have to continue to work on all sectors and it’s very unfortunate what’s happened in the past six months with the collapse in oil prices globally. It’s really had an impact on the Member’s riding, so that’s why, again, it’s important that we look at all sectors, not just oil and gas but mining, tourism, our support to business. We have to continue to work with other departments. The traditional economy is very important, trapping and training efforts through Minister Lafferty and ECE. We have to continue to find new investment in the territory and that’s something that’s very important.
On the park development, that is something that we will continue to work on with the land corps, the regional and community governments in the Sahtu and also the federal government has a big role to play in all of that, as well, with the cleanup of the Canol. So we’re anxiously awaiting that to happen as well.
There are a lot of positive things that are happening, you know, and the Member and I have had many discussions about the prospects in the Sahtu. When it comes to oil and gas, it is a long game and I think it’s a game where you have to have patience, but the one thing that can’t be taken away from the central Mackenzie Valley and the Sahtu is the fact that they have resources in the ground and at some point in time those resources are going to be developed to the benefit of the people that live in the area and in this territory. So, it is a long-term goal of ours. We’re hoping to have that happen sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, while we’re waiting for the price of oil to come back and companies to come back to do more work there, we need to focus on other areas where we can have a positive impact and can create jobs and have that economic opportunity, and those are the things that are going to make a difference to people not just in the Sahtu but around the territory. Thank you.