Merci, Monsieur le President. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, I am bringing concerns from my constituents around procurement directly to the floor of the House, because it appears the Minister isn't listening when business owners are bringing these concerns directly to his department, or to him in this case. I met with a constituent just last week who had met with the Minister, the Minister heard the concerns, and yet nothing has been done.

Mr. Speaker, these concerns are quite simple: that northern businesses don't feel that the playing field is being levelled by government procurement policies. They still have to compete with southern companies that have been grandfathered into existing procurement policies that can make use of southern supply chains, which means cheaper materials, cheaper labour, and more access to capital to finance projects and move forward on these procurement policies.

Northerners deserve to get a break on this. They are often small and want to grow their businesses. The ones who are benefitting from the policies can maintain status quo in some cases, but they can't actually expand their businesses, grow their workforce, and ultimately create jobs for Northerners, which is a stated goal of this Assembly and should be a stated goal for any Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker.

What is the point of these procurement policies if it's just paperwork? That is a concern I hear constantly, that we have yet to build clarity or simplicity into the process. What it means for most small business owners is that they are filling out mountains of paperwork to get the ability to play in the government's procurement sandbox, and they often don't have the resources to compete even after doing all those procurement exercises.

Mr. Speaker, I hear consistently that it should be harder for southern and non-resident businesses to compete in the Northwest Territories, that our policies should be protecting northern interests, not protecting the government's bottom line. It is important to be prudent with our resources, but we must also ensure those resources are flowing to Northerners and helping grow our economy and support the costs of living for business owners who operate in a very expensive environment.

I will have more questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment as the day goes on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.