Thank you for that.
Many people have pointed out that if we could properly invest in education and skills training for the aboriginal population, we'd see a great return. We've seen it in the mines up north. The diamond mines are doing a very good job, to the point that they're providing on-site literacy programs. We're seeing a lot of people employed, especially the younger people from the communities.
We're starting to see the same challenges the mayor of Calgary referred to. I was a mayor in my previous life, and although the community I represented only had 800 people, the challenges were the same. In our diamond industry, the Ekati mine, for example, has 200 aboriginal people from one community working there. When they go back to their communities, though, they're back in the social housing units. They're jamming the system, because there's no market or mechanism for affordable housing in those communities. A national housing strategy is something we're counting on to make a change.
I want to ask the mayor of Calgary about putting a price tag on the infrastructure deficit. I've watched the deficit grow in our communities across the country, across the north, and I've seen it at the territorial level. It continues to grow, and playing catch-up is going to be a real challenge. What would be the price tag that would be put on it? I've also heard from the mayor of Yellowknife that there is a lot of construction, more than ever in history, going on in his city, but housing continues to be an issue there as well.