Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I think you hit the nail on the head in your opening comments when you talked about the lack of public infrastructure. To me, that's probably one of the biggest barriers to sustainable economic growth in all three territories. Canada put in the roads across the country. It put in the rail line. It put in the airports. It put in the ports on the east and west coast, but that didn't happen in the north. I think Canada needs to make a significant investment in infrastructure in the north beyond where they are right now.
Increasing your borrowing limit is just like giving you more rocks in a leaky boat. Recognizing that the territories have limited opportunities to generate own-source revenues and that because of the historic way that things have been rolled out we are so far behind, to me, that's an investment. It's expensive for some of the projects, like the Grays Bay project, or the Manitoba road and hydro project, and the deep sea port in Iqaluit. All these types of infrastructure projects cost a lot of money. You have to remember that a dollar down here is 33¢ up there because of the high cost of doing things. Investing in infrastructure in the north, or any investment in the north, as you pointed out, is an indirect investment into the southern economy.
Do you feel that the federal government needs to make a significant investment in infrastructure in the north in order to create a strong, stable, vibrant economy that will lead to the self-sufficiency of the territories and help with your problem of people leaving because there are no opportunities?