There are a couple of things that are really interesting about the north. One is that all the benefits from diamonds and all the economic activity in the north actually go to Ottawa first. Not only is the federal government responsible for setting the tone in terms of how Canadians are sort of equally treated related to resources, but I think in the Northwest Territories it's extra harsh, because none of that actually stays in the territories. It goes to Ottawa first. They decide what we get and what we don't get, actually.
It is interesting to me, because there was a lot of concern about the diamond mining and the oil and gas development and what the impact would be on the communities in terms of a lot of social disarray and all that kind of stuff. What I found really interesting was that people in the communities, lots of people, got jobs in the diamond mining and oil and gas industries. It created a certain level of pride. They went out and bought tons of stuff. In fact, in one small community I don't think there was one house that didn't have a few Ford trucks--those big Ford trucks. It was kind of interesting to watch how a whole community went from income support to Ford trucks within months. But now, three years later, they have to pay all that back. Now what we're having is whole communities, or lots of people in communities, owing money to what I call loan sharks.
In fact, we had an interesting court case the other day. The loan sharks, as I call them, went to court and said they wanted to take all these families' belongings, because they owed them money. The court didn't agree, because they had been charging illegal rates in the Northwest Territories.
It was just interesting to see how that influx of money really had a devastating impact three years down the road.