Just with regard to the comment about electricity, we are in the midst of an electrical pricing review. All of the communities in the territories are subsidized down to the Yellowknife rate, which is probably ten times that of Saskatoon. They're looking at ways to change it. Our fight now is to ensure that the changes introduced don't fly in the face of more competitive rates, such as those in Fort Smith and Hay River.
The biggest challenge with any utility, as you noted in comparing your riding with here, is that we have very few people to spread the expense over, and some of these things are very expensive.
As you move on, a common theme I've heard, both in the Yukon presentation yesterday and from all of us here, concerns the invitation to consult. Involve the people you will be dealing with in your discussions, but more importantly, once you have consulted, find a way to have their comments included in the recommendations that come forward.
I flew back from Inuvik one day and got into a discussion with a young lady who had made a very interesting dietary selection on the plane. I learned that she was from Health Canada. She had spent six months among the Inuvialuit people, working on an elder home care program concerning what would work within their culture. They had put together a package involving the people from all of the Inuvialuit communities. She went back to Ottawa, made her presentation, and was advised that nationally they would be using a model based on the Hurons.
When I was flying with her on the plane, she had just gone back there to tell these people, who had spent six months coming up with something that would work in their region, that they weren't going to be able to do it and that the program they were being given was actually counter to a lot of the things they had talked about.
So if there is a way of customizing as this goes through, that would be excellent. Please keep this in mind.
Ben alluded to this a bit. We have some unsettled land claims—treaty land entitlement initiatives and self-government initiatives. Anything that could be done to move them forward more quickly... If you go into the regions that are settled and that have self-government, you will see a quantum leap in knowledge, in pride, and in the activities in the communities. Anything to motivate the last two or three that remain to be done would certainly help our activities here.
Thank you very much for coming. We look forward to seeing what your report brings.