Thank you very much. It's an excellent question.
You're absolutely right. I spent 13 years in oil well drilling in the Beaufort Sea, ten of those offshore. I spent seven years at the Lupin gold mine, both underground and on the surface.
A lot of things were done right at the Meadowbank site. There was a lot of training. For the community of Baker Lake, where there are very few economic opportunities, employment, wage employment, and what not, it tremendously assisted a lot of families who are from Baker Lake.
As you know, economic activity is one of the fundamental things that gives wellness in the community for a family. We all understand that.
Housing situations get to a desperate point in Nunavut. A little over 60% of our young people go to school hungry. Without any economic activity, it's very difficult to get out of that rut. As economic development and transportation minister, I see some of these economic developments encouraging our younger people in the smaller communities to stay in school. In the past, there was very little encouragement for some of these young folks to stay in school because nothing was happening at the end of the line.
With more economic activity, it's encouraging to see some of these kids talking about more activity out there, and some of my colleagues indicated that to live out on the land and become a socially responsible family person, you have to be employed. There are no two ways about it. When you want to talk about country food harvesting, you can't go get it unless you're employed.
Equipment costs money: snow machines, ATVs, boats, outboards. Without that, you're going nowhere. Families are starting to understand that. So as economic development minister, I am trying to promote more economic activity, which provides opportunities for families to get out of these ruts.