Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Western Arctic for participating in this debate, for supporting the bill and talking about the importance of small business, especially in the north.
I would like to ask a question that arises from an experience I had three weeks ago when I was travelling in Austria. I met some Austrian businessmen who had travelled to the north on tourism trips to hunt and to enjoy the beauty of the Arctic. They felt there was tremendous potential and opportunity for tourism in the north, especially if there were more extensive promotion in Europe. They also thought there was an opportunity to develop a tourism infrastructure in the north.
I wonder what the member's experience has been when she talks with the small business men and women in her community who are tourism operators, who have incredible potential with the resources of the north. What has been the experience of those small business entrepreneurs with the financial institutions in this country? Do they find the financial institutions are becoming much more progressive in their thinking and are supporting these small businesses with loans to build those businesses so they can promote these opportunities? What has been her personal experience as a member of Parliament serving the tourism operators in the north?