Mr. Speaker, in 2010 the eyes of the world will be on Vancouver for the Winter Olympics, and I see this as an excellent opportunity to share with the world what the N.W.T. has to offer. The N.W.T. has much to offer. They can come and see our land and meet our people. We have a lot of visitors coming now to see the aurora borealis, the northern lights, and this can add to that. They can drive our highways, including the beautiful drive on the Dempster. Hopefully, they’ll still have nice things to say after their trip. They can come and meet our people and share their stories and share in our culture. This would benefit, I think, the tourism industry and residents up and down the valley.
We had a presence at the Canada Winter Games held in Whitehorse, and we had the ads on TV. My understanding was that they had a positive impact on visitors to the Northwest Territories. I see this as an opportunity to be in Vancouver to promote what the N.W.T. has to offer, because we do have a lot to offer the world. I’m not talking about big, fancy pavilions and millions of dollars spent but a good practical investment, a good practical presence in Vancouver. If that draws more people to the Northwest Territories to come see what we have to offer, then I would consider that money well spent, Mr. Speaker.
At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister of ITI. Thank you.
