Thank you, I think that's important. I'm glad we agree on that.
Mayor Compton and Mr. Candline, I know a bit about the area of which we speak, and I'm going to be very frank. I think you're being a little unfair with us, Mayor Compton, in stating that we're not trying to do things in northwestern Ontario. We really are. You realize of course that all communities exist on each other in northwestern Ontario.
Last week, we announced about $4 million in airport improvements, which is going to enhance the forestry business and these small airports. It's absolutely necessary. It's going to enhance the exploration into the mining business that we need. All of these airports needed some assistance, and we were very happy to do that. This week I'm supposed to go to Kenora and announce a winter roads program for first nations, and I'm trying to find a day when I can do that.
I don't think you're being isolated, and I don't want you to feel isolated. I talked about a recovery program for Kenora yesterday afternoon. We talked about a recovery program for Dryden. We understand that the paper industry, the newsprint industry, is gone in Canada. We have heard evidence about that in the last two or three weeks. When Kenora lost the Minneapolis papers as their main customers, the writing was on the wall. I don't know why we lost them, but we lost them. They were your main customers for so many years, and you treated those customers very well.
We want a recovery plan, and we have some thoughts that we would like to talk to you about. It's very important that the mayors of the small communities--the mayor we were talking to in Dryden, and you--all come together on a plan where we work together rather than being opposed to each other.
That's all I want to offer today.