Bob McLeod

We are trying to do that through bilateral discussions with the Aboriginal governments. We have been meeting with the Tlicho. We have been meeting with the Dehcho and, unfortunately, we were weathered out on a meeting this Thursday. It’s our intention to meet with them to see if we can find a way forward, and we are planning to have some high level discussions.

Similarly, with the Akaitcho we had a meeting planned for this past Tuesday but one of the elders from the Akaitcho passed away, so those meetings were deferred. It’s our expectation that we will continue to have discussions to try to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now we are negotiating a final agreement with the Government of Canada and the participating Aboriginal governments. We are keeping the other Aboriginal governments that have not signed on the AIP, we are keeping them informed by regular detailed updates on the negotiations, and we are also in discussions with four Aboriginal governments to see if we can find common ground with regard to devolution and other Aboriginal issues. Thank you.

One of the commitments we have made to committee is that we will work with them as we deal with decentralization, and I’m quite prepared to look at the program review office, if that will assist us in dealing with this initiative of this government.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell the Member that she can count on us. We are supportive of decentralization and we are beginning plans to take that under consideration. Thank you.

As the Member is aware, the framework agreement that was signed by all three parties, which guides the Dehcho negotiating process, points out that both the federal government and the Dehcho have different understandings on the interpretations of treaties 8 and 11, and our preference is that the Aboriginal and treaty rights for the Dehcho be negotiated through the land and resources agreement.

As I talked about before, the Dehcho understand that devolution is based on a modern land claim treaty and they don’t agree with the written version of the treaties. Their view is their oral version where...

In looking at other successful initiatives on decentralization, generally it works best when you make fast decisions and move quickly on it, so we are working very closely with the committees on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we intend to continue to build on work that was started in the 16th Assembly, where we undertook a number of pilot projects and a number of new initiatives. As part of the 17th Assembly, we will continue to work. We will be looking to identify resources through the business planning process. We will want to continue to increase our use of alternative and renewable sources of energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the Member suggests that we are irrational, especially since all of those expenditures were approved by this House. Nevertheless, we spent a significant amount of money to look at solar, geothermal, biomass, all of those alternatives, and we have, through the Public Utilities Board, worked with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to establish a process for net metering. We are quite prepared to go down that road. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to recognize today in the gallery Lorraine Phaneuf, the executive director for the Status of Women Council; and Gail Cyr, special advisor to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

I’d also like to recognize Gaetan Caron, chair of the National Energy Board; Susan Bedouin, leader of paralegal service of the National Energy Board; and, of course, David Hamilton, member of the National Energy Board.

The smart grid as described sounds very exciting. This is something that we would very much want to investigate and explore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.