Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise Members that the Honourable David Ramsay will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the 2012 Northern Development Ministers Forum in Goose Bay, Labrador.

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I missed the last two pages.

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the motion on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories.

The Diamond Jubilee is an opportunity to celebrate the traditions, history, values and institutions that we share with all Canadians and which are symbolized by the Queen and the Crown in Canada.

The Northwest Territories has a long history with the monarchy and has welcomed Her Majesty and members of her family on several occasions, including visits by Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and, most recently, their Royal Highnesses William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

We...

I think the Aboriginal Summit and Intergovernmental Forum, I think both of those processes at the end were dismissed and disbanded because they weren’t fulfilling the objectives that they were set up for. We’re taking a much more careful approach this time.

We’ve been reaching out to all the Aboriginal governments and looking for comments on all of the major issues; devolution is one part of it. We have a basis for our relationship with all Aboriginal governments through land claim agreements and through self-government agreements, and we will continue to pursue those avenues.

As far as devolution, this is something we’ll continue to seek the support of Aboriginal governments and we will continue to provide all of the information that is available on devolution on a go-forward basis. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don’t think one predicates the other. We’ve been working very hard for the past three months to establish better working relationships. Most of the Aboriginal governments that we’ve met, six out of seven have been very supportive, indicating they want to continue to develop a working relationship.

On the Devolution Agreement, we’re inviting all parties to participate and we’re making sure we keep them apprised of all of the progress or of any discussions that happen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to go six for six here for Mr. Ed Jeske, who my favourite arena is named after. Thank you.

The most important part.

We have the potential to be a great territory. Last November Minister Duncan wrote in the Hill Times that Canada’s North is a fundamental part of our national identity and our economic future. We share Minister Duncan’s views and the vision of Canada’s Northern Strategy of a North that can realize its true potential as a healthy, prosperous and secure region within a strong and sovereign Canada. We have the natural resources, human capital and political experience to be a self-sufficient territory, participating as a full, contributing member of Confederation. We can...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although we have a small population, the Northwest Territories is a large and diverse territory. We live in 33 communities spread over several regions. We share the territory with seven regional Aboriginal governments. We all have our own mandates, priorities and interests unique to each of our groups. Sometimes our individual priorities align with each other and sometimes it is more difficult to find consensus on specific issues.

But in spite of the individual differences that we may have, I believe that Northerners share the same bigger vision for our territory. No...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we started out in this Caucus reaching out to Aboriginal governments to develop a better working relationship in order to find common ground on a number of issues including devolution, we are still engaged in that process and looking to have another follow-up meeting to Detah sometime early in the new year.

With regard to actual devolution negotiations, the Government of Canada just recently announced or appointed a new federal negotiator for devolution and we’re in the process of feeling him out. I think there are some official meetings that will be happening...