Bob McLeod

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left, I have Mike Aumond, the secretary to Cabinet and the deputy minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. To my far right, I have Terence Courtoreille, the director of Shared Services, and to my immediate right, Shaleen Woodward, the assistant deputy minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 20182019 Main Estimates for the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $1.5 million or 7.8 per cent over the 20172018 Main Estimates. EIA's proposed increase is almost entirely related to strategic initiatives, which include the following:

$595,000 in additional resources aimed at the finalization of lands, resources, and selfgovernment agreements;

$250,000 in additional funding to the Northwest Territories/Nunavut Council of Friendship Centres to build capacity and strengthen...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following letter from Grand Chief George Mackenzie of the Tlicho government to myself, Premier McLeod, dated January 31, 2018, thanking the Government of the Northwest Territories for supporting Indigenous governments in their goals to be self-sustaining and self-reliant by inviting them to participate in events like the AME Roundup Conference in Vancouver last month. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We work with the Aboriginal governments that have Aboriginal land claims and are negotiating land claims at the land claims table. The Dene Nation, I guess, have been operating at a different level, and we still don't know if the federal government's intentions are to take all the money for delivery of programs and services and deliver to AFN, who will then deliver to the Dene Nation for delivery of programs and services. We have been trying to get that response from the federal government, and we have not been able to get a clear answer.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to welcome Members back to the Legislative Assembly as we continue our work to create a better future for the people of the Northwest Territories. Time is passing quickly, Mr. Speaker, and we are past the halfway point in the mandate of the 18th Legislative Assembly. There are just 20 months left until the end of our term, and there is still a lot of important work for us to do.

One of the most important challenges we face is securing a strong and sustainable economic future for the people of the territory. The people of the Northwest Territories want jobs in their...

Global Public Affairs currently does not represent any other clients in the Northwest Territories, and the contractual arrangements clearly provide for conflict provisions so that we have no conflicts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been speaking about the elements of the red alert for two years. First and foremost, on the moratorium, and I have to correct the Member. He said he had to correct me in the media because I made erroneous statements. I think he made an erroneous statement about the moratorium. It's not a five year moratorium. It's an indefinite moratorium and to new offshore oil and gas licences.

So first and foremost about the moratorium, I've been speaking for over a year. The one-year anniversary for the moratorium is December 21st and it has gained no traction from southern or...

We work with every government, national government, especially ones that sign on to devolution. We have memoranda of understanding. We meet on a regular, formal government-to-government basis on a negotiation of self-government, on the delivery of programs and services. We have negotiated core operating principles. Not all Aboriginal governments want to sit at the table, but for the ones that are prepared to negotiate tri-laterally, we ensure that we have a consistency of service and we recognize through modelling that one of the problems with self-government or land claims is they're not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure where the federal MLA is getting his information from, but most of it seems to be manufactured by the media, and I don't see any areas where we have a problem with reconciliation. If anything, we are the leading edge of negotiations of self-government in Canada.

We have 15 negotiating tables, and we have negotiated self-government agreements with the Tlicho and the Deline, and those have been negotiated with the involvement of the federal Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and the Aboriginal government. I think what the...