Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very pleased that the honourable Member from Kam Lake finally recognized that this file exists and that he's learned the difference between land claims and land rights, and I'm very pleased to say that we're working very hard to fulfil our objective of selling all of these land rights agreements within the length of this 18th Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be pleased to answer his multiple questions. First and foremost, the terms of reference were reviewed and agreed to by both sides at least six months ago, and so everybody agreed to them, and the honourable Member from Kam Lake knows that we had a meeting. Everybody agreed that the next meeting would be when we received the reports from the two ministerial special representatives, and we expect to have those very soon and then we would have a meeting at the appropriate time to discuss these reports.

We did better than that; we met with the leadership of the Dehcho and we committed to having ministerial special representatives appointed to review the progress to date to identify deficiencies and challenges and what areas we could change to move forward. We had the opportunity to have a discussion in Vancouver at the Mineral Roundup with the Grand Chief Herb Norwegian, and he agreed that we would continue to work together to resolve these long-standing negotiations and we are both optimistic that we can move forward.

I'd be pleased to do that, and I'd like to advise the Member that the first Deline Implementation Committee meeting was held on January 12, 2017, here in Yellowknife, and going forward we'll advise him of the schedule and the progress that we're making.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, along with the Member from Sahtu, was very pleased to be in Deline on September 1st to help celebrate the implementation of the Deline Final Self-Government Agreement, and since then our government has been working with the Deline Got'ine Government and the Government of Canada to fulfill this self-government aspirations of the Deline Got'ine Government as set out in their Final Self-Government Agreement.

Our government is committed to working in partnership with the Deline Got'ine Government to build capacity within our respective governments to improve program and...

Recently, our government and the Deline Got'ine Government collaborated on the delivery of a lands administration course to the Deline Got'ine Government, and this is to improve the capacity of both of our governments to understand and manage the Land Administration Program. Also, through the Deline Self-Government Agreement Implementation Committee, we will collaborate on future initiatives that will support program and service delivery improvements in the Deline district. The representatives on this committee will also work so that we can pass on this information to the other communities in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our expectation is that the Legislative Assembly will continue its role as the public government in the Northwest Territories, including representation from communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. As the Member knows, the Prime Minister recently signed a new declaration, the Crown Inuit Declaration, I think he called it. This is a reflection of their new, improved, ongoing collaboration with Aboriginal governments. We are looking forward to seeing how that all rolls out going forward.

The Inuvialuit selfgovernment agreement, once finalized, it will implement the inherent right to selfgovernment in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. This agreement will provide the Inuvialuit the authority to deliver a broad range of programs and services, including social envelope authority such as K to 12 education, child and family services, and income support.

Mr. Speaker, a strong partnership with the Government of Canada is essential to ensuring Northerners can achieve their social, environmental, and economic goals. By working with our federal counterparts, the Government of the Northwest Territories will help create a Northwest Territories where all people can thrive and be healthy, where a strong economy provides jobs and opportunities for all our communities, and where a wellmanaged environment contributes to our economic wellbeing and quality of life.

Mr. Speaker, this past Friday I met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to discuss some of the...

I believe that, with all of the responsibilities that Ministers have, there are probably about 25 to 30 federalprovincialterritorial meetings that occur on an annual basis. I believe that, in every instance, there are press releases and communiques that come out of them. Certainly, I understand that we share those with Regular Members, and we will continue to do so.