Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today is Inuvialuit Day, so I am going to speak on that. Mr. Speaker, June 5th is set aside in the northern most part of our territory to celebrate Inuvialuit Day. June 5th marks the anniversary of the signing of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement in 1984. The day is celebrated throughout the Inuvialuit settlement region with drum dancing, Inuit games, music, and local country food such as muktuk, dry fish, moose, caribou, and so on. The Inuvialuit Final Agreement came into effect July 25, 1984. It was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed in the NWT and only the second ever in Canada at the time. Mr. Speaker, the final agreement is a result of the determination and dedication of a group of Northerners initially called the Committee for Original Peoples' Entitlement formed in 1970. This group included leaders, movers, and shakers such as Agnes Semmler, Nellie Cournoyea, Victor Allen, Brian Purdy, Jim Koe, Bertha Allen, Jessie Amos, Peter Green, Sam Raddi, Billy Day, Andy Carpenter, Wallace Goose, Mark Noksana, and Kenneth Peeloolook. This committee involved into a strong negotiating body that worked hard to secure the Inuvialuit's rights to wildlife harvest and socio-economic initiatives and full participation in wildlife and environment managing regimes. These rights extend over the territory of almost half a million hectares in the Mackenzie Delta, Beaufort Sea, and Amundsen Gulf area, approximately 90,600 square kilometres of land and 12,980 square kilometres of subsurface rights. Mineral rights are owned by the Inuvialuit. The Inuvialuit Settlement Region communities include Aklavik, Inuvik, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok, Sachs Harbour, and Tuktoyaktuk. The Inuvialuit Final Agreement lays the foundation for future powers and authority. The Inuvialuit, Canada, and the GNWT are currently negotiating an Inuvialuit selfgovernment agreement. Twelve different areas of government, from heritage resources to income support and training capacity building are included in the scope of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
Mr. Speaker, the Inuvialuit Final Agreement is something Canada and all Northerners can celebrate. Other countries are torn apart by civil wars over the very rights the Inuvialuit tenaciously and we have peacefully negotiated. Ecological provisions are upheld as a worldclass example of integrated resource management system. Mr. Speaker, I encourage the parties to continue negotiating, leading the way for the Northwest Territories and Canada and selfgoverned agreements for Canada's Indigenous peoples. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.
Members’ statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
