Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Glen Abernethy will be absent from the House today due to illness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That’s our hope too. We have 280 days left in our mandate and certainly that would be something we are aspiring to, if we can reach some sort of agreement before the end of our term, the 17th Legislative Assembly. That’s what we aspire to. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to recognize my oldest brother, John McLeod, as well as Grand Chief Herb Norwegian and all of the Dehcho First Nations delegation.

I think we already approved the implementation section. But devolution was a fairly seamless transition and it hasn’t resulted in any increased requirements for funding under implementation. Most of the implementation is for implementation of land claims or self-government.

Thank you. We have tried to find new and innovative ways to break down some of those walls. We’ve tried bilateral negotiations, for example, with the Dehcho First Nations where we had a working group of senior officials to try to resolve some very long-outstanding land issues. We thought that we had made good progress because the senior officials were able to resolve almost all of the outstanding issues, but at the 11th hour they were all rejected out of hand. But I think at least we’ve had some good dialogue and I think a much better understanding between both governments. We’ve also kept the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is not our intention to decentralize any of these positions. We’re a very small unit to begin with and we cover quite a number of files, including federal and national meetings, and so we don’t expect to decentralize any of them.

All departments on all initiatives we consult and consult and consult with the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

I know the federal government does provide some funding in some cases to Metis locals. Certainly, I’ll apprise the federal interlocutor for Metis, Minister Valcourt, the next time I see him, which shall be soon.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. To my left I have Martin Goldney, deputy minister. To my right I have Richard Robertson, director of finance and administration.

That’s correct. That’s funding from the GNWT. We review it on a periodic basis. Thank you.