Joe Handley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t speak for DIAND, for the federal government, but from our government’s perspective, in 2004 we tried to come to an agreement with the Akaitcho at the negotiating table to have a policy that deals with unauthorized use of land. Mr. Speaker, at that time, the proposal we put forward was rejected and we have not taken it back to the table again.

Mr. Speaker, in the meantime, through Municipal and Community Affairs, we continue to work towards a policy for use of land and, as Members may have noticed, there have been ads in the papers this week warning people are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have pretty well everything in place. The only piece of information we don’t have is agreement from the Metis council that in the event we don’t have seniors to occupy the units, that they would agree to have the units occupied either by a single person or by a couple based on a waiting list, Mr. Speaker. So if we get that one piece of information so there is no misunderstanding down the road, and this project is ready to go. As I said, the meeting is being held next week and I don’t see any reason for any delay beyond that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly why we have to conclude a resource revenue sharing deal.

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Mr. Speaker, it is our money that is coming out of here. The federal government has it and now are looking at an equity position with our money. That’s why, Mr. Speaker, short of having a deal, we are sitting here being frustrated because other people are talking about how to spend our money.

Mr. Speaker, I would not want our government to be in a position where it’s competing with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group or aboriginal business or any business in the North. So our first priority, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our officials have insisted we be there. This one happened, we didn’t know and, as I say, that is of great concern to us. Assuming we have devolution and resource revenue sharing at some point, this is a concern to the people of the North.

Mr. Speaker, in answer to the question, yes, either I will or the Minister of Finance will again say to Ottawa that you can’t just give us lip service on this, you have to follow through and let us know these meetings are there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I haven’t had the opportunity to discuss this at any great extent yet with the president, but I will. I would certainly encourage the company involved to talk to the president and see if there is another creative way of doing this. It may be that there are enough units, for example, in a community that we could look at a different way of doing it where a local established business would be able to put in a reasonable price. Mr. Speaker, I would commit to speaking with the president and ask the company concerned to also do the same. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know if I will have a chance to do it today…

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…but, Mr. Speaker, I will and we have committed to consulting with the Akaitcho and letting them know what we are doing in terms of the enforcement procedures. Hopefully we will have cooperation there.

Mr. Speaker, I also hope that DIAND will also follow a similar process as we are on their land because, Members know, we can only develop procedures and apply our legislation on Commissioner’s land. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was referring to trying to work with the Akaitcho negotiators, Akaitcho people, at the negotiation table. We tried that in 2004. It didn’t go anywhere. So, Mr. Speaker, I am certainly open to having our negotiator consider raising this again when there is next a meeting at the table.

Mr. Speaker, beyond that, what we are prepared to do right now is put out enforcement procedures that we have worked out, give people warnings and give people notice that they have to show us that they have the right to be occupying the land they have. If they don’t, then they are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There have been discussions. The Metis have told us they are meeting on the 24th, which is a week from today. They will give us that assurance.

Mr. Speaker, what we are trying to avoid is a situation we see in some communities where we have a seniors complex, it’s only for seniors, and then we have empty units and then people looking for housing and they can’t move into it because it’s a seniors complex. We want to say let’s be sensible about this, let’s build it as a seniors unit, but if there are other people, make sure they can move in there too with priority given...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This project has not been put on the back burner. Mr. Speaker, it changed from some singles housing and some housing for families to a six-plex for seniors at the request of the seniors.

What that does, Mr. Speaker, because of the limited amount of housing, is it does limit the options for single people and for families and has housing dedicated for seniors. We asked the seniors whether in the event there weren’t enough seniors to occupy all of the new six-plex units at some point in the future, would they make the units then available to other singles or couples based...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I will never criticize those who choose to take a different path. That’s their choice and if they go along that path and find that they get a better deal, then, as I say, you know, good luck to them; I hope they can do it. Mr. Speaker, on the other hand, the arrangements, the agreement-in-principle we’ve signed with the three land claim groups and the Metis is one that is open and, at times, if people want to join on, they can join on and sign up too, if they choose to go that path.

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to continue working with those who have signed...