Thank you, Mr. Chair. I was a Member of that committee, the Joint Advisory Committee on Aboriginal Relations, I believe it was called. Frankly, it was more of a place where we would go and get briefings from the government about what was going on. It wasn't really a place to give advice on these issues. That sort of exemplifies the type of changes that I would like to see going forward, where we take advantage of all of the skill sets that we have here in this Assembly, and we move forward making informed decisions.
Do I have a specific way that I would advance these claims? There is a lot going on. There are a lot of different tables, and I can't say that there is a specific offer that I would make, but there is definitely a different approach that you can take. Right now, the approach is that the GNWT and Canada make an offer to Indigenous governments, and it is sort of a "take it or leave it." There doesn't seem to be that back and forth. That authoritative way of dictating negotiations is what needs to change. We heard from the Indigenous governments that they want to move forward, as well, and everyone says the GNWT is what is standing in the way. What we need is a willingness to change that. Like I have said before, nothing should be off the table. If it's a whole new way of doing business, if it's new people, then those are the things that we have to do.
The reason I got into politics is because I was tired of people talking and nothing seemingly changing. I have come to realize over the past four years that it is not enough to just sort of inch along here and do things slightly differently. Sometimes a big change is needed, and I think that, to settle some of these claims that have been going on for decades, a big change is needed, and I am willing to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker-elect.