Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past Monday morning on the local 7:30 a.m. C.B.C. News broadcast, there was a news item, in which the N.W.T. Chamber of Mines general manager, Tom Hoefer, expressed his worries that a Dogrib land claim might scare off potential diamond exploration investors. Mr. Speaker, the general manager of the Chamber of Mines said that while a land freeze could be put in place during claims negotiations, potential investors wanted to have a secure investment climate. Mr. Speaker, it does not take a PhD to read between the lines of Mr. Hoefer's statement. I read his comments as the attempt to push the pro mining agenda into the arena of our upcoming land claims negotiation with the federal government. Mr. Speaker, I do not personally know the general manager of Chamber of Mines, Mr. Hoefer. However, from the public statements that he has made recently he does not strike me as a person who has views on native rights, and land rights that are in line with the mainstream thinking. He seems to be, with all due respect, a relic of the past, a person who holds views towards native land rights of a time when a colonial government and business interests ruled over our land.

Mr. Speaker, the land being gobbled up by the diamond exploration interests is land which is under Treaty eleven, signed in 1921, for the Dene people. It is Dene land, and Mr. Hoefer and the mining interest on whose behalf he apparently speaks, should not try to threaten us. Mr. Speaker, the Dogrib people have not said very much to date concerning the use of our land by mining companies. We do want to cooperate with the mining industry and get in on the economic benefits. However, I give notice that we will no longer tolerate the colonial voices of the Hoefers of the world. Mr. Speaker, it is our land, and if that means an insecure investment climate for Mr. Hoefer's friends then that is his problem, not ours.

---Applause