Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to say publicly my concern with the northern accord. I did not realize,

until I listened to the debate, that this northern accord is somehow closely tied to claims which have been negotiated with the Gwich'in, and are presently being negotiated with Sahtu. I did not realize there was a strong tie there, so I do not really understand fully if there is a strong connection. This way, the Gwich'in and Sahtu people would probably like to accelerate this, but at the same time there are other groups in our area who say we own this land and the resources on it belong to aboriginal groups, and until that is dealt with the resources are still in question. So, the certainty of that still has to be dealt with. I do not know how this northern accord would affect the people who have interest in the land, people who have not negotiated some of their lands away. We still maintain the position that all of it still belongs to the Dene in this treaty. In that respect I do not fully understand this accord.

On one hand, it is tied to a group of people who negotiate it, then if it does not go through certain parts of the claim they will not benefit from it, but at the same time there is another group saying they are still in the position of getting ready to try to deal with the government on our lands and what effect will this accord have on us in the long run? If this accord goes are we going to be put in another position again such as the devolution which has been going on with transfers of certain responsibilities from the federal government to the territorial government, and certain groups being left on the side, being ignored and not being dealt with. That seems to be the practice of this government. If this accord is going to do that again, then I have to understand it and the people who are going to be affected by it have to understand it. I do not want to come back here after this accord goes through and argue that it is detrimental to certain groups. So, you have to take that into consideration.

This is a public government, it services everyone and takes everyone's view into consideration. Then, there is a certain group of people you have to consider as well. I understand the situation with these two claimant groups, I did not realize they were so closely tied for this accord to go through. It puts the people I represent in my constituency, in a very tenuous situation, so I find myself very cautious in this accord. Somehow this has to be dealt with and at the present time to try to fully understand what the northern accord is. I know the tribal council in my area has been dealing with it and trying to understand it. I really hope their views are taken seriously by the government and dealt with. We do not want to be pushed on the side again having to battle for our rights in the future. It has been going on for too long. I support this government in being very cautious in their approach in dealing with it. We have to be careful about this off-loading which is going on. The whole attitude of the federal government towards the north and the residents in the north, I find very appalling. I do not trust them at all and I would deal with them the same way the government has been dealing with them up to this point. Mahsi, Mr. Chairman.