Mr. Chairman, when the claims negotiations started some years ago, the Inuvialuit negotiations and every one subsequent to that, there was no policy that directed and gave focus to this government to participate in the negotiations. So when the self-government discussions starting being initiated, we decided that we wanted to be clear to everyone about the mandate and the manner in which we would conduct ourselves in such negotiations would be. So we drafted a self-government mandate and subsequent protocol. We brought it to Cabinet and Cabinet approved it for consultation purposes. We have circulated this paper to a number of different aboriginal groups down the Mackenzie Valley and across the territories, asking for their input.

There are two concerns at this time. One is the concern about the integrity of the bilateral relationship between First Nations and the federal government. The second concern has to do with the fact that the federal government hasn't come up with its own policy on self-government. The Liberal Party is committed to coming out with a paper on the inherent right to self-government. The last I checked, which was about two months ago, the Minister had a page of talking points after a year of discussions and internal work. So I think it is very tough. We have been pressuring the government to try to expedite the process, so that we have a good quality paper that fully embraces the inherent right and, secondly, to try to come up with it in short order, so that self-government negotiations can proceed with groups, knowing the full scope of what is available from the federal government.

At the present time, there is some attempt for negotiations to proceed, but without any mandate or knowing the full scope, it is very difficult to proceed at all. This is our thinking on it. We haven't finished the consultation on the mandate and protocol. Once that is done, we will take into account all the comments made by the aboriginal groups and make some recommendations to Cabinet as a result of that. Thank you.