Thank you, Mr. Chairman. When the Deh Cho and the other chiefs of the Dene Nation met prior to the constitutional conference, I was invited to go down and speak with them, so I had -- without any notes or a prepared statement -- gone down and given them my expectations of the conference and how I thought it should be focused. In the resulting comments, perhaps I was too negative and hard on the Treaty 8 and Deh Cho position, as I understood it, and simply called for some changes. I didn't gain any fans from that particular leadership group.
As Members know, the constitutional conference itself mended a tremendous number of fences, and the goodwill that resulted is still enjoyed by people now. It was a very positive conference, it showed the extent to which ordinary people are willing to go to embrace the massive degree of change that aboriginal groups are calling for. The dynamics of these negotiations are difficult to explain, and I can't explain the animosity or the goodwill that results.
For instance, when the Gwich'in started negotiations, the Gwich'in decided to become very tight knit and to exclude all outside people. I was the Minister at the time; we were very supportive of their negotiations. We worked very hard with the federal government with them to expedite their negotiations. We, too, we received a tremendous amount of negative feelings and animosity from the Gwich'in in the course of the negotiations.
There was no appreciation for the fact that some of us involved, particularly Bob Overvold and myself, were largely responsible for at least 75 per cent of the content of the Gwich'in claim, because it came from Dene/Metis comprehensive claim. There was no appreciation for the ownership and the work that we put into it. There was very little fanfare given to some of the issues that we advanced on behalf of the Gwich'in. The dynamics were such that the Gwich'in were under the impression that they were doing all this work on their own, and they were going to do it and they didn't want anyone coming to their aid. At least, politically, that seemed to be the perception. So, we did our work and didn't expect any applause or praise and we weren't disappointed, we didn't get very much of it.
The animosity that digs in any time that we sit down for negotiations. It was in the Sahtu negotiations, not to any great degree, but it was there. Presently, with the Dogrib, there is a lot of apprehension and animosity on the part of some leaders, about this government's position. Or apprehension as a result of our lack of clear position on self-government. It ties into many other issues.
So, it is difficult to say or explain how it all works, but I do know that the dynamics, at the best of times, are incredibly complex. It is no surprise, given that the issues that we deal with are forever. Once you give up some land, once you decide not to define certain rights, once you decide certain rights are not worth dying for and you are willing to extinguish them, it is forever.
So the stress from the magnitude of what you are doing is tremendous and there is some aberration, perhaps, in some of our behaviour. Once it is done, relations and...(inaudible)...our relationship with the Gwich'in right now is as if those days of perceived battle and differences never happened. Same with the Sahtu, and I expect it will be the same with all groups as we resolve these issues of self-government and comprehensive claims. Thank you.