Mr. Chairman, there are 74 communities, I believe, in the Northwest Territories. I wonder whether the Member will simply allow me to provide briefing documents which would show the history of community transfers since the beginning, some four years ago, and the amount of activity and work done to date. We do have, for instance a listing which shows the number of communities that have expressed initial interest or have requested information workshops on the community transfer initiative since 1992; which is some 45 communities. The interest has been high.

In some communities, we have started having discussions and workshops, and the communities are taking the time to have internal discussions about whether or not they are prepared to make further commitments. Other communities -- for instance, McPherson -- have indicated that, at this time, they are not prepared to do any further work. The implementation of the Gwich'in claim and the business interests of the community have taken centre stage, the entire stage, so to speak, at this time. The leadership has indicated to us that they support the concept of the community transfer initiative but they are not prepared to do anything specific at this time.

We are continuing to hold the position that we're not going to go out and actively sell the initiative. We know that people are interested and they will do it when they are prepared and feel their priority is transfers. As a government, we're prepared to do business. The store is open, so to speak, but we're not taking the approach that everybody should be doing it. We're simply open for business and when business is called for by different communities, we shall respond. We're prepared and organized to do it. Thank you.