Mahsi, Mr. Speaker and good afternoon to all my honourable colleagues and welcome back to the Legislative Assembly.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Dent for his presentation on the western transition and fielding questions on the NWT Power Corporation and the education, culture and employment issues. Also, the active participation of representatives from the departments of Health and Social Services, RWED, MACA and the NWT Housing Corporation provided attending leaders with timely updates of the GNWT initiatives. The meetings were in an excellent forum to advise government on a variety of important Deh Cho issues.

I am pleased to report that the Deh Cho First Nation Leadership have expressed an interest in working with a proposed ministerial envoy from DIAND Minister Jane Stewart to explore the opportunities to advance the Deh Cho in talks with the federal government on governance and land issues.

On January 13th, the Deh Cho leaders received representatives from the Yellowknife Dene First Nations and on January 15th, the meeting was attended by a delegation from the Dogrib Nation. It is very encouraging to see a spirit of cooperation building among leaders and to witness frank discussions between First Nations in their own territories.