Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Mr. Todd for those comments. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House who authorized this transfer of funds to the City of Yellowknife and which department was involved? Thank you.

Mr. Todd.

I am not sure who authorized it. RWED was the department that was used as a means to provide the city with the funding. I was involved as the Finance Minister at the request of the three MLAs and the city. I would have to check into exactly which department. I believe it was RWED that gave the funding. I was actively involved as the Finance Minister in ensuring that the funding was there. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that RWED was involved. Would the Minister confirm that the Minister of RWED approved this transfer of funding to the City of Yellowknife?

Mr. Todd.

I cannot confirm whether the Minister of RWED approved or not. I am saying to you as the Finance Minister, I was active in the process of trying to find the additional dollars required on a one-time basis to help the city that is currently under economic siege and has taken these large hits as it relates to the Deficit Elimination Strategy, as it relates to the division of 150 people of which Mr. O'Brien and others, will reap the rewards from in the decentralized government. I was involved in providing assistance to the city and RWED was the mechanism in which we transferred the money through. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, Dr. Alphonso Martinez, special rapporteur for the United Nations, visited the Hay River Reserve at which time there were several representations made to him. I would like to ask a question to the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs. There were several representations made to the special rapporteur by the aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories which clearly voiced their dissatisfaction with what they perceive as Canada's violations against the treaties. They indicated that Canada is in breech of their obligations. Also, they expressed concern that the passing of legislation by the territorial and federal governments further erodes their treaty rights. What I would like to know is, did this government make a presentation to the special rapporteur from the United Nations? Thank you.

The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the UN rapporteur on treaty rights who attended the meeting was invited there by the Deh Cho First Nations and other First Nations. Treaty 8 and other First Nations attended this meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to meet this gentleman. Initial contact was made by the Grand Chief of Deh

Cho when he went to the UN in Geneva last year. From there, I find out that this gentleman was doing a study on treaty issues. The purpose of the meeting was for the First Nations to explain to the UN rapporteur their concerns in regard to their treaty rights. The Northwest Territories government was not involved in this process and, therefore, would not make any presentation to this person. Thank you.

Thank you. Oral questions. Mr. Erasmus, Supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Considering the implications of the report that the rapporteur makes, I would think that it is incumbent that this government bring some sort of a written report or presentation and have it sent to Mr. Martinez. Does this government intend to make a written submission to the UN representative?

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, no, this government does not intend to make any statement at all to this UN rapporteur. He was here on the invitation of the First Nations and the First Nations wanted to make a presentation to him. The UN rapporteur will be making a major statement, not only for the Northwest Territories, Canada and the United States, but a statement throughout the whole world on treaty issues for indigenous people that they see there are injustices to them. As a result of that, we are part of the government and I think some of the concerns that were raised were aimed toward us. It would have been good to meet this gentleman but unfortunately because of this House sitting we were not able to attend the meeting. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is precisely because this government could not make a presentation that I feel we should be making a written submission. I would like to know then, is this government content to let the representative from the UN only hear one side of the story before they make their report and publish it for the world to see? Thank you.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I see the point of the honourable Member and I think it is a very good point. The UN rapporteur, Dr. Alphonso Martinez, may have seen only one side of the picture here in the Northwest Territories. I think as this Government of the Northwest Territories, we are working in partnership with the Aboriginal Summit Leaders and we are attempting to try to resolve some of these outstanding issues. It is important that our side of the stories get viewed. I will look into it with the rest of my colleagues here in the Cabinet and see if there is a possibility of writing a letter to the UN rapporteur and find out how he intends to do his report. It is incumbent upon us to make our own representation. Thank you.

Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Erasmus.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have indicated before, there could be serious repercussions from this report, particularly since Treaty 8 indicates the report from the commissioner indicated that the Indians were promised that they would never have to pay taxes. I would like to know if this government has a position already on some of these issues that they could make known to the special rapporteur. Thank you.

Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do not know what kinds of presentations were made to the UN rapporteur. We are not subject to the presentations he received and that will be something we should look into. If there are areas where we feel we should be explaining ourselves and the different concerns that may have been raised from the different personations, like the example the honourable Member made of Treaty 8 promises that were made that they would not have to pay taxes. I know this is a very important outstanding issue for treaty people in the Northwest Territories and in Canada. This government does not have a position on it, but we see it as a bilateral process between the First Nations and the federal government. We need to get further information on what kind of presentations were made to the UN rapporteur. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.