Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Due to the importance of this fall, the Premier had taken the lead in
working with the aboriginal groups starting two years ago. The department, through the deputy minister, worked in support of the Premier in working out possible arrangements and support of the aboriginal groups to proceed with this file. As I recollect, the last meeting that was held in discussions with the aboriginal groups, the Premier felt there was no basis on which to proceed at this time given the lack of support and diverse positions being taken by the aboriginal groups at that time. We have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in discussions with the aboriginal groups over the last six years, a tremendous amount of money and time. There is no reason to believe the prospects are any better now than they were in previous years. At this time, we are not closing the book on it, but there is very little time, in fact, even if we should get total support today for anything to be done before the year 2000. Thank you.