Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you are well aware, on August 9, the Dogrib Nation along with the federal and territorial governments signed the agreement-in-principle. That basically spells out what will be in the final agreement that will be signed in due course. This AIP is very significant for my people. It establishes the perimeters of the final land claims settlement, as well as establishes the framework for continued discussions and the realization of self-government.

To get to this stage in the process all three parties have worked extremely hard to provide the people with an agreement that everyone can live by. For my people it is the realization of many years of work as well as a new hope for the future. This agreement will allow the Dogrib region the ability to govern its own affairs and hopefully provide better services and a better life for the members of my region. It is the first agreement in Canada that combines the stability of the land claim settlement and the idea of self-government into one document. I believe this will be a model for other agreements to come in the future.

Over the next couple of years, while the final agreement is being completed, I hope that all parties will continue to work together and ensure the final agreement is the best possible agreement we could provide for our people.

There will be many important events that take place between now and the signing of the final agreement and through this all, change will happen. However, because we now have four areas of our Territory that have completed the settlement process, it also brings much stability to the NWT as a whole.

To close, I would like to congratulate Treaty 11 Council, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories in taking this next step in fulfilling our dream of self-governance and control of our destiny. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

--Applause