Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In our recent discussions with aboriginal leaders, we know that, while they are interested in promoting development in their regions, they are also not positioned very well to make maximum use of the opportunities that could become available.
For instance, the chiefs have signaled they are prepared to support the pipeline proposal down the Mackenzie Valley. However, they have conditions. They want to manage the project. They want to find the business partners of their choosing to work with. They would like to have substantive ownership of that pipeline and to reap substantive benefits from the development and management of that pipeline. This means there needs to be substantive resources available to the aboriginal leadership in the next year or two, not five or ten years from now.
We have made suggestions to the aboriginal leaders as recently as yesterday. We are prepared to work with them to develop a strategy on how all of us, as aboriginal northern governments, can position ourselves where we can access the necessary dollars and resources to pave the way for orderly development, for development that is going to benefit aboriginal communities, aboriginal leaders, aboriginal corporations, as well as the businesses of the North and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.