Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The aboriginal organizations' political leadership have sent a message to industry and to Ottawa, that they are unanimous in their political support of a pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley, and they indicated the conditions. The aboriginal business leaders, following that, have started work and have put together a working group. They now have a mandated working group in place to begin the process to work towards a proposal for a pipeline that would be owned and managed all or in part by a business consortium. Aboriginal leaders will spearhead that.
Members should be aware that when I met with the Prime Minister earlier this year, I had indicated to him this business initiative lead by Nellie Cournoyea, of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and Chief Harry Deneron, on behalf of the chiefs and the Metis leaders of the Mackenzie Valley. I had indicated to him at the time that he should be prepared to meet with the leaders should they request a meeting, and I believe they were prepared to do so at the time. So the stage is set for the aboriginal leaders to meet with the Prime Minister at a time and place of mutual convenience. That work has been done.
Of course, all the work that we do with industry and the federal government is shared and the added information is made available to the aboriginal leaders. Thank you.