Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will just make some general comments in regard to the question, then I will turn it over to Mr. Murray for more on the technical detail. In Inuvik specifically, we have at least entertained the specific process with the municipality, the Gwich'in and the Inuvialuit, although we have received a letter back from the Inuvialuit that they were not interested.

I will speak to Inuvik specifically because I am the other half of the representation of Inuvik. What we had heard originally was that yes, there is a high demand for land in Inuvik. We are trying to resolve that rather quickly by using two processes. One is we can wait until the self-government agreement has been finalized, or else we can work with the individual entity where they may want to access affordable community lands, talking specifically about Commissioner's land.

We have entertained that idea as early as December 5th. It is an ongoing process. We are basically working with one group in isolation of the other, simply because it is a choice of acquiring lands that are needed desperately for the significant growth and the demand on municipal lands in that specific municipality. In terms of process, I will ask Mr. Murray to enlighten the Member further on how the process is developed. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Murray.

Thank you, Mr. Murray. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As I stated originally when I opened this question, in Inuvik and the region as well, the self-government process is complete. Land claims are signed and settled. There was land exchanged during that process as well. I guess following up, I understand that there is an implementation plan that involves the Beaufort Delta Interim Regional Council. Is that part of the process? The deputy minister stated that there is work in that area. He mentioned the Beaufort Delta Regional Council and the Beaufort Delta self-government process.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I will turn this question over to the deputy minister for a response. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Murray.

Thank you, Mr. Murray. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Correct me if I am wrong here. There is a process, but you are also working with the Beaufort Delta self-government table to keep you in line, as I understand from what you have stated. As Beaufort Delta self-government moves ahead and agreements are signed and in place, then at that time there will be further development of the lands, the lands either going to municipal governments or to the community or united council in some communities, as they will be termed. Is that what I am hearing?

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Minister.

Mr. Chairman, just to recollect from my own experience in this whole issue, I believe there are a number of processes out there. I am specifically going to speak to the self-government one. In our meeting, Mr. Bob Simpson, who is the negotiator for the Mackenzie Delta-Beaufort, had given us some direction of where we should be looking in terms of the overall process. Also involved in that meeting was the mayor, the Gwich'in Council, and the Inuvik Community Corporation. I think we had tried to establish a process that would take into consideration all of the participants' interest in the land issue. It is very difficult to try to come to a conclusion without having a bit of, I would say for better use of a word, a misunderstanding of how we were going to reach an ultimate goal. The intention was to get everybody involved, work out some mechanisms among themselves as to how they want to achieve, again the words used were, "access to some affordable lands in the municipality". Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The one thing different about Inuvik compared to the Beaufort Delta region is that Inuvik is the only tax-based community within the region. As they are developing these processes and working together in a sense, has it been taken into consideration that as a tax-based municipality right now in the region, residents of the community pay land taxes much higher than in other communities? Has that been taken into consideration, because the Beaufort Delta is a regional concept right now? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do not think the question is with regard to being a land tax-based municipality. I think it was regarding access to more municipal lands. I do not believe in our discussions anywhere where taxation was an issue with the proponents to the overall discussion.

The key questions that we came away with from the meeting was that the Gwich'in wanted access to affordable lands. They were saying that they were not willing to pay high costs for it, Commissioner's lands that are administered through the municipalities. I think that was the essence of the question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to go back to my comments on the general statement regarding land and the problems it is causing in some of the communities that I represent. In most of the communities I represent, we have high unemployment. We have seen the land leases probably jump tenfold. There is a real concern.

Prior to the increase in land leases, we already had a real high percentage of people who were in arrears and facing the possibility of eviction. I think some people had received notice that their wages would be garnisheed. There was also the aboriginal view that many of these people should not be paying taxes. There had been some direction provided by chiefs in the past that they were not going to pay taxes and they did not want any of their members to pay taxes.

I think this problem is being compounded and we have not done anything about it up until now. With this increase in land leases, we are really placing undue hardship on all of the residents in a lot of the communities in the North.

I am not only speaking for the communities that I represent such as Fort Providence and Enterprise that are really having problems with this, but there are others out there that have voiced concerns. Fort Resolution, Fort McPherson and Fort Rae are all having the same problems. I do not agree that the process was done totally according to how things should be evaluated. There was no community visit. There was no consultation. There was no discussion. It seems to be a process that was handled right here in the offices in Yellowknife and then sent down the tubes.

I would like to ask the Minister if he would consider doing a review of the whole process to assure us that it was done correctly and that there were no flaws and nothing was missed and that is indeed how the leases should have been increased, by ten times what they were before, in some cases 12 or more. It is a real jump. I am having a hard time accepting the fact how the process was handled. I would like to see the process reviewed, community by community if possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we recognize that it is a very complex problem. We have taken steps to work with the communities and also with some landowners in the municipalities. I will refer to Aklavik as being one of them where they have stated the very same problem and they continue to state that very same problem of landownership and taxation.

Unfortunately, the department is indentured to provide assessment of properties, and the invoicing for any unpaid taxes is forwarded on by Finance. I have just sent a letter to the Minister of Finance to try to reconcile what seems to be an inherent problem across the North. It is a tough one to deal with, but we have already established, I think, a fair process. It is going to take some time to resolve. I think we have set out a strategic path that will resolve it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to get further clarification. What does the Minister mean when he says that he has established a fair process and that he hopes to resolve it? How does he hope to resolve it?