Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, being a federal legislation, does have a board, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. That is a board that is composed of federal appointees, territorial appointees, and aboriginal appointees. It is a board that is made up of representatives from up and down the valley. They have the very important and tough task of reviewing any development that happens down the valley. Their task is to look at the socio-economic impact.

I have met with the board. We have talked about the issues that were raised here in the House, as well as issues that I have heard from the communities themselves. The representatives on the board are true representatives of people across the valley and they are very receptive to the concerns that are raised out here. It is an independent board that does that work, and yes, we follow up and we will continue to follow up and continue working with the board, because that is their task. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in terms of development, there are all kinds of different developments. Mining development is happening here in the Yellowknife area, north of Yellowknife, and also in some small areas in the Nahendeh riding. As well, oil and gas exploration is going on in the southern Nahendeh area, as well as in the Sahtu, mainly in the Delta. The whole discussion of the pipeline is also right across the Mackenzie Valley. Those are the two different types of development.

In the case of mining, there are impact benefit agreements that the mining companies have been able to negotiate with the four affected communities around them. So in terms of development, there is a mechanism in place that seems to be working fairly well.

In the oil and gas sector, in the Canadian oil and gas legislation, there is a provision in there for socio-economic arrangements that the First Nations could make with the developers. I think it is more applicable once exploration has happened and they have a significant find, and they are going to develop the gas and oil resources by putting a pipeline in. I think that is where the socio-economic agreement comes in.

Yes, I have instructed RWED, even though it is not really our mandate to do it, to look at some sort of template that the communities could use. In looking at the examples in Fort Liard as well Cameron Hills, we want to make sure there is some protection there, so we are developing a set of rules, a set of guidelines that could be applicable in these circumstances if the communities agree to use that type of arrangement and agreement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I asked similar questions to the department when I took over. I thought it was a simple matter, but it is not. In the mining industry, they have the Mining Act, which does not include any socio-economic or impact benefit agreements. However, with this government, and working with the First Nations that are affected with the diamond mines, we are able to work with BHP to agree to a socio-economic arrangement with the First Nations that are affected. So even though it is not legislated, we are able to do that.

In the case of the oil and gas, there are provisions in the oil and gas federal legislation for a socio-economic agreement during the development phase once a significant find is made. I was told we cannot do the same exact thing we did with the mining companies with an oil and gas company.

However, we are looking at something similar, in regard to making sure there are socio-economic arrangements with oil and gas companies that operate in the North and close to an affected community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we are already looking at those aspects. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister direct the Department of Finance not to garnishee wages from people who are still negotiating their rights in Canada based on their treaties?