Mr. Chairman, that is a very interesting question, because the people who were negotiating, either for the territorial government or for the aboriginal groups, many of them have probably moved on and are doing other things. However, those in the territorial government that were involved at that time are fully engaged, if they are still working for us, at the negotiating table.

As I said, the negotiators are very busy at these tables and certainly if they get freed up sometime in the next little while and they want to participate in the Intergovernmental Forum, then we are probably going to use them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, in November of last year, the Dene Nation from one of their leadership meetings submitted a proposal from one of the recommendations from their Assembly to myself as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. They were actually requesting three positions that would provide the Dene Nation leadership with support and expertise in three critical areas. One of them was a parliamentary liaison. The other two were an education coordinator and a language and cultural coordinator. The broad purpose of these positions was to assist them in capacity development in a consistent manner to allow the Dene Nation to work in better collaboration with the Government of the Northwest Territories and other levels of government.

As you know, being in the Legislative Assembly, there is much legislation that we deal with that affects treaty people, Metis people and Inuvialuit people. As such, as much information and support as they need to be able to make informed decisions in a sensitive and positive working relationship. The overall proposed budget was a heck of a lot more than $100,000. Actually, it was about $280,000. We estimated that one-third of that would be about $100,000. The other two positions were not within the mandate of the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.

In working this out, we decided that we will act on the request and see where it goes. This position would act as a liaison between the Dene Nation, which is not an aboriginal government but rather a territorial organization that represents the interests of the Dene people, the majority of whom are treaty.

The focus would be mainly on treaty related issues, to provide important information and insight for treaty people who belong to the many aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories. It goes to all the communities right down the valley where there are treaty people and people who have ancestors of the signings of Treaty 8 and Treaty 11. The Dene Nation also plays an important role in informing and representing all of these people.

This position would act as liaison between the Dene Nation and the Government of the Northwest Territories. It will coordinate and assist in soliciting input from Dene members and leadership on the different policies and different issues that are affecting us here in the Legislative Assembly, how it affects the Dene Nation, its members and the issues raised from the Intergovernmental Forum. It would also be there to monitor and advise on new policies and legislation that are coming forward and assist in providing advice on the government processes for the purpose of input from the Dene Nation.

That is some background detail of the request for this funding. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This parliamentary liaison position would be somewhat outside the Intergovernmental Forum and the Aboriginal Summit. It should be noted that not all the aboriginal governments in the NWT opt to participate in the IGF or be a member of the Aboriginal Summit. By providing this assistance to the Dene Nation, it would provide an opportunity for the treaty people and other Dene who are not participating in the IGF process to provide input. In talking with the Dene Nation, that is their role. Again, the Dene Nation is not like an aboriginal government. I guess the loose definition of an aboriginal government is one that would have a land base or a negotiated claim of some sort. They have a land base and a future source of their own revenue to run their own institutions.

In this case, it is an organization that is there that will want to work with us as in government and with this Legislative Assembly to have an opportunity to review the different legislation that has developed here, and work in conjunction through the Dene Nation to the different chiefs and the different aboriginal governments out there.

Similarly, there is the Aboriginal Summit. I would like to say that everybody is very busy there. They have accomplished a great deal. They have many challenges as they work together in a collective, even though there is a lot of political uncertainty. There is a lack of resources, heavy workloads, different positions and competing priorities. In that whole area, the summit pulled together and a request was to have some source of funding from this government to the Dene Nation on behalf of the chiefs in trying to accommodate that request.

In response to similar funding from the other aboriginal groups, the Metis or the Inuvialuit, the only request we have to date was with the Dene Nation and none from the other. We are providing funding for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and to the Intergovernmental Forum in related activities through a block-funding arrangement that has been proposed by the Aboriginal Summit.

As well, we are providing funding to the IRC and the Gwich'in Tribal Council through the Beaufort-Delta Political Accord. They are receiving a similar type of funding through these kinds of agreements.

In respect to the Metis, there is actually no longer a territorial Metis organization. As a government, we are proposing to provide funding to both the South Slave Metis Tribal Council and the North Slave Metis Alliance to participate in the Intergovernmental Forum through the related activities, through the block-funding arrangement, and that has been proposed by the Aboriginal Summit. As a government, we also provide assistance for core funding to the Metis locals. There are sources of funding for both of these organizations.

I must tell you that in talking to the national chief, Bill Erasmus, on a couple of occasions in regard to his request to list sources of funding, the Dene Nation does not have any core funding from the federal government nor from our territorial government. He is operating on whatever little pockets of dollars he can get. I just wanted to say that they do not have any core funding at all from any other source. Thank you.

At this point, it was a request for one year.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the request is for a year. I am speculating to say that it will probably be an ongoing request. Like I said, they are an organization that is operating without core funding, so wherever they could receive pockets of funding to continue the Dene Nation organization -- they are going into their 32nd year, so I am sure that they will probably be coming back to us. Thank you.