I am pleased to present the 2007-2008 Main Estimates for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations.

The department is requesting $7.450 million in operating expenses for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. This represents a 1.7 percent, or $122,000, increase from the 2006-2007 Main Estimates. This increase can be attributed to the following factors:

• • the department received forced growth funding in the amount of $222,000 for collective bargaining increases; and
• • incurred a $100,000 reduction to reflect the transfer of responsibility and associated resources for the Beaufort-Delta capacity building initiative to the Department of Executive.

Mr. Chairman, it has been over a year since the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations received its new mandate of streamlining and improving how we, as a government, work with aboriginal partner governments and organizations. The department has been engaged in several initiatives and has undergone restructuring measures aimed at making the organization more effective in successfully carrying out its new mandate. I am pleased to report that our efforts to date have been accomplished within existing resources.

We have been working hard, and will continue to do so, at establishing respectful government-to-government relations between the GNWT and regional aboriginal governments. In support of this commitment, the department has established an $830,000 intergovernmental initiatives fund to provide regional aboriginal governments with the resources they need to prepare for, and participate in, meetings with the GNWT, and, where necessary, Canada, to discuss matters of interest to the territory at large.

Mr. Chairman, the department remains committed to fulfilling its obligations regarding the finalization and implementation of aboriginal land, resource and self-government agreements. The challenge for the department is to ensure that the various negotiations result in agreements that share some degree of consistency with respect to the role that the territorial government will play in a future Northwest Territories.

Communications will play a key role during this transition period and I will ensure that the department makes every effort to keep various audiences informed about all its functions, including providing regular written updates to Members on both the progress of the various negotiation tables and the status of the implementation of settled land claims.

We share the opinion of Members that it is important to hold land, resource and self-government negotiating sessions where they matter most, which is in communities impacted by such negotiations. The department has achieved successes in this area and will continue its lobbying efforts with the other parties to hold as many negotiating sessions as possible in the North.

Mr. Chairman, I am now prepared to answer any questions committee members may have.