Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The point I want to raise is the importance of this department in light of the significant negotiations going on down the Mackenzie Valley and the amount of resources needed in the Northwest Territories; royalties, benefits and decision-making authorities. At the same time, negotiations are happening with communities and regions on the self-government process. I hope to see some of that concluded. I wanted to comment on the importance of these self-government negotiations and hope they are carried out in the spirit and intent of the negotiators when they sit down to ink the final document and have it implemented in the North.

Mr. Chairman, I also want to comment on the importance of our negotiators coming into our regions and communities and understanding our way of life, and our culture and language is key to really working on a strong partnership together. I am not sure if that has been brought forward, but I believe it will now. I think that's really important to forge strong relationships and partnerships.

As the Minister indicated in his previous position with the Department of Executive, we have to really form strong partnerships with our aboriginal governments. It's long past that we have two different paths in the Northwest Territories. I think we really have to take on ownership of working together. The responsibility is so critical at this time and your department is so critical in this area. I can't stress the importance this department means to the people in our small communities.

I speak passionately because I know what it means in people's minds and hearts when they sign these agreements. They are nothing to be fooled around with. They are serious agreements. They mean a lot and the spirit and intent of these agreements go back to 1921 and the 1800s. If you sat down with the elders and asked them about the treaty agreements, they would really give you a clear picture of how these treaty negotiations were taking place. They understood the meaning of the sun rising, the grass growing and the river flowing and the treaty. They take a different view at how we look at these treaties. If you listened to how this treaty was negotiated, they don't say the sun rising, the grass growing and the river flowing for nothing. They had a strong, significant meaning to those words.

I hope that somehow we can show that we will work strongly with our aboriginal negotiators and our negotiations in the different regions here to put together a strong position by the Northwest Territories and stop using two paths to benefit the Northwest Territories. We are too small in numbers. We know each other down the Mackenzie Valley. It's very hard sometimes because of regional differences. It becomes so hard and we take positions that make it hard sometimes to communicate with one another.

I just wanted to stress that to the Premier and the staff and my colleagues. It's very important. This department means a lot for me and the people I represent and us working together. I know that we could do it. That's all I would like to say, Mr. Chair, to the Premier.