Mr. Speaker, this gives me an opportunity, from the Member’s question, to set the record straight and clear up some of the comments that have been put out there through the media about the fact that my discussions with the Prime Minister went badly and, as a result, I’ve come back home to say no devolution talks are occurring.
The fact is, early after the election, I had an opportunity to meet with the regional aboriginal leadership across the Territories. We had an
opportunity to sit down and give an indication of the fiscal environment we were in, as well as ask if there was support for moving ahead with the continued talks on devolution and resource revenue sharing. It has remained about the same as it had in the previous government, with some groups agreeing and other groups saying they had other interests at this time.
It was after that meeting that I said — and I stated at that point and, as well, informed Members — that reviewing our fiscal situation and where we are at with these discussions, we would be prepared, or at least from my end, to put that on the back burner. So it’s not a result of our discussions with Ottawa. Ottawa, in fact, is favourable to continuing the discussion. But we have to make sure the deal we get is one that will actually benefit Northerners.