Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a matter of great importance to my constituents in the Sahtu region. Mr. Speaker, in June of this year I raised in the House the issue of the potential sale of Arctic Red Outfitters Limited and this government’s legal and moral obligations to honour the requirements of the Sahtu Land Claim. At this time, I question the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources about the proposed sale of the Arctic Red Outfitters and their right for first refusal for the licence that the people of Sahtu had pursuant to our land claim. Mr. Miltenberger committed to getting back to me on this matter, and he did so in written correspondence.

As Members may be aware, both the Gwich’in and the Sahtu land claim agreements provide that the

respective organizations have the right of first refusal for granting of a new outfitting licence. These rights were given to the Gwich’in and the Sahtu people after many years of hard-fought negotiations, and these rights are constitutionally entrenched. They are important rights; not to be lightly ignored.

In this case, the company carried on business in both the Gwich’in and Sahtu area, and they have obligations to comply with the law in both geographic jurisdictions.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister subsequently wrote to me, confirming that the company in question was being sold and the company had been advised by the Minister’s regional staff of the need to honour the refusal rights under the Sahtu Land Claim Agreement. When I wrote and asked for more details, the Minister referred to the challenge of having dual rights of first refusal and two separate land claim agreements, and about how his department was going to review the requirements in this area so that a solution can be developed and implemented. To date, no one has approached the leadership of the Sahtu seeking the approval of the issuance of a licence which evolved in our region. This is in direct contravention of our land claim agreement.

Mr. Speaker, many months after the people of the Sahtu first heard about the proposed sale of the Arctic Red Outfitters, we are no further ahead of knowing that our land claim agreement has been complied with by this government. I appreciate that having the two land claim agreements both containing the right of first refusal can be challenging; however, this challenge does not eliminate the duty of the Crown to comply with constitutionally entrenched and constitutionally protected agreements. The fact of the law that can be challenged to comply is not an excuse for ignoring these legal requirements. The government has an obligation to respect these rights given to the people...