Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask a question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on his update on the Protected Areas Strategy. As people might be aware, the Deh Cho has been in discussions a long time, particularly with communities that have put their faith in the Protected Areas Strategy when it began in 1999. It's been a long, drawn-out process. Communities have been involved and elders have been involved. A lot of the elders that were initially involved have passed on, so a lot of the leaders have taken up at least the torch of trying to move forward on some key areas within the Deh Cho. At this point, I think First Nations communities, especially, have put their faith in the negotiations process. They put their faith in this negotiations process that it will work. The other option is through the courts. In the end it's really a deliberate, well-reasoned choice of trying to put their faith in the negotiations process.

My question to the Minister is: In terms of the discussions on protected areas, can the Minister explain the mandate of his department in the negotiation of protected areas?