Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The comments that I wanted to make are surrounding the recent and very public cases involving harvesting of either wood or else some caribou. This goes to the heart of treaty rights and Aboriginal title. I understand there is a process to the courts and we have to respect the due process; however, I want to find out, in terms of the Department of Justice dealing with treaty rights and Aboriginal title, with the understanding of governments with the way that they are usually structured is that there is a divide between the judiciary plus the executive, and at the same time the legal case precedents in the instances for specific rights are recognized and affirmed through the courts. I wanted to get an understanding of how, perhaps, the department is playing a role in terms of ensuring that there are guiding principles that the department upholds when dealing with those rights. I wanted to understand that.

The other point that I wanted to make is in terms of culture and languages. It is very important to the communities that I serve that we recognize that there are different cultures in communities, mainly

the First Nations culture and, at the same time, languages and their specific needs. It is important that we try to provide a service so that when a person finds themselves in a legal circumstance, that language translation is available so that people are treated fairly in terms of the judicial process and that they don’t feel victimized through the whole process when experiencing that there is a lack of language services available to them.

The other point that I wanted to make is I wanted to understand the Department of Justice mandate and role in ensuring that our RCMP, in terms of how they provide services, I understand there has been work in terms of trying to engage communities and developing policing plans. I think it has been noted that our communities, especially along the highways, need to be worked closely with, ensuring that the local leadership and citizens have a role in terms of developing their annual policing plans. I hope that will continue as well.

Those where just some points that I wanted to make. Mahsi.