Thanks, Mr. Chair. I can support this motion. I raised this issue when the Tlicho Government appeared before committee. Their land rights agreement actually contains provisions for the beginning, at least, of negotiations on a major mining project that is over $50 million in value, and there is a list of benefits, not unlike other ones that we've heard about here tonight, that a company has to at least initiate discussions with the Tlicho Government around. I said, "If the Tlicho Government actually reached an agreement under the Land Rights Agreement, do you think that would satisfy the requirements of the bill?" They thought that that would be the case, but they were interested in seeing some language around that. Presumably, that is what we have here.
It would be helpful to actually hear at some point from the Minister whether they actually consulted with the Indigenous governments in drafting this because there was a commitment made by the Minister during the clause-by-clause review that that was actually going to happen. I think this provides some greater clarity that this requirement for a benefit agreement with an Indigenous government is not on top of what may already be provided for in a land-rights agreement or perhaps some other arrangement that might be made outside of the statute itself. It is not clear to me who actually makes a determination that the requirements have been satisfied. I am going to hold off on that for right now.
When I raised this with the Minister and his staff during clause-by clause and even before that, they just weren't prepared to do anything about it, quite frankly. I don't know. All of a sudden, this bubbles up out of thin air that all of a sudden, the Minister wants to clarify this. That is great. I just wish that he had done this earlier in connection with the work that committee had done. I am pleased to see it here right now, this evening. Thanks, Mr. Chair.