Thank you. We're in 2019, we have a very unique circumstances for governance in the Northwest Territories, and we have to continue on the path of reconciliation and respect Indigenous partners. That they have an inherent right to self-government and many of those self-governments have come forward.
In regards to Indigenous governments being involved in the creation of zones, I think that that is important, but at the end of the day, it is the Minister who approves the zone. The Minister is a representative of the public Government of the Northwest Territories for all of the people of the Northwest Territories, and that is his role.
To have an opportunity for the public to comment on the establishment of a zone, which, again, is the Minister's discretion, is not a mandatory decision that is made after an Indigenous government proposes a zone, so I don't think that this impacts the ability of the new special relationships that have been established through zones.
I think that this is important for scrutiny, transparency, and allowing everyone to weigh in, including industry, including civil society, and hold a public representative of government making decisions on behalf of the public government to have those decisions appropriately scrutinized and held to a level of transparency that the public expects in 2019 as well. Thank you, Mr. Chair.