Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs is pleased to provide its Final Report: A Northwest Territories Approach to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Negotiating Agreements, and commends it to the House.

Mr. Speaker, The Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs committee was created on October 29, 2020 after the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly unanimously passed Motion 21-19(2). The Assembly tasked the special committee to seek and encourage discussion and recommendations on opportunities and challenges in meeting the Assembly's priorities. Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a commitment in the Government of the Northwest Territories 2019-2023 Mandate.

Much has happened since. At the same time, when committee began its work in December 2020, Canada released a proposal for legislation to implement the UNDRIP. When in June 2021, Canada's United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was passed into law, committee was in the midst of hearing from witnesses to learn about the different perspectives on UNDRIP and land negotiations and self-government agreements in the Northwest Territories.

Committee acknowledges the policies driving Canada's new approach to recognizing and implementing Indigenous rights. Following British Columbia's Recognition and Reconciliation of Rights Policy for Treaty Negotiations in British Columbia, Canada replaced the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy with the paradigm of co-development for Crown-Indigenous dialogue.

Canada aims to increase flexibility in negotiations and respond to Indigenous nations' unique rights, needs and interests. The federal government indicates it is removing final settlement language and replacing rights extinguishment clauses with flexible agreements. The process for negotiation is agreed upon in advance in co-developed memoranda of understanding and framework agreements.

Committee acknowledges the actions taken by the Government of the Northwest Territories and Indigenous leaders in creating new meeting tables and working on advancing work on implementing UNDRIP. The NWT Council of Leaders forum formed an officials' working group to advance UNDRIP in the NWT. This working group has prepared a Memorandum of Understanding to collaboratively move forward with legislative framework discussions (NWT UNDRIP MOU).

The committee is pleased to present this final report, which was developed following the committee's mandate as determined by the terms of reference. This final report recommends actions to the Assembly and the GNWT based on submissions and recommendations the committee received from witnesses.

I'll now ask, Mr. Speaker, if we could turn it over to the Member for Hay River North. Thank you.