Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Kwey kakina. Bonjour. Bon après-midi. Hello. I wish to begin by thanking you for the invitation to address the committee today. I am Chief Gilbert Whiteduck, from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation, about 130 kilometres north of here. I'm accompanied today by Councillor W

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Obviously there are many layers to this. Of what we've been able to manage in the community developing a certain level of economic activity, from private enterprise to community enterprise, I can say that, really, economic development on a territory is location, location, locatio

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are certainly challenges. Behind every challenge will be an opportunity. For us, we believe that we could end up losing and become a checkerboard reserve, which is a little bit like what occurred to our community in the 1800s when lands were surrendered for lease. Later on

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There is no doubt that the additions to reserve policy we've had to work with have been challenging, but they've also been rewarding. It was quite a struggle for what we would consider to be significant pieces of land. For example, in the nineties there was agreement for the retu

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the recommendation is that the regional offices of the Department of Indian Affairs, along with headquarters, just need to be more efficient in what they're doing. For example, they tell us that when they send something off to Ottawa it might take weeks, if not months, be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would suggest that in planning there's a need for timelines to be set. We need to meet deliverables, and really stick to them, rather than just leaving it an open book--if it takes one year, we will, and if it takes five years, no. Here's the timeframe.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Exactly.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It forces everyone to be serious about what they're doing and getting it done on time. We're strong believers in planning these things out and living up to the obligations that all parties have.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, we weren't. Certainly we would have had lots to say.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We operate a very small unit. We have one lands officer who also substitutes as the membership clerk, so he's registering band members, doing all the land transactions, doing buckshee agreements, working on leases—we have some leases for businesses in the community—juggling all o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Certainly we often hear that what's being brought forward is going to be for communities of the willing. The communities of the willing will get all the funding up front, or institutes will be created for them as long as they're willing to buy into something. We respect that if

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We don't believe we can truly speak about self-government at a very high level until the issue of our ancestral lands is dealt with. We can't speak about self-government on a small postage-stamp-size of a reserve. It's got to be much broader. The issue of the ancestral lands with

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our reluctance stems more from the fact that we want to manage ourselves and develop our local capacities for doing things. This is why we sometimes go beyond what the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is prepared to grant us. We have always taken c

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are not a lot of environmental issues because we have put in place an internal system in which we try to make regulations. I will give you an example concerning the transfer of contaminated soil. This year, we observed individuals who have lots in the community that went a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We have not developed a lot of expertise for lack of funding. We have a biologist who works for us at the community level and we ask him to handle any environmental files where threatened species are involved. We do a lot of research in these areas. We are developing expertise.