Natural Resources committee  Again, we can only speak to the matters within our mandate. That particular aspect is not within our mandate. It's just not something that our organization is personally responsible for.

Natural Resources committee  As I said, our role is with respect to the regulatory process, and that is not part of the regulatory process. So it's not something that we keep timelines on or keep an eye on.

Natural Resources committee  Earlier, one of us spoke of the impact benefit agreements. When projects go forward in the north, often on aboriginal lands, you have to sign an agreement with the landholder. It's our intention and desire to see that development works its way through the community, and to see a

Natural Resources committee  In certain ways, northern economic development is not like southern economic development. There is always the ability to work with local people as the job force. But to work with local businesses as a business force is an incredible advantage from an economic perspective, both fo

Natural Resources committee  That's the difference between the headquarters function and the regional function. There were no headquarters because there was no independent department. That had to be established afterwards.

Natural Resources committee  Again, as I said earlier, I am in no position to comment on the audit.

Natural Resources committee  I'll start off. It's a great question. One of the things I've learned in resource development is that we don't control it. World markets and other factors also control it very much. You can get very excited about potentials and be excited for a very long time. It's not an easy p

Natural Resources committee  We act with due diligence. We have a process whose first stage consists in assessing the proposal. An organization that wants to carry out a project makes a proposal. It must fill out a form. The program has a number of criteria that must be met. All those criteria must be proper

Natural Resources committee  I wouldn't want to be held to the number, but I believe it's just under 30. There are about 27 or 28 people.

Natural Resources committee  I'm sorry, I don't have that information.

Natural Resources committee  We have the people we need on the ground, if that is the question. I am not sure--

Natural Resources committee  I don't know if a position was slated to go. I can't honestly answer that one either, other than that.... I can be honest with you; as I said earlier, the position is in Ottawa right now.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for the question. I was listening to you pose it and hoping that I would have a chance to make it sound like we don't just point them in the right direction and wish them the best of luck. No, quite to the contrary; the goal is to keep them right through the process. W

Natural Resources committee  I started working there three months ago.

Natural Resources committee  Yes.