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Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee It goes to Ottawa. It goes back and forth until it's finalized, and then it gets to the minister for a sign-off and then an order in council, for a final.... Certainly that's what we went through; it took four years for a very small piece of land.
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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.
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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.
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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.
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee No, we weren't. Certainly we would have had lots to say.
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck
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
February 7th, 2012Committee meeting
Chief Gilbert W. Whiteduck