When the treaty process was established in 1993, the expectation was that all the treaties would be signed by the year 2000. We are in 2006; one has been initialled. In fact, I was in B.C. and met with some of the B.C. chiefs just this past Friday. They indicated that many of the treaties that have been signed took anywhere from 20 to 25 years. I think we have to recognize that it is a complicated, complex issue. It will take time, and the department has to change their management structure to manage according to a much longer timeframe than was initially expected.
On December 5th, 2006. See this statement in context.