Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chief, for coming this afternoon. We appreciate your coming and your testimony on this and the matters you've brought to the table today.
I have the opportunity of representing some of the people you represent as well. I have a number of aboriginal communities in my riding, and throughout the northern part of Alberta I'm in contact on a regular basis with some of our chiefs and the different people from within the aboriginal communities, both on reserve and off reserve.
I've actually had the opportunity to work with a number of members from these communities who are quite excited about this bill. Actually we had some people from Alberta who testified before our committee, including former member of Parliament Willie Littlechild, who was also involved in this process. He brought his perspective to the table as well.
There's no question that communities are excited about this. This is only one of the pieces of the puzzle that need to come together to ensure that development can go forward. That's really, I guess, my perspective.
What I've been able to witness and see is that the communities within my riding that have had the opportunity and the ability and the leadership to develop their resources and the flexibility to do that have been the ones that have been able to grow and develop and serve their community and the members the best.
This bill has an impact on the ability of these communities to move forward. I think that, more than ever in our history, time is of the essence, as we're seeing so many opportunities missed by many of these communities because they're dealing with specific claims or claims that, if not resolved, lead to a missed opportunity to either develop or to be able to take advantage of something.
I'm wondering if you could just speak in terms of the timeframe that you would see being acceptable as we move forward. I know there are processes that we as members all have to appreciate and all have to undertake and work towards. I'm wondering if in your mind you have a perspective as to at what point this legislation would be able to be implemented.