Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for coming in late; I was at another committee.
Do you have any programs of study to integrate or encourage aboriginal communities in the territories to work with the Department of Natural Resources or the Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities? We have not been in the far northern Territories for one or two years, but for hundreds of years.
Mr. Boerner said that researchers and scientists are needed. Perhaps the communities there should be empowered to undertake certain studies, as happens elsewhere. I would like to know what all the witnesses think.
It seems that there is no established program, but perhaps it is time for you to about the future. At present, all we think about is getting energy, minerals, diamonds and so on, but we do not think about the communities. If you keep the communities in the dark—excuse the expression, I do not mean to insult anyone—they will stay in the dark.
I find it strange that there is nothing for those communities in the $33 billion that has been allocated for the next seven years.