Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.
I've had the opportunity to live in and visit a number of places across the region; I was a nurse in Cambridge Bay and Arviat. They were certainly some of the more special occasions in my life, spending more than a couple of months in each location as a nurse.
Subsequent to that, I had an opportunity to go out and do the public consultations for the northern nutrition program. I appreciate my colleague Mr. Bevington's inquiries, because I think we always understood that the sea lift was one of the key issues and that there would be a time lag before we could thoughtfully and comprehensively discuss this. For the benefit of the committee, I want to say that I'm looking forward to that review as well, having been involved in public consultations across several communities. We answered the tough questions for a number of people who may not have been our intended target benefactors for the program. We're looking forward to feedback from the new and most important constituents, and hopefully benefactors of that program, who are the people who have lived in those communities or in that area for time immemorial, as opposed to some of the folks who perhaps have not.
Ms. Hanson, I think what I would like to do, first of all, is let you know that some of my colleagues are going to address parts of the three major areas that you discussed. I will briefly deal with housing, and then I want to go to something that was in your speech and that this committee is occupying itself with on the short term, which is quite relevant to you.
I can appreciate the housing shortages that you mentioned. Beyond the $1.4 billion announcement in July between federal, provincial, and territorial governments, we appreciate that there is more work to be done; there will always be. Furthermore, I can assure you that the minister continues to advance this discussion with his cabinet colleagues in an effort to find further solutions to the issue on housing. Indeed, there are some renewed agreements for housing in the four different regions, some with a substantial increase, but clearly we need to look at possible solutions for an increase in that area.
That said, you mentioned the land claims agreements. I think we'll be looking at one piece of legislation coming forward soon in NuPPAA. You used an interesting word, calling them tools. This is a word that has come up more than frequently at this committee. We're looking at sustainable land use, which I think includes an appreciation for some of the environmental issues as well. Land development is at the core of this, and your regions pose not just a particular curiosity, but an interesting one as well because under the umbrella of “aboriginal”, we have on-reserve, traditional lands, Métis, and Congress of Aboriginal Peoples as subcategories there.
I want to hear from you, for four or five minutes, if you will, about these tools that you described briefly in your speech. What contributions do they make in terms of land use and land development to social and economic development for your region as a whole?