Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Kevin.
As Kevin mentioned, there have been great strides and struggles that we've encountered through the last number of years, and I think he's done a good job of introducing who we are. There have definitely been great strides in making our agreements into reality, but there have been many fundamental flaws, and that's why we're here. Otherwise we wouldn't be here.
This could be contested through the Auditor General's report. She also recognized that there is a flaw in the implementation process. Implementation policy is a must from our end of the view. There have been many reviews and reports outlining issues that we have encountered as a group, and there has been litigation that has been started because of the issues of implementation.
I think we all want to avoid litigation, but in the case of NTI, we felt there was no other choice but to pursue that route. We've tried arbitration; we've had a conciliator come in because of lack of agreement to our funding agreement. We've also had two independent reviews showing the lack of implementation. This is not just in the case of NTI; this is very similar all across the board. Plus we turned to litigation, and that's where we are today.
Absence of proper funding in many areas creates inconsistency, and the very fundamental area where you want to see certainty is not there because of lack of implementation. When it comes to economic development and environment, those two are of major importance to land claims groups. With proper certainty of funding will come proper certainty, which would enhance what the Government of Canada is trying to do.
A lot of our objectives across land claims groups and treaties are very similar in nature. Self-reliance, wildlife, and environment are key areas of major importance. From our perspective, proper funding in all areas is a must for us to give you certainty in what you are pursuing.
Thank you.