Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 14th, 2012

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Thank you.

Again, Chief Toulouse, thank you for coming here today. I appreciate very much your input specifically around ATR and fairness. We all recognize and accept that more work needs to be done in this area, and you and Chief Whiteduck have helped fill out some space. Thank you for that.

I have to say that it's a bit unfortunate that you don't share my view, having shared the stage with me on a number of occasions for critical infrastructure projects in a number of communities in northern Ontario, that there are not robust activities with respect to the province, the federal government, and first nations.

I can only share the sentiments of dozens and dozens of chiefs across northern Ontario, particularly in the great Kenora riding, who are very pleased with the progress we've made in a couple of key areas. I appreciate that you were there to celebrate a number of those, particularly with respect to some of the new schools that have been built in that region. I thank you for that.

I'm just going to finish today by addressing a couple of remarks you made with respect to the Ring of Fire and the Matawa—I think you described it as a “situation” that we would all know.

My understanding might be slightly different, so I want to get a couple of things clarified here.

Chief, have you met with the Cliffs project folks on this matter, yes or no?

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

No.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Have you had a chance to sit individually with the communities under this organization with respect to the positions of some communities pertaining to this matter, that a joint review panel ought to be put in place rather than what the minister has directed, which is the comprehensive environmental assessment?

Have you met with the communities individually?

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

Yes.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Okay.

Finally, Chief, you probably know, having met with all the chiefs and councils of Matawa, that Webequie, which is at the epicentre of these activities, wants to participate in a comprehensive environmental process, and they've approached me about the plan for that. We were very pleased to hear from Mr. Trump. I think we need to get to work quickly to ensure that community members have the instruments that are available to them to participate in this process.

Do you then support Webequie First Nation's desire to proceed in the comprehensive environmental assessment process?

Yes or no, Chief, is all I need.

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

No, I need to correct the earlier one.

You said “Have you met with communities?” Then you said “Have you met with all of them?”

No, I have not met with all of them, Mr. Rickford. But if I can—

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Have you met with Webequie? If you haven't, that's fine.

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

What's your question, Greg?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

My question, Chief, is have you met with Webequie First Nation--

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

Have I met with the council of Webequie? No, I have not.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

—with respect to this?

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

I have not met with the council of Webequie, no.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

That's fair enough. I just wanted to know what his position was with respect to the comprehensive environment assessment.

[Chief Angus Toulouse]

I know their position on that, if that's what you're asking me.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

No.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Thank you.

Well, I think we've come to the conclusion of the meeting.

Ms. Duncan has a point of order.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I think the witness is wanting to elaborate on his answer, and I think he should have the opportunity to do that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Unfortunately, the time has now exceeded our.... We have some things we need to get through, and unfortunately, if we start on the fourth round of questioning, we will then be in a position in which we can't complete the—

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

With all due respect, we have the witness here. I think he should finish his statement, and then we can go to the business.

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

I'm certain that if colleagues have questions, we'll have a few minutes with.... Certainly people can meet individually, if they need a clarification. I'm certain that people have that opportunity before votes.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

I would like to think that I'm clear with the—

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Ms. Bennett, I'm sorry. I just need to get through a few things. If there are points of order, I will recognize them. If there's just general conversation, we do need to get through a few things.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Can we just ask the chief, then, to table the rest of his conversation with the committee?

[The Chair, Conservative, Chris Warkentin]

Folks, I am trying to be respectful of everybody's time. We're wasting a fair bit of it at this point in time. If colleagues have questions, when you are recognized you can ask them. Please don't turn your microphones on and off individually. It makes it difficult for not only us as a committee to understand what's going on but also the technical teams.

Colleagues, there are a couple of things you need to know. Thursday's meeting is going to be held here. I just want committee members to be mindful of the fact that this room is where we will meet when we are not in teleconference. When we're having teleconferences, we'll probably be at 131 Queen Street. So just continue to be mindful that the room may change, depending on who the witnesses are. It will be here on Thursday. We do have witnesses. We will be meeting as a committee to discuss committee business for the last 15 minutes of that. There's a report from the subcommittee that will be brought forward to the committee. That's the first thing.

The other thing is, colleagues, sad news to share with you that for Marlisa, one of our trusted analysts, this is her last formal meeting. We do appreciate the work she has done for the committee. She tells me she will be available to us if we need her, and Tonina will call her in from time to time.

Thank you for your service. We do want to recognize not only that you have done good service but obviously that you are being recognized within your unit as well. There's a promotion that you've been given, so we want to give you thanks for your time here. Congratulations on your new posting and new position. We know you will do well.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!