Thank you very much for that. I appreciate that, because I want to make sure that we understand clearly why this one particular word is....
It's not clarification; it actually makes it mandatory that the person representing the Gwich'in region have a good understanding of aboriginal traditional knowledge. How are they going to get that? Most likely it would be through long-term presence in that area, or perhaps by status as a Gwich'in or as a Sahtu resident under the land claims. Those are things that were given in this act but were taken away by the wording.
So saying that's it's in respect of land, the environment, “or” aboriginal traditional knowledge is not good enough. Changing it to “and” aboriginal traditional knowledge ensures that the person being selected for that region will have the qualifications that were asked for and were granted by the government, as indicated by the parliamentary secretary in Yellowknife.