One of the previous speakers mentioned rural depopulation being an issue. I think the government, in some cases, exacerbates this by centralizing essential services in urban centres. I grew up in a town of 4,000 people. We saw, over the years, those services centralized in your hometown, three hours away from us. That makes it a challenge, and I see that across Canada.
I also see that varying types of relationships with Indigenous Services Canada have been a barrier. In British Columbia, I would say that, compared to the rest of Canada, we have quite a positive relationship, and communities are allowed to exercise self-government in many ways through many programs. I do not see that in the rest of Canada. There are particular provinces and territories where the relationships between the communities and their funding service officers or other folks in federal government are totally toxic. I have first-hand experience of the differences in relationships, that systemic racism, in other provinces, which I haven't really seen as much in British Columbia.
The third and final thing I'd like to mention here is that access to land is an issue. Obviously, in British Columbia, we're unceded territory. The question of jurisdiction, the return of those traditional territories to nations, is a make-or-break issue when it comes to capacity development and talent retention. We cannot have healthy economies without a land base on which to grow our economies and our economic development.
In other parts of Canada, where nations have secured stronger access to their land base or stronger compensation in lieu of access to that land base, I see a lot more capacity-building happening. Where that land is not accessible or has been degraded over time by industry or other activities outside of a nation's control, I see big challenges.