Thank you, committee members, and thank you for the question.
The Saskatchewan pilot project led by the Whitecap Dakota and Muskoday First Nations is really quite interesting. As Chief Louie mentioned, tomorrow we'll be holding our national online conversation, a recorded event, for which MPs, the public, federal officials, first nation officials, provincial officials—everyone—is welcome to register. As part of that, individuals who are directly involved will be speaking to what they are achieving right now. I don't want to take away too much of their thunder, but having said that, I would offer two points.
One is that there is a lot of work somewhat similar to this issue of first nation safety officers in the pilot project. In Saskatchewan, they're referring to them as community safety officers and are trying to work out with clarity the scope of their authority to enforce the first nation laws of Muskoday and Whitecap Dakota and to work in partnership with provincial authorities.
In terms of environmental issues, I know that there has been concern expressed, particularly at Whitecap Dakota Nation, which is very close to the city of Saskatoon, with regard to environmental issues that affect the community. They have direct experience with situations of individuals carrying on businesses on the lands and causing significant contamination to reserve land.
Unfortunately, at least one of those situations was very difficult to control, and rather than it being prevented from happening, the environmental damage occurred on the lands. The Department of Indian Affairs, as it then was, provided some assistance to deal with the cleanup of the toxic damage on reserve lands. This was a failure in the enforcement of laws and a failure in being able to control and avoid environmental harm. We could ask Whitecap Dakota First Nation to follow up with you if you're interested.