Good afternoon, everyone. I call the meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 24 of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
We are gathered here today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation.
We are continuing our fourth study today, which is about Arctic Sovereignty, Security and the Emergency Preparedness of Indigenous Peoples.
On today's first panel we will be hearing from Mr. Robert Huebert from the University of Calgary; from Sara Brown, CEO, Northwest Territories Association of Communities; and from Mayor Nick Daigneault from the northern Village of Beauval.
I would like to remind you of the Board of Internal Economy's requirements regarding physical distancing and the wearing of masks.
To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules for us to follow. Members or witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services in English, French and Inuktitut are available for the first part of today’s meeting. Please be patient with the interpretation. There may be a delay, especially since the Inuktitut has to be translated into English first before being translated into French, and vice versa.
The interpretation button is found at the bottom of your screen, in either English or French, or Inuktitut. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately and we'll attend to it and pause for a bit.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you are on the video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. For those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer.
The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen can be used at any time if you wish to speak or alert the chair. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair.
Members, please direct your question, otherwise, if it's assumed to be for all three witnesses, there may be a long pause, because nobody knows who should start.
Without further ado, we will hear from the first panel.
For the benefit of the witnesses, you will have five minutes each to make opening remarks, and then we'll proceed with a question period.
Without further ado, I would ask Professor Robert Huebert from the University of Calgary to kick us off.
Professor Huebert, you have five minutes.