I call this meeting to order, please.
Good afternoon and welcome to meeting number 31 of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
We are gathered here today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe nation.
Today, we will conclude our fourth study, which pertains to Arctic sovereignty, security and emergency preparedness of indigenous peoples.
On today's first panel we will hear from Meeka Atagootak, an elder who is here as an individual. We will hear from Merrill Harris, who is a reeve in the Municipal District of Taber, Alberta, and from Mr. Kurt Eby, who is director of regulatory affairs and government relations for the Pelmorex Corporation.
Each of our witnesses will have five minutes for opening remarks, and then we will go to questions.
To ensure the orderly flow of this meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.
Members or witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services in English, French and Inuktitut are available. Please be patient with the interpretation. There may be a delay, especially since Inuktitut has to be translated first into English and then into French, and vice versa. The interpretation button is found at the bottom of your screen and you can listen in either English or French. If interpretation is lost, let us know and we'll try to fix the problem before we carry on.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your microphone should be on mute. As a reminder, all comments should be addressed through the chair.
With that, before we go to questions, we will have the witnesses' opening statements. I would now like to invite Elder Atagootak to start us off for five minutes.