Certainly, expectations were high 26 years ago.
Some of our member first nations have put to good use their land entitlements, particularly those that have the ability to buy land in urban centres, such as the Sapotaweyak Cree Nation. They have purchased or acquired three parcels of land in the town of Swan River. Two of those parcels are urban reserves. They host two economic development ventures, one being a video lottery terminal club and one being a gas station. They more recently purchased a third parcel, so they have plans there. Some first nations have taken advantage of the opportunity under treaty land entitlement, no doubt.
I guess another point to consider is that our more northern first nations in Manitoba were not given the opportunity to buy land in urban centres. They weren't given land acquisition payments. They were restricted to selecting available Crown land.
I'd also point out that the one major difference between the Saskatchewan framework agreement and Manitoba's framework agreement is this: In Saskatchewan, the first nations were given money to buy all their land, whether it was Crown land or private land. Under the Manitoba framework agreement, only six of our first nations were given land acquisition payments. The northern communities were left out.