Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It's an area of interest, as you've implied, not just to the energy sector but also to the mining sector and the forestry sector. There are a variety of ongoing programs.
The aboriginal model forest program is one in the forestry area. We've had discussions over the last little while with a variety of companies in the energy area.
To be upfront with you, Mr. Chairman, I would have to say that we're now looking at this again. I was at a meeting the other day with a group of my colleagues, with the national chief of the first nations, Mr. Fontaine, and we've made arrangements that one of his executives is going to come over and have a chat so we can try to develop concrete programs about what we can do on this.
Two or three other deputy ministers and I are going to northern Alberta in a month to talk about labour shortages in that industry, and we plan to include considerations of what we can do for aboriginal communities.
With your indulgence, I would ask you to ask me the question again in the fall. We're conscious that you've raised a significant issue. There have been some things done in the past, but I think we would agree with the underlying premise that more needs to be done and we're working on something now.