Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would certainly agree with the member that in the Northwest Territories a great number of aboriginal groups, organizations, companies, and people have developed expertise in a variety of areas. I think that stems from at least since the settlement of the first land claim agreement in the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, in 1984. Nonetheless, there appear to be gaps and there are concerns certainly in some areas. We do know in the report that the federal government has programs in place to continue to build capacity and expertise. Their issue with those programs was that they hadn't been evaluated and there wasn't good information on the results.
I would make one other comment. The member had mentioned the constructive efforts. We certainly got that from the first nations organizations that we talked to. We've looked at land claims negotiation processes in the past, and sometimes there was nobody at the table; either party, including the federal government in many cases, had just walked away. Sometimes the federal government prioritizes its cases and says, “There's not much prospect of success, so we won't even go to the table.” We did not find that in the Northwest Territories. People say that all parties seem to be motivated towards getting agreements. So there are constructive efforts.
I would also just add the caution that there is still the spectre or the prospect of a major development in the Northwest Territories, which raises a concern about, what if that happens when the expertise isn't fully in place and if land claims are not fully settled? So that's part of the risk.