Madam Speaker, I have not had the opportunity to visit the Tlicho legislature, but I am sure that everything is done in the language of the Tlicho. It is still a very traditional nation. The Tlicho want to base their development on the knowledge of their ancestors, over the most modern territory possible.
Keeping in mind the names of the mining companies who supported the negotiations, as a negotiator myself, I believe that a great spirit of partnership will develop in that new aboriginal territory. It will help the Tlicho and the companies on this land to full develop the businesses they will create, but most of all, it will bring jobs to the native people and allow them to earn a living honourably and leave behind the cycle of social assistance which unfortunately has become a way of life on our reserves.
We should be pleased that such an agreement was reached here, in Canada, because it rekindles the pride the native people have always had and which they have often lost through their contact with new arrivals.