Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, we can. Can you hear us?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. Thank you, again. My name is Bill Erasmus. I'm the Dene national chief for the Dene in the Northwest Territories. We constitute 30 communities, ranging from Fort Smith in the south, to Aklavik on the Arctic coast. I'm also the regional chief for the Assembly of First Nati

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would just add that in terms of the land, I think if you were to look at an amendment, the onus has to be on the federal government. When the original land transactions took place, they were with the crown in right of Canada, and not with the provinces. Canada, within this ex

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We agree with you. As you probably heard other people present, there were compromises when drafting the bill, and that was one of them. We're trying to take as much authority as possible away from the minister through the process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What I was referring to was that the Canadian Constitution is based on a set of authorities, and the federal government's powers under section 91 generally override section 92 powers. If you were talking about a family, the federal government would be the parent, and the provin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I was suggesting earlier, I think we can recognize the authority of the province as it is today, but at the same time, because we're dealing with such a sensitive issue as indigenous lands, Canada ought to take the lead and compel the province to come to the table as if it wer

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the fact that they are Superior Court judges has brought concern on our part, because there are very few first nation or indigenous peoples who have Superior Court appointments. On the fact that it's a final decision, I think we've always been okay with final decisions, b

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, that's true, it is possible. I think there are a number of factors at play. One is that you assume that the judges who are sitting on the tribunal are going to be fair and they're going to be listening to advice, and they are a body separate from the government of the day. S

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As you're aware, probably the biggest issue between first nations people and the crown is that land is at issue. There's a huge myth within the Canadian system that our people extinguished our rights to land; that somehow, without being defeated or conquered in war or by the mili

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. First of all, yes, the Assembly of First Nations have been involved. We don't go so far as to suggest that the process was one of consultation. We did participate. We didn't get nearly as much involvement as we would have liked from people across the country. There ar

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Well, in my comments I wasn't directly suggesting that you make amendments. I was careful to say that in the event that you were open to amendments, those were the two areas I would suggest you look at. Of course there's the danger of a lengthy process, especially w

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for the opportunity to present to you. I have copies here of a resolution that our chiefs passed earlier this year, which I'd like handed out to the committee members. Also, I'm here on short notice and I will make a copy of my presentation

Environment committee  We get our drinking water from the Yellowknife River, which fortunately flows the other way; it comes from the barren lands, and we're downstream. The water from the Mackenzie River water basin goes into Great Slave Lake, but we don't consume that water. So we're fortunate that w

Environment committee  There are federal-territorial monitoring systems in place. As far as I know, we as first nations are also engaged. It's quite a different regime in the Northwest Territories, as you probably know.

Environment committee  Primarily it is, yes.