Finance committee  That's a difficult issue in first nations areas. It goes to the heart of treaties and the treaty relationship between Canada and the first nations. Property rights have certain significance and are really received in two different ways. Property rights in the Canadian mainstream

Finance committee  Let me clarify. It's not a department. These are aboriginal institutions that, for all intents and purposes, act as cooperatives. They are generally established and owned by local communities, and a group of communities in a geographic area has development corporations and is on

Finance committee  A study released last year by the Department of Indian Affairs showed the level of participation of aboriginal businesses, and the number is very low compared with the participation of small business in Canada. So the need there is enormous; it is operating at perhaps 5% of what

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's a very good question, and I'm sorry I have to limit my answer to only two things. Probably the first thing would be to enhance the existing aboriginal institutions that provide service directly to aboriginal entrepreneurs. That has been

Finance committee  There are approximately 55 different aboriginal financial institutions in the country that provide loans directly to aboriginal entrepreneurs. They do so in areas that are considered high risk, places where banks won't go, and they have had huge success. Those kinds of institut

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the Standing Committee on Finance. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak here today. My name is Dan Brant, and I'm from the Tyendinaga Mohawk territory. I've provided the clerk with some speaking notes that I would like t