Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I think my colleague Roger made reference to our role within the joint task force. What we understood the government to arrive at with the mandate and under the leadership of the national chief is we agreed to engage with that understanding, that the cap was part of the government mandate, that we were going to work on a bill that was with first nations that were within the cap, and that it all the more, then, became important that we arrived at a political accord.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think this was really, in many ways, unprecedented. A new mark is being set. We've learned a lot. I would welcome the opportunity to have the kinds of conversations that would allow us to be instructed about how to improve efforts. I said earlier, we did in five or six months with over 600 communities....

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, this comes back to earlier interventions. At the joint task force on the appointment process, the responsibilities of the minister, the inability of a federal ministerial authority in these areas, and the mandate upon which the government was coming to us was made clear to us.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I appreciate your raising the notion of the elders. One way to describe our elders is that they're our authority, our moral authority. What this effort, albeit, with its imperfections, given that people, after all, were involved, is really alluding to is the potential—and this is why I keep reiterating this issue of relationships and why the involvement of elders would be particularly compelling—to facilitate further bridging of the misunderstanding gap that has led business like this to go unconcluded for so long.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, if I may, just very quickly, I want to comment on the question about the longer term. One thing I would note is that this effort concluded in about five or six months. We understand that legislative efforts often take a longer time period, usually in the range of 15 or 18 months.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks to the committee for the invitation to appear. I've been in this town a week, and I certainly hope there is a seat for me on the plane west this evening. [Witness speaks in his native language]. Those are just a few words in my language to acknowledge the territories of the Algonquin peoples.