Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for giving up some of your time, sir. I think it is important to note that the development of this bill, the amendment of this bill, is to us only part of a total initiative. We have to modernize the regime we work under; then I think we follow t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I hope I didn't imply that. It would be great to have everyone agree on important initiatives, but I suppose most Canadians are not able to do that at the best of times. We've tried to ensure that all those first nations had the opportunity to hear about the changes,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, in setting up the meetings—not just the symposia but the regional meetings and the specific meetings—we were able to cover off some of the expenses they had to bear in getting to those sessions. In some cases we went out to them to ensure that our process involved ever

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. However, we are discussing how we could have a more uniform royalty regime. I'm not sure if you are aware that within the total scope of the development of oil and natural gas resources on Indian lands, we have about 90 different royalty regimes. That is one of the instance

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think we all want to ensure the particular first nation that has that oil or natural gas resource has at least that kind of say in how it will receive royalties.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's my understanding, and a number of our member tribes have tried over the years to use those Indian moneys made from royalties and bonuses and surface leases for reinvestment in new opportunities within their lands and elsewhere. However, we have been prevented from using th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I suppose we would have liked to ensure we visited each one of the member tribes that have oil and natural gas resources. We would have liked to have more human resources to assist us in that process, and I think we could have had more general sessions during that process. Howeve

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, we've tried to encourage those first nations who have oil and natural gas resources to become members of our organization. However, that is their prerogative. We've found that all of the oil and gas producing tribes are members of the Indian Resource Council, as well a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, that is my understanding. Yes, we feel it was unfortunate that two of our member tribes were not successful in their legal claims with respect to the investment of Indian moneys and how that was done. Our understanding, though, is that this particular bill deals wit

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, in trying to answer the question, I think we would have to look at some of the history with respect to the involvement of first nations in the development of their oil and natural gas resources. One of the ways we've tried to prepare first nations people to be able to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay, let me just quickly finish off, Mr. Chair, some of the more important points. While we do derive some benefit from these reforms, the true benefits accrue to Indian Oil and Gas Canada and Canada through provisions of a more modern and efficient set of authorities and regul

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness speaks in Blackfoot] Thank you, Chief Ahnassay. And thank you, Chair and the committee, for giving us the opportunity to appear before you today. I would like to share with you the perspective that the IRC, the Indian Resource Council, has always had with respect t