Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Certainly the urban reserve situation is extremely beneficial to first nations. When they are able to secure land in an urban centre, urban reserves offer first nation members economic opportunities that are generally unavailable in remote areas. Urban reserves can be a stepping stone for the development of new aboriginal businesses and a way into the mainstream job market for many first nation people.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In addition to the minister's commitment outlined earlier in Margaret's speech, the department has implemented, as she also said, the national ATR tracking system. NATS is what we call it. It tracks all ATRs and provides up-to-date statistics on the conversion process. As well, the Manitoba and Saskatchewan regions, where the bulk of our ATR submissions are, are continuously working with first nations to develop action plans for the land selections, by way of workshops and regular meetings with the first nation communities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The tool kit consist of a binder. It's a working tool for first nations. There are checklists and examples of best practices from across the country to help first nations know what types of activities they have to complete for an ATR proposal. For example, they would look at survey requirements, environmental site assessments, and title searches and those sorts of things.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It largely depends on the situation for the particular addition to reserve. In certain specific claims settlements, they may receive a certain amount of compensation that would allow them to pay for the survey work or ESAs. For the most part, though, we do pay for the survey work and the ESAs out of departmental funds.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, there are three main benefits to adding land to reserves. The first is the economic benefit. Adding lands to reserve provides lands and resources for economic development by creating more jobs, increasing incomes for families, and independence from public support. Also, new businesses attract other businesses, to add to the vitality of the community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Adding land to reserves is a complex process requiring due diligence on the part of the federal crown, and it is dependent on the active participation and agreement of a number of parties, including the Government of Canada, first nations, the provinces and municipalities, and other affected interests, such as third party interests.