Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the question of land tenure is important; the question of local decision-making in terms of leasing or designating lands for long-term leases, doing that quickly, with little red tape; and I think a very clear environmental management regime that provides certainty for th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I think I said at the outset, probably the biggest barrier right now is still access to capital.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, even with the land tenures and such. For anybody's who's tried to start a business, the first thing a banker will say is “What's your track record?” If you tell them you don't have a track record and you live on a first nation, they'll say, “Maybe you'd better go and see t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. The short answer is yes. The whole question of housing is central to sustainable communities; it's central to healthy communities and it's a very significant economic driver. If you look at virtually any community of any size, probably the largest ind

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the whole question of self-esteem comes up at various levels, but it is fundamental. It is very important, I think. I was talking to a chief from northern Alberta a couple of weeks ago, and they've been quite successful as the result of some opportunities in oil developm

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I guess if you look back at some of the regulations and rules that first nations actually live under, they are relatively onerous. Many of them are old and unenforced. I guess I should have put prefaces. A lot of this stuff may not be an actual factor today, but it's within livin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I could give you anecdotal information. It's incredibly difficult to get an agreement on who actually has the tenure. I can recall, from a meeting in your area about 10 or 15 years ago, sitting around the table on that exact question of setting up a land register and how we'd d

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's very difficult.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, I would agree that they're extremely problematic in some instances. In some communities they are viewed as essentially a fee simple title; in other cases, they are not. Now, in law the land is all communal. CPs are at the.... Really, a council can remove them, but like ma

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Not yet.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's an interesting question. I don't think I've ever had that question before. Anecdotally, and I'm sure the committee has talked to lots of people, there are payments that go to communities and sometimes they don't always appear where they should. That's why I think the noti

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think the answer lies in creating the opportunity for local communities to take charge and come up with a system that works in their circumstances. There are different cultures within the aboriginal communities. Some of them have a long-standing tradition of communal ownership,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. If Westbank hadn't had the opportunity to lease its lands out to non-aboriginals to the extent that it has, it wouldn't be nearly as successful. But go down the road a bit, and Osoyoos is using wine-making as their engine for economic development. So different circumstances

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's the fact that in many instances it's quite difficult to describe the physical parameters of the land you're dealing with, and that if it is registered, there often are all kinds of caveats on those lands. It becomes really complicated in the aboriginal world because of the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's a bundle. Thank you for the questions. As I said at the outset, my knowledge may well be dated, but my experience with additions to reserve is that the process in itself is fairly straightforward, but given the fact that you're taking land and making it into crown land an