Natural Resources committee  Exactly. We all have to cohabit and live here. We need to have that understanding to move forward and learn from yesterday.

Natural Resources committee  What's the common denominator? I come from it as an elder, from a school of wonderful elders who have taught me the old ceremonial way. What's the common factor? We all have to live in Canada and will have to work together. It's time today, in 2019, for government to stop tellin

Natural Resources committee  If I could answer that quickly, what the government needs to do is recognize that the one envelope doesn't fit everything. They need to first of all see that. They need to recognize the territories in which and the ways in which this policy or this legislation is going to have an

Natural Resources committee  Exactly. Before, in the seventies and eighties, there were only teachers with post-secondary education in first nations. Now we have lawyers, doctors, dentists and architects. We have a diverse education all over the country where our people are going—not just Onion Lake, but fir

Natural Resources committee  In our particular case, we have technology, as we all have today. We have our newsletter. We have our notices posted up well in advance of community hearings and community forums. Also, for our members who live in a couple of the major centres, Saskatoon and Edmonton, we have th

Natural Resources committee  We do it by creating that awareness, understanding the processes from there to today and how we need to move forward collectively. You can never have 100% support, so you need to have that consensus to come together to provide that opportunity. That's the challenge over here, not

Natural Resources committee  Do you mean the Indian Resource Council?

Natural Resources committee  Maybe you can speak to that council.

Natural Resources committee  Speaking just for Onion Lake, in my tenure as chief, we took this revenue from the royalties, from the partnerships and from the contracts, creating employment, purchasing a construction company, where people went from getting the social assistance norm of $150 a month to making

Natural Resources committee  Does it affect...? I was curious. I went like this. Government has selective hearing. Nobody has consulted us about any legislation that is being drafted and going through the process in government—nobody. They have a process already established. I say “they”, meaning the govern

Natural Resources committee  I haven't personally, but perhaps they have.

Natural Resources committee  —of not disclosing anything. It's a matter of principle. The government...we agreed to an audit over here. This belongs to the nation's people, so we provided that information. We've also been approached by the indigenous people of Kenya. Stephen can speak to that. In conclusion

Natural Resources committee  Good afternoon. [Witness spoke in Cree] [English] I was taught this way to address people no matter where I travel. In our language, I am acknowledging everyone here in the name of the Creator. Good afternoon, and thank you, chairpersons and members of the committee, for invi