Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's true. One litmus test that I always look at is this: Can you take this to the bank? Impact benefit agreements are finite. They can come and go, depending on the negotiations. If you get federal tax room, you can go to the bank with it. You can use the First Nations Finance Authority.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are quite a number of examples right across the country. When we talk about economic reconciliation as it applies to lands, one of the examples I gave was in the city of Winnipeg with the Kapyong properties. That development alone will translate to literally billions of dollars for the regional economy.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that's something we have to seriously consider—some of the supplies to environmental groups purchasing properties on behalf of indigenous tribes in the United States, or renters who want to turn over some of their former lands to tribal lands. What I envision in the trust would be a federally legislated model that individuals would be able to get a tax credit for making contributions to.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think this is a very critical question. One of the things I dealt with when I was chief—and this was an issue that was handed down to me from former chiefs.... We called this land that was taken away from us “the hole in the middle of the table”. That land was taken away from us by the provincial government in the 1800s.