[Witness speaks in Dene]
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I'll make a few introductory remarks on behalf of our chairman, Errnol Gray, and then we'll turn the presentation over to Mr. Roy Fox, president of the IRC. I would like to start off by introducing our delegation, which is representing the Indian Resource Council: Roy Fox, president and CEO; Delbert Wapass, vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations; Joe Dion, who was the founder and original president and chairman of the IRC; and George Stanley, who is the chief of the Frog Lake First Nation in northeastern Alberta.
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today as you study Bill C-5.
The IRC has been an active participant in the development of this legislation. We have a vested interest in the passage of this bill, and we hope we can assist you in doing so quickly. We recognize that this federal legislation is strongly needed to enable efficient and effective regulation of industry activity on our lands.
The Indian Resource Council advocates on behalf of its membership for changes to federal policy that will improve and increase economic development opportunities in the oil and gas sector for the first nations and their membership.
We provided information about a proposed amendment to our membership and garnered their input to the extent possible.
The IRC has worked with Canada to develop a long-term approach to the reform of the Indian Oil and Gas Act. We have a steering committee to manage this process and two joint technical committees in place to work on the specifics.
The work of joint technical committee 1 is reflected in this legislation. This committee has started to develop a regulatory regime that this regulation will authorize. Many of the issues and concerns that have been raised by our members will be addressed through this regulatory process.
Joint technical committee 2 focuses on what we call the continuous change process. This committee has responsibility for discussing issues that have not been fully addressed in this bill. These include future Indian Oil and Gas Act modernization changes, issues related to the first nations management and control of their oil and gas resources, and economic and business development.
We are here today, Mr. Chair, to formally express our support for this initiative, to speak to you about our agenda for continuous change in the management of oil and gas on Indian lands, and, most important, to answer your questions about C-5 and our involvement in this initiative. The Indian Resource Council has participated in this process under the leadership of our president, Mr. Roy Fox. At this point, I would like to turn our presentation over to Mr. Fox.
Thank you.