Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Minister, for being here this morning.
No doubt this is a very important piece of legislation for the people of the Northwest Territories. Obviously it's been a long time in coming, and all of us, as parliamentarians, want to see that any implementation process is going to be done properly, to ensure the greatest benefits to the people of that area.
I think it's fair to say that part 1 of the bill, aimed at creating a new Northwest Territories act, had unanimous support throughout the Northwest Territories, not just from residents and government but from aboriginal governments as well.
Where we're seeing some concerns being raised here is with the second piece of the bill, which proposes the amendments to the Territorial Lands Act, the Northwest Territories Waters Act, and more importantly, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.
We know there are concerns being expressed. They are coming from local aboriginal governments and communities, like the Gwich'in, who have expressed some very vocal, almost hostile, concerns with regard to the changes.
My question is this. Are you concerned that, by trying to wedge the changes into the land and water boards—which are not necessarily directly related to devolution, but are in this bill—you could be losing the consensus you have there?
As well, does it concern you that you would not have that consensus with the aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories in implementing this?