Without further ado, I will continue.
Welcome to meeting number 72 of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022. Members may participate in person or remotely using the Zoom application. Proceedings will be made available on the House of Commons website. For your information, the webcast will always show the person speaking, rather than the entirety of the committee.
I would like to acknowledge that our meeting today is taking place on the unceded, unsurrendered Algonquin Anishinabe territory.
For those participating virtually, I'll outline a few rules to follow. You may speak in the official language of your choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting in French, English and Inuktitut. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. Please select your language now. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately, and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings.
For members participating in person, please proceed as you usually would when the whole committee is meeting in person in a committee room.
Please wait until I recognize you to speak.
Although this room is equipped with a powerful audio system, feedback events can occur. These can be extremely harmful to interpreters and cause serious injuries. The most common cause of sound feedback is an earpiece worn too close to a microphone. We therefore ask all participants to exercise a high degree of caution when handling the earpieces, especially when their microphone or their neighbour's microphone is turned on. To prevent incidents and safeguard the hearing health of the interpreters, I invite participants to ensure that they use the microphone to which their headset is plugged in and avoid manipulating the earbuds, by placing them on the table, away from the microphone, when they are not in use.
Please address your comments through the chair.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute. Regarding a speaking order, the committee clerk and I will work together to ensure a consolidated order of speaking for all members.
Pursuant to the order of reference of Friday, June 16, 2023, the committee will now commence consideration of Bill C-51, an act to give effect to the self-government treaty recognizing the Whitecap Dakota Nation / Wapaha Ska Dakota Oyate and to make consequential amendments to other acts.
I will now welcome our panellists.
Chief Darcy Bear is absent due to illness. We're thinking of him, for sure.
We have Murray Long, director, self-government; Dwayne Eagle, councillor; Frank Royal, councillor; and Maxime Faille, legal counsel. We have Minister Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and an official joining us as well.
We're doing things a little bit differently today. We're combining our panellists in the interest of time.