Bryant Says he 95% Agrees with of KIs proposal-Unfortunately Other 5% is drilling

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>
> April 1, 2008
>
> Mr. Howard Hampton: My question is for the Minister of Aboriginal
> Affairs. On January 17, you were given a good-faith proposal by Chief
> Donny Morris of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug to help resolve the
> dispute between Ontario and Platinex Incorporated mining exploration
> company on one hand, and the first nation on the other. It was a
> detailed proposal given to you on January 17. At no time have you or
> anyone else in the McGuinty government responded to that proposal. Why
> has there been a failure to respond to a good-faith proposal put
> forward of the chief of the KI First Nation?
>
> Hon. Michael Bryant: It was the first time, as the Minister of
> Aboriginal Affairs, that I had been to that community on that day. I
> was there with Grand Chief Stan Beardy. The community was incredibly
> welcoming, and we had an excellent meeting where a good-faith proposal
> was put together. And then what happened, is every single day—I mean
> literally every single day—either myself or a member of my office was
> on the phone with either Chief Morris or councillor Stan McKay
> drafting and exchanging drafts of the government's response, and
> eventually the best-effort draft that the government had put together,
> which in my view responds to 95% of the KI proposal, was filed in
> court. So, in fact, the member has his facts wrong again.
>
> Mr. Howard Hampton: I met with Chief Donny Morris just a few days ago
> at the jail in Thunder Bay, and he continues to dispute your version
> of events. He says you made one trip to the first nation where you
> spent about an hour with some of the elders, and he said had supper
> with them, but there was no discussion. You made another public
> relations visit on an entirely different issue where there was no
> discussion about the proposal put forward by Kitchenuhmaykoosib
> Inninuwug.
>
> So my question is this: it is certainly not consultation to go in for
> a one-hour public relations visit. It's certainly not consultation to
> meet with elders in the community but fail to respond. When is the
> McGuinty government finally going to respond to the good-faith
> proposal put forward by Chief Donny Morris on January 17 of this year?
>
> Hon. Michael Bryant: I think it's important for the Legislature to
> know that in addition to the letter of intent and the changes to the
> memorandum of understanding that were filed in court, and that were
> exchanged, in fact, with Chief Morris and council several times by way
> of email, by way of fax and by way of telephone conversation, there
> was an additional update to that response, and in an effort to try and
> be helpful, we had it translated. So, in addition to the three
> versions that were eventually filed in the court, we also translated
> the response to the KI proposal that was put forward.
>
> I do, in fact, look forward to visiting that community again in the
> future and I also look forward to continuing to work with that
> community, because we will find a solution.