Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I could, Mr. Chairman, I think we'd need to do a more complete analysis. There are examples, but how frequent they would be--

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  CESO is one example; it's part of our professional institutional development. CESO maintains a service that first nations can access in terms of working on internal governance and capacity issues.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The FNCIDA, the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Perhaps I could give a quick response on the question of the off-reserve band members voting. At least with respect to bands under the Indian Act, pursuant to the Corbiere decision, the Indian Act had to be adjusted to facilitate off-reserve members being able to vote. There were a number of concerns raised subsequent to that decision, about the potential impact and the demand for services.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I understood correctly, Mr. Chair, the question relates to how community issues with respect to potential band splits or the formation of new bands are handled and managed. Those initiatives, being of local concern, are managed through our regional offices. If you're looking for the issue here in the context of band creation or band splits, there is no ongoing funding program, so it doesn't really relate to this table.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are advisory panels in place that were nominated by the first nations who were involved in championing those initiatives over the last several years. The process of advertising for and selecting board members, and then subsequently selecting the senior operating positions--the chief statistician, CEO, etc., depending on the institution--will flow through the normal appointment and selection process between now and hopefully this fall.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, to respond to that question, the major initiatives in this category are the First Nations Land Management Act, an act that was passed some time ago--in 1999, I think--and that was, a number of years ago, expanded to apply to more than the original 14 first nations who had championed that initiative.