Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's some of the MNR stuff.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Just to comment on that, the opportunity is also there for them to acquire a small piece of land for recreational camps, which some are doing now. They want information on where they can get a piece of property for some camps.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To add to that, regarding opportunities, locally there are lands for sale, but because of the time required to add them to the reserve, we may lose those opportunities for implementing projects, such as a quarry. We know that Ontario Trap Rock, which is not too far from us, is doing well.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, we had some discussion on solar energy with one of the initial proponents. Once we determine our next steps in that regard, then, yes, we would be engaging in negotiations with that proponent to bring a solar farm to Mississauga First Nation. There are other issues with that, which are outside the process, on Lake Huron right now.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We see opportunities in tourism, such as bear-hunting services, fishing services, deer-hunting services. We have a lodge, but we're still struggling with negotiating with the Province of Ontario on promoting fishing opportunities. I foresee some of those as good economic benefits for our band members who want to engage in that kind of activity.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Right now, with the signing of the IA, adding our lands.... We never really had anything to work with except for the 0.16 acres of land. Currently, the intent of the lands and resources committee is to provide recommendations to council for implementation. Right now, we're still new in this process.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One thing is the lease agreement we're looking at for a solar array farm. A presentation was made to the committee. Because of the uniqueness of our committee, it being a cross-section of the community, each member voiced concerns and then provided a final recommendation to council to either accept a lease agreement or deny the lease, based on their decisions.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That was one of the things we had to do in terms of our own due diligence in making sure that our community members were consulted. Because we could not get out to reach each individual, the online survey was designed, and people were encouraged to complete it, so we could come up with a summary as to where the community wanted to go in that regard.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To add to that, we have established under our land code a land resources committee that developed the MRP to be implemented under our land code. However, we're still trying to work out some of the legal side of things in that regard. It just keeps going back and forth to our legal adviser to make sure all our concerns are dealt with in an appropriate fashion.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The inland lakes, the whole process.... We lost an opportunity in other areas. Because of the nature of our land base, we had no way to protect all sides of it, in terms of monitoring. So people come and go. They started taking resources that we could have taken full advantage of and capitalized on, promoting services such as hunting and fishing and to some extent forestry operations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. Back in 1994, the forest industry was doing fairly well across the country. We had some of the best wood there to take advantage of, but we could not get a permit because it was not part of the first nation's land or it wasn't deemed in-reserve. We could not get a permit from Indian Affairs to start looking, so we had to move on other areas.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To add to that, we have some individuals who want to come back home because they know what is available to us once we have our plans in place and everything fits with our long-term planning goals of creating those economic opportunities. Again, we do have some individuals going to universities and colleges, with the intent of coming home to work for the community, once we can get all our plans in place and things are running smoothly.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, and we're going to face the same situation again, because our forestry management plan should probably be reviewed again, to update it and make sure the economics are appropriate based on today's forest industry and the direction that's going in. In addition to that, we have to update our land-use plant.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for inviting us here to share information with you. My main function is to manage the lands prudently and wisely for the benefit of our members of Mississauga First Nation. As we know, in 1994 Mississauga First Nation, Ontario, and Canada signed an agreement on a land claim involving a dispute on the survey of the northern boundary.