Hon. Marty Deacon: Honourable senators, last Wednesday was the two hundred and thirty-ninth anniversary of the Haldimand Treaty. On behalf of Chief Hill, this question goes to the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, the Ontario Superior Court has rejected the motion of the Haudenosaunee Development Institute, or HDI, to intervene in the Six Nations of the Grand River band’s long‑standing action against Canada and Ontario. The Ontario Superior Court has also endorsed a timetable for the remaining pretrial steps in this action, which should see it ready to begin trial in early 2024.

Given that it has now been determined that the HDI will have no role at all in this litigation and given that the action is going to trial in the coming year, why has the federal government not yet taken any meaningful steps to enter into negotiations with the Six Nations of the Grand River to resolve this claim?