Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be here tonight in the final closing hours of an exciting day to respond to the questions and concerns raised by the member from British Columbia.
I will just repeat a number of things that I think are important with respect to clarification on this matter and some of the concerns that he has raised in the House today and on other occasions.
First, it is very important to recognize that section 15 of the charter, the equality sections of the charter of rights and freedoms, apply here to all people. There is no distinction based on race or gender. Those sections are very clear.
Second, with respect to the Nisga'a legislation, section 28 of the charter provides even further clarification on those equalities. If that were not enough, in the 1983 amending conference on the charter of rights and freedoms, section 35(4) was put in the constitution to guarantee that wherever we have aboriginal rights in Canada they would not detract from men or women in any unequal way.
I commend my colleagues, the Liberal members from British Columbia, who have been working on the bill. We debated Bill C-9 in the House this afternoon and we will continue to debate it in the days to come. The opening section of the legislation states quite emphatically that the Nisga'a agreement is subject to the charter of rights and freedoms. This is not a distinction between people based on race and creating inequalities. This is an opportunity for Canadians and all of us to do the right thing, to embrace the Nisga'a people and to welcome them into Canada.
I would remind the hon. member of those first nations people in northern Quebec in 1995 when we had a referendum. They filed into the polls at 40-below to support Canada and Canadians because they wanted to be part of the country. I can tell the House with certainty that the Nisga'a people want to be part of the country as well.