Mr. Speaker, it is not often that I get a chance or an invitation from a government member to talk very specifically about my constituency, and I am happy and certainly honoured to do that.
For those people who may not be familiar with it and so they can get an idea of what this agreement means, the Okanagan Valley of course is in the central interior and southern part of the province, surrounding and embracing a jewel of a lake, one of many, Lake Okanagan itself.
If people are familiar with the city of Kelowna, as they drive across this lake on the Kelowna bridge that spans Okanagan Lake, as soon as they touch down on the other side, they will find themselves driving on the main highway through Westbank First Nation's land. In some ways they would not even know that they have gone from one jurisdiction to another.
The land is comprised of 7,500 non-natives and about 600 natives. Some 200 businesses are registered and operating vigorously and aggressively on that land. Some of the land is beautifully situated at lakeside, where some of the non-natives and natives live and some land spans and takes in forest area. It is a large area of land.
The relationship among the natives on first nation land, the band and council, the businesses and the community is very positive. A large recreation and community complex is being built in the non-native jurisdiction, and Westbank First Nation is donating thousands of dollars to that particular development. This is fairly commonplace. It is a very unique and positive relationship that has existed for a number of years. The WFN agreement will only solidify that more, although it is not constitutionalized.
One cannot just take this and say that this has to apply to every other aboriginal area, but I think people will look at this, the property rights and related issues which I have delineated, and see the positive aspects of it. I think we would see the development of good and positive relationships across the country if people were to follow some of these basic principles and respect their individual freedoms and rights.