Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There's a need for a lot more funding. There's no question about that. The funding is there, yes, it's committed, but it all has to be expended. In the past, we've had some issues in not having all of the expenditure dollars, simply because of delays. We've had some amendments

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't know if I would agree with no legislation, but I would agree that any legislation that is developed, if it's going to be of significant benefit, should have the direct involvement of first nations. It must be something that first nations want and need. I'm sure there's a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What you suggest would be the ideal scenario. We would love to have the opportunity to develop proposed legislation, have it considered appropriately by government, and then hopefully have it passed as legislation. I think that would be the ideal situation. Knowing that perhaps

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That is correct.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would, yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, I would. I would add that some of those provisions, as Mr. Clarke has identified, are quite appropriately inappropriate in today's age. There's no question about that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As chairman of our Lands Advisory Board, I thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable members of the committee, for providing me time to respond to Mr. Clarke's private member's bill, Bill C-428. In preparation for today, I've had the opportunity to review the comments made by Mr.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, and also, I think, the reservations are about training. I think we've heard from many first nations that they don't feel they're ready, but the more they see the things we're doing right now with our group here, I think that will spur on many of the first nations, and they w

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to maybe make this point again. I know I've said it before, but supporting the signatory first nations and the demand that's out there is really an investment that Canada will be thankful for over time: communities, provincial governments, a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. We do see that there has been a reduction. We see that because of all of the precedents that have been set, we do not have to redo and reset the whole wheel. A lot of the cogs in that wheel are already set. They're available for the first nation to use. We're now fin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  For the third question, maybe I can refer right to the legislation itself. Subsection 4(1) of the First Nations Land Management Act says, The Framework Agreement is hereby ratified and brought into effect in accordance with its provisions. The provisions contained therein ar

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  By all means, we do. I think that's evident. Recently, just as an example in British Columbia, I understood the Premier's announcement to be that the process for such things as treaty negotiations, which include a component of self-government, is flawed. It's not working. The P

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thank you very much. I know the issue that you raise is with regard to collective rights as a land principle. I want to make sure there's a complete understanding that in the first nation communities there are individual rights and collective rights, and there's a balancing

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thank you for that question. A first nation can do its own drafting, and what we do is encourage that first nation community to retain its own legal counsel for that independent legal advice. They are supported by our resource personnel. They're supported by some of our own

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not sure I completely understand the question. If I understand it correctly, the question focuses in on what Canada's obligations to assist first nations to proceed are. It falls back to our framework agreement that was signed back in 1996. That has been supported and ratifi