Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I do not think that we are the first witnesses to appear before the committee and suggest that additional time be spent on consultations. The position of the Quebec native women, for example, springs to mind. They spoke of having enough time to carry out consultations properly. I

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, there are always consequences to decisions that we make and actions that we take--from a government perspective, I'm guessing, and the same from our perspective. If we have taken the time to come before you and present our case--and I'm certainly only speaking on my behalf

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I certainly join with my colleague on the issue of human rights and the need to provide adequate protection. The only thing I could add is that so many times in the past we've seen a bill presented before Parliament, and so many times we've come before this committee and a number

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, I think we all know, not only on our side of the table, but on your side as well, that the aboriginal community in Canada represents a wide diversity. Many of our communities have to deal not only with the federal government, but they have to also deal with provincial juris

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The only answer I could provide there is that, again, I will refer to our specifics in Quebec and Labrador. Consultation at our level has been very limited--

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  --and the other consideration is that we're speaking about 30 years passing from the first time that this issue was brought up. Obviously, the situation has evolved. Sometimes that's not been in the way we would like, but nevertheless it has been 30 years.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think probably the best answer to that would be that we have here.... We're probably limited to the scope of this bill, which, in my view, probably presents some limitations in terms of the concept of what a basic human right is. My feeling is that there might be different inte

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think if we can ensure that there's a common starting point here, that would probably be more acceptable to our communities. I come before you this morning with this bill, and obviously I didn't have the time or resources to adequately consult our communities. It's difficult to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Allow me to try to answer. You are right in saying that we have been talking about these issues for 30 years. Furthermore, there does seem to be a problem and that problem certainly needs to be addressed. However, the consultations only addressed broad questions. Today, we have

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Again, from our perspective in Quebec, we have spent years trying to promote what we consider to be a lack of justice in terms of the issues that we defend and promote as first nations in Quebec--not only in Quebec, but in the rest of the country as well. It seems to me that we a

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. [Greetings in Innu] Firstly, I would like to mark the death of Ms. Bertha Wilson who, as a member of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, was a champion of issues that are dear to our heart. We were obviously deeply saddened to learn of her death, wh