Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, reconciliation. That's what we're looking for.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can't answer for all 42 of our first nations on what their feelings are going to be. So speaking in general terms, of course, our member nations are going to be happy that the claims process is going to be speeded up. It's going to be a good thing. We need to speed this process up.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Sir, being legal counsel, I don't think I can say I don't have confidence in judges. I do have confidence in judges.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think what we're seeing here.... I think you misunderstood, sir. We're not recommending an advisory committee. If you look at the structure of the other tribunals, usually it is mixed membership. We're usually looking at legal people and lay people. So I think that type of system can be facilitated here.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, I don't think it would make the process more drawn out. We have the political accord there that says we're going to work together to develop this roster with the concern with judges. Why not use the same political accord and say we're going to develop a roster of however many it takes--24--of lay people, legally trained people, with judges also?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Why is a federal-provincial working group critical to this process? Well, legally we have a division of powers. That division of powers in jurisdictional matters does hinder the resolution of our claims, because as we all know, feds don't own that much land; it's held by the province.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Pardon?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  After reviewing the whole bill, what we're looking at is that the tribunal will--if it consists of all judges--sit down and draft their procedures, their rules, how they're going to do business. Not only that, their decisions will be final and conclusive. What we're looking at is that if there are only judges being members of this tribunal, it's going to very likely mirror a court.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't understand your whole question or explanation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Our position here is that we're looking at reconciliation. We're going back to our first recommendation, that we feel the tribunal should be made up of superior court judges, lay people, and legally trained people, so you have a mixed membership. We're looking at a panel that is somewhat understanding and representative of our governance in first nations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm not saying it's a fundamental flaw. I do believe that this bill, even as is, is better than the current system. What we're trying to do is enhance and strengthen it by giving you some more recommendations and saying, here's what we think will make this a great bill.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  To answer your question, sir, we're actually making a recommendation that the committee be formed of lay people and legally trained people with subject matter expertise just like superior court judges--and superior court judges. That roster would be pulling how many judges out...and probably less than six now.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We're recommending that the three-person panel be more based on our traditional form of government--on that consensus basis. And legally speaking, if we're talking about a tribunal, they're still going to have that expertise and they're still going to be given that deference. I do believe they can award those high amounts of settlement and still have that expertise behind it legally.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think, madam, that some of our recommendations centre around what was covered in that political accord, to strengthen and enhance what the AFN has already done with the federal government. I can't specifically speak to the comfort level, but our recommendations are here. So we're trying to work together and to keep working together.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the land issue, we have some recommendations in our brief, particularly with respect to subclause 21(1). What we're providing there is that based on the fact that there's a jurisdictional matter that occurs between the feds and the province, we understand this. That's why we're recommending that a working group of some sort be established with the province to talk about the issue of land, just like in the political accord between the feds and the AFN.