Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. I'll just share this in passing. I was speaking with a former Liberal Indian affairs minister last week, and this person said that if Kelowna were implemented, it would set back the aboriginal agenda ten years, because it is an attempt to throw more

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have the press release of the accord.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I will just bring up a couple of points of clarification. I think it's important to note, because I haven't heard it here today, that Budget 2006 does indicate that this current government is supportive of the discussions and commitments that occurred in Kelowna. Let's not lose

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  With respect to your comment on the Indian Act, it must be pointed out that the Grand Council of the Crees is not subject to the Indian Act, which is a good thing. This is the direction we must take. True first nations must be formed. It is not necessarily true that territory bor

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First of all, my presentation contained three recommendations that speak for themselves. Of course, the Indian Act is becoming a priority, because there are currently too many chiefs in Canada. If we undertook to group our true nations, I believe that we would be giving hope to A

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have to point out that there is currently a case before the courts, the Daniels case. It is possible that the resolution will shed light on the issue of responsibility. In our opinion, the federal government is responsible for all Canadian aboriginals.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  All aboriginals in Quebec.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Exactly.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It is currently at the Federal Court.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Not yet, it is still in the preliminary stages.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The case deals with the federal government's responsibility towards all aboriginals. Therefore, the responsibility of provinces towards aboriginals living off reserve is not clearly defined at the moment.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Exactly, but in that regard, the Prime Minister sent us a letter in January indicating that he wanted to work on legislative measures to transfer funds to the provinces in order to assist aboriginals living off reserve.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It is on my website.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the one hand, that would not abolish reserves, because people would continue to live in their current communities. On the other, they would form a nation that would include the territorial lands of the nation in question.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. This is nothing new. In fact, it was recommended by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples 10 years ago. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous peoples, has said that the right to self-government c