Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
There is something else I might say about this. It is a good section to illustrate the overall impact of this act on groups such as first nations or provincial governments or provincial agencies. Because this provision makes clear that the act extends to aboriginal lands, it means that the public trust duty, which we were speaking about a few moments ago, for the federal government also extends to aboriginal lands. At first blush, that may seem perfectly fine, but when we think about the fact that we have not defined the public trust duty, the meaning and content of it, it means that the courts will clothe that phrase with meaning.
If the Government of Canada has entered into an agreement with a first nations group in relation to aboriginal land, or if the federal government has entered into an agreement with a provincial government or a provincial agency, the courts, under this act, will have the authority to review those agreements in the light of whatever the courts determine should be the meaning and content of the public trust duty. If a judge or the court finds that the agreement permits a first nations community to develop its land in a particular way that the court feels does not meet its standard of environmental public trust, then the court will, under section 19, be empowered to order the federal government to remediate that and perhaps not to pursue its agreement with the first nations community, the province, or the provincial undertaking involved.
That is the constitutional issue that concerns me. The courts will now be given this ability to veto, if I can put it that way, agreements that the federal government might wish to make in relation to aboriginal communities or provinces.
Thank you.