I wish I had a crystal ball to really give you a good answer on that, but I think the first thing we need to do is to remember that human rights are interrelated and interdependent. We need to bring in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples along with human rights perspectives to allow indigenous communities to have free, prior and informed consent, not just through their band council but through the traditional governments that understand our customary laws and protocols and how to protect the environment. I think that is paramount if this bill is to succeed in protecting the quality of life that we have in our communities.
We need to have an investigation of why this has been so neglected by government. Think of seven generations from now. How will this affect seven generations from now? I wish I had more answers for you.
I'm not at home with all my notes. I had connectivity problems.
I think if we go by just the connection between environmental and human rights, they are one and the same, and our spiritual rights are connected to this. Our medicines and our health are connected. It's not just a matter of policy implementation. There have to be true consultations with regard to how indigenous communities want to see an environmental racism bill really benefit us rather than just being told, “This is a bill. This is the law,” when we know that the law has not been there for us. When we talk about justice with regard to the Canadian court system, it has been lacking for us.