Good afternoon, Chair.
My name is Luc Beaudry, and I'm from Crown-Indigenous Relations.
Today I'm appearing before you from the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin. I'm joined by Mazin El-Ghadban, who's the subject matter expert, should questions arise.
The purpose of the legislative initiative is simply to repeal the First Nation Land Management Act and to replace it by a short and more concise legislation that would ratify and give force of law to the framework agreement on first nation land management and to resituate it as a central authority through which first nations govern their lands.
The First Nations Land Management Act and the framework agreement on first nation land management work together at supporting first nations in transitioning away from the application of 44 land-related provisions of the Indian Act.
First nations—194 of them—were signatory to the framework agreement to develop their unique land codes and set of laws that address their land governance approaches. These land codes are developed and confirmed based on a community ratification process, and first nations are supported in their transition by the Lands Advisory Board, a first nation institution responsible for negotiating the content of the framework agreement with the Government of Canada and providing advice and services to signatory first nations through its resource centre.
In conclusion, the proposed legislation would simplify the ratifying statute and remove inconsistencies between the legislation and the framework agreement. It would also simplify the process to amend the framework agreement by reducing the need for returning to Parliament each time the framework agreement is amended.
Thank you very much.