Thank you, Monsieur Lemay.
I have been requested by Regional Chief Atleo to respond to this, given that it's a highly technical issue that you raise.
First of all, the issue about the joint appointment is something that in fact was fully discussed in the task force. The task force members representing the Assembly of First Nations encouraged the joint appointment process, because it's something that had been reflected in the efforts of the previous joint task force and also in the development of the Specific Claims Resolution Act.
There is a distinction in recognizing that perhaps first nations ought to have a role in the appointment of judges and adjudicators, because the law coming from the Supreme Court of Canada says that for reconciliation to be achieved between the crown and the rights of first nations people, the perspectives of first nations peoples and their laws and their traditions have to be a part of the solution. And who better than first nations people can apply that in the instance of resolving disputes between the crown and first nations people? So there is a distinction with respect to other groups that might be claiming the same ability with respect to joint appointments.
The other issue that has come up in the course of this examination is with respect to the use of judges in this process. One of the things we understand—not that we're advocating the government's position here, but we fully understand it—is that years ago the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered Ottawa to pay $5 billion in back pay with respect to pay equity. That sent a chill through this town with respect to whether or not the government was willing to acquiesce to the jurisdiction of a tribunal to resolve disputes that potentially had significant financial implications. Five billion dollars is a lot of money, and of course the government at the time—and subsequent to that, probably—is not willing to risk giving a blank cheque to a tribunal to make that kind of monetary award. That's what we understand to be the reason for putting a cap on tribunal awards.
Secondly, they don't trust tribunal members who don't necessarily have legal training to resolve these kinds of disputes; hence the requirement for appointing sitting members of the judiciary to these positions, presumably to act more responsibly.