Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chief Fontaine and all the witnesses, for being here today.
I was privileged to be at the meeting in June when Prime Minister Harper and Minister Prentice and you, Chief Fontaine, were present, and I certainly consider that a very historic moment. Let me say, from my perspective, and I think I speak for all my colleagues on this side, there never was a question about your commitment or the commitment of AFN to follow through on the commitments that were made that day.
I think all of us around this table agree that our ultimate objective is to improve the specific claims processes you've outlined. You indicated a number of times today that Bill C-30 is not perfect, but that it has elements of an effective system. I just want to reiterate some of the statements you used. You said there was a tremendous collaborative effort; that there was constructive collaboration and cooperation; that it involved first nations people at all levels; and you said that no legislation will address all the concerns of all the people affected. Yet in spite of all those caveats, today you are pretty clear in your urging of this committee to move forward with this legislation as soon as possible. I'm sure you're aware of some of the suggested amendments by other first nations groups that were here. Is it because of the five-year review and the marked improvements that are here that you can so forcefully urge us to move ahead expeditiously with this?