Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a few comments and then a suggestion, I guess, to the committee.
Gentlemen, thank you for being here.
I'm going to draw a parallel between the aboriginal communities of this country and the francophone or linguistic minorities, principally the francophone one because it's the one I know best, being a member of it. I share a great deal of the views in the sense that this government, past governments, all governments--federal, provincial, sometimes even municipal, if you look at what's going on in B.C. right now with the Olympics--have fallen down in their responsibilities in terms of respecting the Constitution of the country, the history of our country, the federal structure, the deals that were made when we created the country, the laws of the country, the Official Languages Act, and the Constitution. And for matters of official languages, despite having a quasi-constitutional act, we also have a Commissioner of Official Languages to see to the implementation of that act. It has been in place for forty years and it's still lacking, to a great extent, in its application.
So I sense there's a great deal of similarity between the francophone minority communities and the aboriginal communities.
One question that Monsieur Lemay asked was whether or not there would be usefulness to having a special cabinet committee. I believe there would be. When I was in the cabinet and I had responsibilities for official languages, I had access to an ad hoc committee, which I transformed into basically an ongoing monthly committee. We also had a secretariat in the Privy Council. Without those two instruments, there's no way I would have been able to make some policy advancements, some implementation advancements. So I think they're on the right track in terms of those tools. A secretariat in the Privy Council and a cabinet committee, I think those are valid instruments, and if you can get them, all the better.
Mr. Chairman, as a new member of this committee, I would benefit greatly--I don't know about the other members and I can't speak for them--if we could dedicate at least one meeting, or perhaps we need more, to exploring a concept that I keep hearing referred to by representatives of the aboriginal communities as honour of the crown. It's a concept that I ran into when I was dealing with another local matter dealing with lands, and that's how I saw it first applied in consultation, in how the Government of Canada conducts itself in the consultations with the aboriginal communities. The concept was applied, and basically the government was not doing what it should do. The crown was not doing what it should do.
But I'd love to get a very solid grounding and understanding of this concept of honour of the crown as it applies to treaties, as it applies to land claim agreements, as it applies to ongoing cooperation or consultations, as it applies to implementation of treaties and land claims agreements of all kinds, specific or general, and how it relates to the Indian Act and to the charter. I think we might benefit greatly by understanding that and trying then to impose it on an overarching basis on what it is we're trying to achieve here and perhaps trying to change the culture of those who are implementing these agreements. It's a suggestion I make for certainly my own benefit, but as a member of this committee I dare to think that perhaps others would benefit as well.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.