The section you're speaking of, which I believe is clause 4 of the proposed legislation, is not specifically addressed in the supplemental agreement. I want to make it clear that it's not something that my client specifically requested in the agreement.
I have had previous experience with this type of provision in my home province, where an award of a court actually was reversed in legislation. I'm aware that similar provisions have been present in previous federal legislation and have resulted from policy changes, particularly in dealing with the previous law, which had the result of women sometimes losing their aboriginal status. That was corrected back in 1984-85. I believe the legislation that brought about that change had a similar type of provision.
The other thing I wish to raise in respect of that provision is that my client and the Government of Canada, through our continuing discussions, have gone to great lengths in trying to communicate the supplemental agreement to every applicant, including those who have been placed on the founding members list or have received letters stating that under a decision of the enrolment committee there would be a recommendation to the minister that their name be added to the founding members list.
Those people have been advised through communications. My client has attempted to communicate it through its website, and I understand the Government of Canada has done the same thing. We've sent individual mailings to every applicant to advise of the supplemental agreement and its requirement and potential impacts. People have two years to adjust their expectations, based on what has been negotiated. That's important to keep in mind when people argue that they may have a claim in damages, because the important thing here is the integrity of the criteria that our clients negotiated.
As I said in my presentation, my client has an interest in ensuring that those criteria are followed and that people who were never intended to be granted membership do not receive it, because that undermines not only the integrity of the agreement, but the fight that my client undertook for over 30 years to get to the point to have a band established for those who fought for that band and those who are in a situation to add to the culture and growth of the Mi'kmaq presence on the island of Newfoundland. If people who never met the criteria get in and undermine that process, I think that has a detrimental impact on the band itself and for the development of the Mi'kmaq culture on the island.
So between the two things—