I think it's appropriate to recognize that, as the grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, I work under a mandate of the chiefs and the constitution of the AMC to uphold and protect aboriginal inherent treaty rights.
Ultimately, the decision is vested with the community to decide what type of system they would like to participate in, under the Indian Act, under custom code, or under some other manifestation that they so choose.
The challenge we see with the bill is that the opt-in provision does not require consultation with the community members. It requires the resolution by the chief and council to move forward. Resolution moved by chief and council does not imply that the community has been consulted. Certainly, in this exercise of moving to the draft bill as it is now, as I mentioned before, a very key piece of consultation is missing. That consultation, I think, goes to a point of required free, prior, and informed consent of community members.
I'm not here to deny the existence of the opportunity for indigenous people across Canada to opt in to the paternalistic bill. That's entirely up to them. What I'm here to say is that there are key pieces in the process that are missing and people should not be denied those processes.