Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to both witnesses who clearly have brought two different perspectives on this particular piece of legislation.
I do not think that anyone at this table is saying that UNDRIP is good or UNDRIP is bad. We all agree that the UN declaration is an important instrument, an important tool, but we're talking about Bill C-262 in the context of Canada.
I listened to Ms. Phare's definition of consent. We also had someone who talked about three different definitions of consent that could apply within Bill C-262, or within how the courts might ultimately interpret consent.
I was on an APTN panel with a New Democrat member just last week. With regard to the Kinder Morgan pipeline, he said that every single first nation impacted by it had to give free, prior, and informed consent from his perspective. That is very different from how Ms. Phare talked about consent. We have first nation witnesses, like Pam Palmater, who have a definition.
Should Parliament determine and have that conversation about free, prior, and informed consent before we actually make a legislative commitment to implementation?
Mr. Isaac.