Thank you, panellists, for your candidness this afternoon. I want to welcome my friend to the committee and thank Mr. Angus for his great advocacy.
I'm a little confounded this afternoon because I think there's a strong realization—I know there was when we embarked on this—regarding the serious failures of the Indian Act. I fully share Romeo's sentiments in terms of its premises.
The challenge is that we have a deadline set. The issue is how to balance that, if we balance it.
I'm going to ask you some very pointed questions, and I would really like all three organizations to give a very direct answer.
With respect to the current Bill S-3 legislation that's before us, do we move forward with it, along with the consultation process for phase 2? Do we not move forward? Do we go to court to get the extension?
It seems as though I'm hearing “all three of these”, so I would like to get a direct answer from all of you. If we are going to court, what is the timeline that would be appropriate?
You have all raised very complex issues and, in fact, issues of nationhood and self-determination can't happen in three months.
How do we balance that? I would really like to get a sense from all three of you.