Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on June 8th, 2017

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I'm going to head into your phase two process, and I've suggested this before, the concept of nation to nation, which I'm not sure is clear in many people's minds yet, but clearly as you're talking to communities, nations, bands, on something as fundamental as registration and how this phase two process moves forward, do you not believe that you need to have that definition, formal relationship, established to do that important work? To me, it's step one, step two, and I don't have any perception of how you can do step one in the time frame you've created. Given what you've said as a government in how you're going to move forward, it's a pretty logical sequence.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Whether you're talking about the AFN or whether you're talking about self-government—

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Nation to nation.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

The nation-to-nation piece is not as relevant in this case because there are a number of excluded individuals who will need to be consulted. We will have to deal with all of the chiefs and council, the heads of the self-governing nations, and we reached out to them. The people who we're worried about are the people who have not really had an attachment to their community because of history.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

So then—

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

So those are the voices that need to be in the consultations.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

I can see that you need to have those additional voices but I think there are many communities that have not defined who their nation is for the purposes of these discussions and you need that piece of work to be done.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

That is the work that is going to take us a few years probably but we're getting there and we're very excited by the progress as these nations are reconstituting themselves in an education system or in a fishery or in all of the things that allow them to come together once again as a nation.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

How can you do phase two without that work being done?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

We're doing it.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Twenty seconds.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Thank you, Minister.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

The design is key. It's not going to be one-size-fits-all and there are going to be different kinds of engagement depending on the situations coast to coast to coast.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Thank you.

Thank you to the minister and to the staff for all of you participating in this historic hearing about Bill S-3. I appreciate your attention and your co-operation, our sincere thank you, meegwetch.

For the committee members, I would just like to do a Bill S-3 reminder, a reminder that if members are wanting to prepare and submit amendments to get in touch with legislative counsel as soon as possible. If the committee proceeds clause by clause on Bill S-3 on Thursday, the 15th, which is in our schedule, I would ask that members submit their final amendments to the clerk by Tuesday, June 13. You can also do it on the floor but it's better if it's in a more formulated process so that the comprehensive packages can be prepared for our Thursday meeting.

Cathy.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I was going to ask one question in terms of whether the amendments can come from the floor.

[The Chair, Liberal, MaryAnn Mihychuk]

Yes.

Thank you very much. That concludes our business.

The meeting is adjourned.