Thank you, Madam Chair.
I think most of us spoke to this issue when we had the witnesses in front of us. I'm also feeling a lot like Romeo about being in a position where we have to decide who's going to be joining the ranks of the aboriginal people according to the definition in front of us, which was decided on by somebody else. Like Romeo, I'm also aboriginal and I'm also a residential school survivor, and I agree with a lot of the comments. I also agree with a lot of the comments that Cathy has made on the process up to now and how it didn't really do a very good job. However, I've listened very carefully to the witnesses who have come forward, and I'm hearing more than one person with a legal background and with more legal expertise than I have state that there are concerns over the wording of this amendment. That includes Murray Sinclair, who has said it publicly. I think we have to take that into consideration. We have to hear the voices of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who said we need to go through the phase two process.
I really have concerns when we talk about going ahead without consulting. It is the basis on which we said we would move forward. It is a reason why I decided to run for this government, for this party. I come from an area where we practise consensus government and sharing information and communicating where we're going to go, and where collaboration is very important. I think that has to be done, and we spelled that out in going into phase two. We are currently in 10 sets of negotiations. Some of those negotiations for land claims and self-government include memberships. We have to talk to those people. We cannot just say we're going to go ahead and decide this without talking to them. That really is something that is important to many people across the country. We heard many individuals say that we do this regardless, but we also heard from organizations that represent a lot of people, which said, “Be careful. It's not worded right, and we should take the time to do it properly.”
I think we're committed to addressing the issue in phase two. Phase two has spelled out the process, and it certainly is in line with the nation-to-nation approach. That's why we need to move forward on recommendations.