I agree fully with that statement. The declaration is an international instrument. It does contain the minimum standards. Through this bill, the laws of Canada will be aligned and will become more consistent through a process, and there is an action planning process. It does not take the UN declaration and subordinate it to some other process. That's not how this works. International instruments, conventions and the like must be implemented in Canada through implementing legislation like we have here or like was passed in the Province of British Columbia.
It does not alter our constitutional framework. What it does is raise our sights up to a standard that's been long overdue. Of course, there are no new rights in the declaration, but the way it is articulated advances meaningful reconciliation, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said, because the declaration itself can provide a framework.
I would be in full agreement with the statement that you've made. Unfortunately, some of the misunderstanding that is out there.... Again, I understand where it may come from because indigenous people have had many, many bad experiences, both with government and elsewhere, in trying to assert and seek recognition of rights. This is a shift, and it's a shift that's a major shift in Bill C-15 because it puts us on the foundation of recognition and working together differently. It should not be adversarial, which is why the Assembly of First Nations has very strongly supported this since Romeo Saganash brought it forward in the House of Commons as a private member's bill.