First, I was quite surprised that they're making amendments because I know how strongly Perry has been advocating for getting this thing to royal assent. It's his dream and his aspiration to get it there. By making amendments, you hold everything back, so I was taken a little aback on why amendments would be coming in so late in the game.
The statement they're trying to make is that the Métis do not have land across Canada, which is true. However, we are a nation, and we had land, owned land, ran land and controlled land in the Prairies before Canada became Canada. We have been around for 300 years. We have battles from 1816 on, with 10 battles we fought for this country, so when you look at it overall, we have a long existing place in the history of western Canada. If you look on page 6, you'll find the first bullet where I make it crystal clear that the Métis nation existed in Canada before Canada was formed.
Their position was that the preamble should not state that the Métis nation, Inuit and first nations have similarly lived in all of the land. That I agree with, but in the land of the Prairies, there's not a doubt. History has shown us, and the Supreme Court has recognized that. I think that was their intent, but I was a little bit taken aback by the amendments coming in. I didn't expect that from AFN because I know they want royal assent as badly as I do.