First of all, thank you for coming, and I know this would be very interesting to the party you represent, and I'm glad you're here to talk about clean water.
I first want to talk about your question about best efforts. In fact, in 1994, in a decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Justice Dorgan determined that “best efforts” imposed a higher obligation than “a reasonable effort”: “'Best efforts' means taking, in good faith, all reasonable steps to achieve the objective, carrying the process to its logical conclusion and leaving no stone unturned.”
In fact, many of the participants in developing this legislation acknowledge that “best efforts” is quite a significant bar for Canada to reach and that it holds Canada to a high degree of accountability for the sufficiency in funding, which is what “best efforts” largely refers to in the legislation.
In terms of the consultation—and I won't repeat everything I said to MP Melillo—we have had extensive consultations, and there have been many opportunities, including direct outreach to every first nation implicated and including opportunities to submit online and opportunities to participate in consultations.
I can't speak to Chief Hill's particular experience, but I can tell you that we're still open to speaking to chiefs.
As you know, we are working through a process of considering amendments as they might arise from this committee, and we will continue to be there to meet with any chief or council who wishes to speak with us.