I remember that whole discussion when we were debating and discussing the UN declaration legislation at this committee. One of the issues we, the opposition, had was with the definition of “free, prior and informed consent” and what that actually meant. I remember I said—and so did many others on this side—that, if we don't do the work and start defining some of the major pieces in the legislation, we're going to wind up in trouble at some point and potentially in court.
Sure enough, Bill C-53 came along. Again, nobody had defined “free, prior and informed consent”. Yes, that laid a lot on us—probably the vast majority around the legislature, those sitting at this committee and others in the House who don't belong to this committee. Nobody gave direction, through government legislation, on who needed to be consulted. We had first nations saying that they wanted to be consulted and Métis saying, “No, we don't need to consult them, because it's our own self-governance issue and it doesn't involve anyone.” We didn't have that definition, which led us down a very bumpy road.
Having said that, we're talking about the very important issue of clean drinking water, but we are still a little vague in regard to three very important pieces. I think this committee should do the work and think about what that actually means, potentially adding a definition, as best we can, to this legislation, so that everybody knows what we are talking about when this bill gets passed. Otherwise, you're not going to be able to provide certainty to the first nations waiting for clean water. You are not going to be able to provide certainty to industry, which may or may not want to start an operation.
This is very concerning to me. I'd like some indication around this table that we are hopefully going to get to that before we wrap up the clause-by-clause at the end.
Obviously, that's not to the officials. It's to the group around the table.
I just happen to be looking in your direction, because you're right in front of me.