Jaime Battiste at the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee

On November 18th, 2024. See this statement in context.

November 18th, 2024 / 4:15 p.m.

Liberal

Jaime Battiste Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS

I see in subclause 18(1) that we've already said:

For the purposes of sections 14 and 16, if a choice is not specified by a First Nation governing body, the Minister, in consultation and cooperation with the First Nation governing body, must determine

There's already some strong language in there. I'm wondering if someone would be able to argue that, if we didn't have, for example, a band council resolution or a vote by that community, outside entities could challenge that the legislation wasn't followed, which could end up delaying the implementation of a water standard in that community.

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