Vahn gwiinzii.
Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the standing committee.
I want to give the context of where I'm located. I'm located in north Yukon, in the small indigenous community of Old Crow, where 250 people reside. We're a strong, resilient tribe. We live on the land. We still are actively connected to our roots and our traditions.
I'm here today in strong support of Bill C-10. I would like to emphasize the importance of strong and effective accountability as envisioned under Bill C-10 to ensure our modern treaties are faithfully and fully implemented.
For more than 30 years, Canada has been actively involved with our self-government agreements in Yukon. We signed an agreement 30 years ago. A modern treaty is constitutionally protected under section 35 of the Constitution. Our agreements are not policy choices that can be shifted within government. They are binding commitments between the Crown and our nations.
Our modern treaties were intended over 35 years ago to replace uncertainty and conflict with clarity and partnership. They established defined rights, shared management structures, law-making authority and fiscal management. These landmark agreements lay out how we govern together, but even with these agreements in place significant challenges remain in achieving their full and effective implementation. Unfortunately, we see obligations and objectives unmet, despite clear commitments in our agreements.
Over time, implementation can stall, responsibilities become blurred and priorities shift. However, we continue to push for the full implementation, respect and honouring of our agreements. We do not want to revisit the past, but we want to ensure that we look towards the future together with Canada. Our agreements were clearly drafted over many years. They reflect decades of negotiations and compromise.
We are not seeking anything beyond good-faith implementation of what was already agreed to in the 28 chapters of our self-government agreement. This is why accountability mechanisms are so important. [Technical difficulty—Editor] kept and our agreements are upheld as they were originally envisioned by our ancestors. With accountability, we have predictability and [Technical difficulty—Editor]. It creates transparency and clarity.
Bill C-10 strengthens this accountability framework. [Technical difficulty—Editor] implementation challenges early. It safeguards mutually beneficial opportunities and reduces the risk of costly disputes like the legal disputes that were mentioned by my colleagues. [Technical difficulty—Editor] function as envisioned rather than being symbolic documents. For our nation, accountability ensures that hard-fought [Technical difficulty—Editor] through inaction or political or administrative shifts.
Strong accountability mechanisms actually protect the Crown as well. They create clarity around roles and timelines. They reduce uncertainty in our traditional territories. They reinforce the principle that treaty relationships are enduring nation-to-nation relationships. It is not only good governance. It is the honour of the Crown in action.
[Technical difficulty—Editor] of this legislation. The provisions reflected were not drafted unilaterally. They are the result of sustained dialogue [Technical difficulty—Editor] modern treaty partners. Our nation, along with others, sat at the table. We brought forward our experiences and worked through technical details. We arrived at language that carefully reflects the balance. Co-development must mean something. If indigenous governments engage in good faith, invest time and resources and reach consensus with Canada, that outcome should be respected by Parliament.
It reflects our shared understanding of how to improve accountability while respecting the original spirit and intent of our modern treaties. They establish indigenous governments as law-making authorities. They provide predictability for economic and infrastructure development while advancing reconciliation. In the north, they reinforce Canadian Arctic sovereignty. They reinforce the sovereignty priorities of Canada. When indigenous governments are recognized and empowered as partners, Canada's presence in the Arctic is strengthened.
I want to close by recalling a foundational principle of our self-government agreement: that our government has the authority to govern our own affairs in order to preserve our culture, manage our land and provide for our citizens. That principle reflects a vision of partnership, one in which we, as a government, have our rights, [Technical difficulty—Editor] jurisdictions, accountable to our citizens and working alongside Canada and Yukon.
Bill C-10 is a practical step towards ensuring [Technical difficulty—Editor]. On behalf of the Vuntut Gwitchin, I urge this committee to support Bill C-10.