When we're talking about the UN declaration act, we have to remember that this piece of legislation was rushed through the government and brought to first nations with an imposed deadline by which it had to be dealt with. Any intent to look at that as being consistent with UNDRIP is highly questionable to me, but the intent to align legislation with UNDRIP is an important element. I still believe that there are many other factors playing into this beyond the question of just membership. That is where the delays are.
If we want to be honest, we can talk about costs, but with the amount of money that's being spent right now, cost doesn't seem to be a factor. It's not going to be a huge burden, if I can say, on the government, because the registration numbers in the past have not been in the thousands or millions that were predicted in years past.
If the government truly wants to align the Indian Act provisions on membership with UNDRIP, they need to get on with it, because they're not doing so right now.