Previously, consultation was definitely not adequate. With NAFTA and other trade agreements in the past, there was no consultation with first nations. Consultation is probably not the best word to use. It's engagement. When we're talking about consultation, we're talking about consultation pursuant to the Constitution and the duty to consult not being met. What we're talking about now is engagement with national organizations such as the Assembly of First Nations, as well as Métis and Inuit organizations and some rights holders through modern treaties.
Certainly the government, in the past couple of years, and especially with CUSMA, has put an increased emphasis on engagement with first nations, but there is still more work to do. Part of our presentation today is to discuss moving beyond engagement, which happens outside of the room and happens—sometimes after decisions are made and sometimes before—through an indigenous working group.
What we're talking about is participation in the room and bringing first nations to the table. If we're going to have indigenous chapters in future trade agreements, we need to have first nation negotiators. Then we're not talking about engagement or consultation. We're talking about participation, and participation is more in line with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
As the government is looking toward implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we'd urge participation in decision-making so that there's true decision-making being done with first nations about matters that implicate and affect their rights through their treaties and inherent rights.