Again, I'll answer the first part of the question first, but thank you very much for that question.
A lot of legislation does include non-derogation clauses. In fact, I believe it was a few a years ago that the Senate subcommittee looking at aboriginal issues recommended that all Canadian legislation include a non-derogation clause, across the board. That hasn't been implemented yet, but that was definitely a recommendation.
Because of article 32.5, which does in the agreement itself protect indigenous rights, it is important that it's not just CUSMA that has this protection but also the bill, because this bill will be changing Canadian laws and also creating policies to implement CUSMA. As we work with the new bill, we also should be aware that it might impact inherent or treaty rights. That's why there's the importance of having the non-derogation clause in the agreement and also in the implementing legislation.
Some may ask why it is important that you can't override the Constitution. You've made a comment on that, and I definitely agree, but I want to note that there is already a section in the bill as it stands about water. It clarifies that nothing in the agreement harms our “natural...water”. Whoever drafted this bill made the decision that it was important to clarify that our natural water is not impacted by the CUSMA—I agree to that as well—but there already is a clarification clause that I would say potentially isn't necessary. CUSMA itself says that.
Therefore, if it is important to clarify that our water isn't going to be impacted, it is also very important to clarify that the inherent rights of indigenous peoples are not going to be harmed. It's similar. You can't really say that the clause is unnecessary and then put in another clause that is also unnecessary. I would argue that both are necessary, for the same reason. We want to be certain that our water is protected. We also want to be certain that section 35 rights are protected in CUSMA but also in the implementation bill.
That is why we've brought forward this proposal.