Absolutely, and thank you for the question.
In relation to the Jay Treaty, it's recognized by the United States but not recognized by Canada. The daily implications are that any indigenous person or member of a tribal nation.... In the case of Akwesasne, we have both: We have members who have a status card and members who have a tribal card. Many have both, but not all. The ones who have only a tribal card, who are part of the community, are not able to enter into Canada as a right. There's a process set up with the Government of Canada right now to examine legislative ways to implement the Jay Treaty itself.
In day-to-day operations, and I think as it relates to Bill C-20, you'll have a member arriving at the port of entry—and this is where it's important for CBSA officers to understand it as well—and asserting that this is part of their territorial lands. In the case of Akwesasne, it's a Mohawk, who doesn't have the right of entry under Canadian legislation, which, again, could lead to a negative interaction between the customs officer and, in this case, the Mohawk, and could result in a complaint under this process.
It's important that the reviewers, the BSOs, the border service officers, understand why this person is making this assertion. Also, there could be cases where a person has a right to have a status card but they choose not to. That's again back to the inherent right and back to the border being a fabricated line that was placed on top of us.
Absolutely the training for reviewers and for officers to understand inherent rights, whether it be for the Mohawks or any other indigenous group, is extremely important for this to be successful. Otherwise, you're sticking to black and white, and that's not very helpful.