Thank you very much to the committee members.
I have to condense my presentation very quickly here.
My name is Lloyd Phillips. I've been a chief for over 14 years in the Mohawk community of Kahnawà:ke, one of the larger first nations communities in Canada, with approximately 8,000 people living on reserve and another 4,000 living off.
Our reality is much different. We are located 15 minutes from downtown Montreal, so issues of poverty, lack of housing, and access to resources are not our main issues. Our issues are jurisdiction and the respect for our treaties and inherent rights, which we never surrendered.
It was presented yesterday here at the committee, from the Iroquois caucus as well as a couple of my fellow Mohawk communities, the way Bill S-2 continues to violate our original treaty relationship with the Two Row Wampum and the way it ignores our constitutionally protected and inherent right to self-determination. The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke certainly endorses and supports these principles. We also heard many technical and legal representations from Madame Audette and many others in the past few days, and again we agree with many.
The fundamental problem here is the way in which this law is once again being imposed upon our people, without respect for our history, for the treaties that existed, for the fact that we never surrendered our rights, that we never surrendered the right to self-determination, as an overriding importance. It's the continual, paternalistic approach of government, where the Indian Act mentality going back to the 1800s, and even the mentality going beyond the 1800s, into the 1600s and 1700s, continues, despite issues that have been raised over and over again.
Our council was very hesitant to actually have me come here today, because to a certain extent we felt, what's the point? No matter what we say here, this government, the Conservative government, is going to continue on its way and pass laws the way it chooses to pass laws. Its track record speaks for itself. It's the continual way in which this government has been acting, and it's the policies, not just of the Conservative government, which is currently in power, but the Canadian system as a whole. You have policies that ignore jurisdiction. Any jurisdiction discussed between first nations and Canada is based on a policy or it's based on a surrender of your rights if you want to have a land claim settlement. These are fundamentally wrong. Canada is ignoring our constitutional rights in ignoring the treaties, and ignoring them on a moral level as well.
There's a long history out there, a proud history that the Mohawks and other first nations have. They actually helped defend what is now Canada from the invading people, the Americans. Without the allies of first nations such as the Mohawks, Canada might not exist today. The respect we get in return is almost nil.
Kahnawà:ke has a long history of making laws; we will continue to make laws. We have laws that are recognized internationally, recognized by the business community, recognized in our community. What's lacking, for the most part, is recognition from the federal authorities. We pass a law in our community and it's deemed not to be an official law unless it's stamped by Canada. This must change.
Canada has to come to terms with the fact that first nations are here to stay. Mohawks are here to stay. If you want to continue to live in peaceful coexistence, we are willing, but it takes two to peacefully coexist.
Nia:wen Ko:wa.