I'd like to begin by thanking the chair and honourable members for inviting the Métis National Council to appear before you today.
The Métis National Council represents between 350,000 and 400,000 Métis people from Ontario westward. The Métis are one of Canada's aboriginal peoples. Métis are not just a mixed-blood product of the union between Europeans and first nations; we constitute a unique people, distinct from both Europeans and first nations: the Métis nation. The territory of the old northwest is a region we call the Métis nation homeland today.
The Métis National Council was formed to represent the Métis nation at nationally and internationally. It is composed of five provincial Métis governing members: Métis Nation British Columbia, Métis Nation of Alberta, Métis Nation-Saskatchewan, Manitoba Métis Federation, and the Métis Nation of Ontario.
We seek to address water issues on a regional basis, as well as nationally on all policy matters. Again, we're very appreciative of this committee and of the opportunity to address the important work being done here today. The Métis National Council has a number of recommendations for this committee.
First, there is a need for Canada to embrace and implement the post-colonial thinking that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples codifies: that the Métis nation has an interest in the lands, resources, and waterways that flow through its traditional territory.
The Métis have many unsettled land claims and issues arising from historic dispossession of their traditional territories. One of our goals is to attempt to negotiate a resolution to these issues. In the meantime, there are effects on our traditional lands, which are not always recognized by Canada as traditional lands, where consultation and impacts are not studied, nor are they known. The legal and cultural interests in waterways and the impacts of development on those interests are matters of substantial concern.
Addressing these outstanding claims is part of the reconciliation process demanded by section 35 and class 24 of section 91 of the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, a process that we hope will be undertaken with the nation-to-nation, government-to-government approach that this government has so strongly advocated and which we fully support.
We must ensure that the traditional and cultural ways of life of aboriginal peoples are accounted for, and that includes the way of life of the Métis people. We also must build processes for engaging aboriginal peoples in identifying the sensitive areas where navigation is central, and for engaging the traditional, scientific, and cultural knowledge of the Métis people in assessing what constitutes substantial interference. The duty to consult, in our view, requires this.
I share my colleague Ms. Hoyt's view that a restoration to the protection of all waterways in Canada is necessary. Where potential changes or modification to that approach are being considered, the Métis nation should be consulted on how that would be implemented and how that would be set out in the schedule.
We view this legislation as an important element in the protection of the environment. There are, in our view, parallel processes in reviewing environmental protection legislation happening at the federal level. This is an important aspect of that review.
We have been contributing to the modification of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Our recommendations with respect to that legislation, while important, would in many ways be of no effect if it is not working in concert with this piece of legislation.
The duty to consult would be triggered only if works were happening with respect to a protected waterway. If that waterway in our traditional territory is not considered protected or subject to this legislation, we are not able to be consulted or to provide our input to protect our aboriginal rights with respect to water.
Both the federal government and the provinces have responsibility for the environment, as do the municipalities. The Métis nation should also have the authority in this regard. In our view, this legislation should provide for this authority and jurisdiction in a way that's consistent with the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The federal government must remain committed to full engagement of the aboriginal peoples, and in particular the Métis nation, on matters that affect them. Federal leadership remains key.
Many of the challenges could be addressed through the CEAA process. Certainly, we want to be efficient and avoid duplication. Aboriginal peoples make their living from waterways, fishing for food and for commercial purposes. That remains a central feature for the Métis nation and Métis communities. As a result, there is a need to be considered in the assessment of legislative change to ensure the Métis way of life is protected and valued under this legislation.
Again, I thank this committee for the opportunity to speak. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.