Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to appreciate MP May's comments here. I think what's important to understand is that the discussion around the business case and whether this makes it more difficult for the vessels is an important one.
I think another important discussion is to what degree we are respecting the emerging norm, which is that first nations who are marine nations and have historically been out on the water on their craft have a sense of custodianship or ownership of territories that are marine territories and not just land. A railway or a pipeline in British Columbia would not willy-nilly start constructing through the traditional territory of a nation without consulting them at a minimum and seeking to reach agreement with them.
In British Columbia—perhaps it's not the same in the Great Lakes or on the east coast—I think it is considered the norm that respect be shown to the nations with respect to the marine terrain that they have historically been the key governors of. Sometimes there are several overlapping. There was a whole pattern of who's in charge of harvesting but also conservation in a defined territory.
I would respectfully suggest that we consider if there's something that would reflect that UNDRIP-based emerging norm in British Columbia at least, but perhaps not go as far as giving the nation 100% say. I suggest that we discuss some subamendment that would have something to do with being notified, consulted or invited—I guess the word would be “consulted”—in terms of anchorages in the waters that have historically been under the governance of that nation.