Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
It is becoming clearer all the time that the minister does not understand the widespread concern over the meaning of aboriginal self-government. The minister must know there are several fundamentally different definitions of what self-government actually means. These range from the minimal concept of municipal government to the opposite extreme of absolute sovereignty as a nation state.
Does the minister still not understand why so many Canadians both inside and outside the aboriginal community believe we must define at least some broad parameters around what is and what is not acceptable in the definition of aboriginal self-government before it can be agreed to even in principle?