Mr. Speaker, I would like by way of introduction to note that living conditions in the territories covered by this agreement, like those in many parts of Canada's North, are in no way comparable to those of South Sea islands. This needs emphasis, because in these territories the temperature can drop to 30 or 40 degrees below zero. It is often sunny, and you do have to wear your dark glasses, but bermuda shorts and sandals are not recommended. I have been there myself, and I can tell you that I was very happy to have my heavy parka, because even all bundled up I was very cold. So bermuda shorts were quite out of the question.
So living conditions are very difficult there. The cost of living is very high, as well. That has to be borne in mind, because I think it's important to set the scene before we zero in on the bill, so that we understand why the bill is important. I was very surprised to find that three litres of milk, for example, cost about $11 there.
I would also like to invite my colleagues to listen to me on Thursday afternoon, because I am going to table in this House a motion dealing with this very question of food distribution in the North, setting out and demonstrating clearly and in detail that it is in Canada's best interests to ensure that food is distributed more cheaply. Many of the families there pay up to 100 per cent of their income for food alone. So not only is life hard, but the cost of living is extremely high.
As for working conditions, in the rest of the country we talk about the unemployment rate; there they talk about the employment rate. The First Nations north of 60 are often said to have an employment rate of 20 per cent. While we are indignant because we have an unemployment rate of 20 per cent, they have an employment rate of 20 per cent, which means an unemployment rate of 80 per cent. So of course they are dependent on government social programs. There are certain things in this bill that I have reservations about, but it is a step in the right direction, toward helping them regain control of their future.
As is my custom, I would also like to put these people's past in perspective. It is, I believe, important for seeing how the new situation fits into the old. The name "Cree", like certain others, probably comes from a French word. When the Europeans came in contact with the Cree about 200 years ago, they called them the "Cristinois". The word "Cree" probably derives from that.
Five hundred years ago the territory occupied by the Cree was extremely vast. It stretched from the eastern shore of James Bay along the rivers that run north into the Bay to the northern tip of Lake Winnipeg. Pottery has been found that marks the Crees' travels through that territory almost 1,000 years ago. Here again is evidence that the first occupants of this land were not Europeans at all but aboriginal inhabitants. Their traces go back 1,000 years.
By some estimates there were 15,000 people speaking Cree at that time, and today there are about 11,000. I will talk about that a little later. The plural form "Crees" sounds rather like the French word "crise", meaning crisis; I trust there is no connection, and I do not think there is.
Cree women were noted for their traditional embroidery, made with moose and reindeer hairs. Those are other traces they left in their territory.
Having read up on the Cree, I can tell you that they were regarded by the first Europeans as spirited people, very attractive, good at getting along with others, great admirers of eloquence. They would certainly have been at home here. I do not know whether my hon. colleague has any Cree ancestors, but he is certainly eloquent. Native people as a general rule do appreciate eloquence, so he is in his element in the House of Commons.
I would now like to move quickly to the bill that is before us at this time. In 1977, Manitoba Hydro decided to flood 11,861 acres of land belonging to the Cree, about 10 per cent, by the by, of their territory. The flooding completely destroyed the traditional trapping and hunting territory. Finally it was realized that an agreement had to be reached with the Cree.
As I mentioned earlier, there are now 11,000 Cree living in five bands on the land in question. I will name them because I think we are coming to the nub of the difficulty; we will not be able to give the bill our full support and the question will have to be referred to committee. There are five bands involved. The agreement is with the Split Lake Cree First Nation but there are other First Nations affected by the agreement and they are the Cross Lake, the Nelson House, the Norway House and the York Factory First Nations. These four other First Nations will be indirectly affected by the bill. I think this point ought to be clarified.
In 1977, an agreement was reached with the Northern Flood Committee. The Northern Flood Committee is made up of the five First Nations I just listed. Manitoba Hydro, the government of Canada and the Northern Flood Committee reached an agreement, but many matters were left unresolved in that agreement, among them the question of what form compensation for the flooded land would take. Perhaps employment of band members on hydroelectric projects is an option, because the bill before us today deals with compensation for which the government of Canada recognizes it has a responsibility as well as Manitoba Hydro.
At the time, people said that compensation would be paid for the flooded land, but there were ambiguities. Among other questions, how many band members could work on hydroelectric projects? How much would it cost to implement the agreement? What about environmental monitoring? These were all questions that there was no time to deal with in any depth. The result was 174 claims for arbitration. It was evident that the agreement was far from clear and was contributing to increased numbers of claims. This led to new negotiations in 1989. In July 1990, the four negotiators of the agreement relating to the flooding of land in northern Manitoba reached an agreement on settling the claims.
Unfortunately, only one band accepted the negotiators' recommendations, and that was the Split Lake band. There are 2,129 Cree registered as members of that band, but only 1,400 live on the reserve itself. I will cover the salient points of the agreement. As I have said, only the Split Lake Cree are involved. Other agreements are under negotiation but none has yet been concluded. The objective is to settle with the Nelson House band in 1994, but as far as I could tell from discussions this morning with the Northern Flood Committee, not much progress has been made in the negotiations.
The trouble is not the financial compensation; the trouble is the water level, because in the agreement itself, Manitoba Hydro is exonerated from any responsibility if the water flows fall below a certain level. There is the trouble: below a certain level.
The Split Lake First Nation reached an agreement. However, the York Factory band, the other Indian band with direct access to the lake, is not included in that agreement, and its members are saying: "Listen, we realize you have reached an agreement with the Split Lake First Nation. But if Manitoba Hydro intends to do anything that will affect the level of the lake and if it has an agreement with the Split Lake First Nation, that will have a direct effect on us".
There is the trouble. And yet-this is something noteworthy that I must point out-the Split Lake Cree have become very skilled in water cleanup. I find it important to note that, because with very traditional, very limited means, these people have managed to set up a small, inexpensive laboratory, and they are treating the lake water. It is well known that the water in that kind of lake contains a great deal of lead and that, if you want to clean it up, there certainly is a lot of environmental work involved.
These people have become so skilled that they are setting up an exchange of information network with South American countries, including Chile, and I think that is noteworthy.
The agreement also specifies which lands are to be transferred to Canada by Manitoba and set aside as reserve lands, some with flooding rights. All that is in the agreement; the legislation simply clarifies some of those provisions. Of course, resource management and environmental monitoring are a capstone of the agreement.
As is the case in several agreements affecting the First Nations, -this is something that is of very great importance to them, as I keep repeating, because it is noteworthy-First Nations always attach a great deal of importance to the environment and consequently, where resource management is concerned and when a major player like Manitoba Hydro comes along, they often have to set up joint systems to accurately monitor the environmental effects. I think it is important that it be done that way.
I now come to the compensation fund. The compensation fund is a fund of $20 million; a series of trust accounts will be set up and administered. That is important because, in practice, the money will not go directly into the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Department of Indian Affairs, but will constitute a fund to be administered directly by the Cree.
Of course, there were other negotiations, on consultation and arbitration jurisdictions, because an agreement is often subject to arbitration and disputes occur, and there must be systems that ensure that these disputes can be settled. Then, Canada and Manitoba are exonerated from any obligation or claim having to do with the Split Lake Cree under the agreement. So exoneration from obligations and claims is provided for.
Bill C-36, I repeat, affects only the Split Lake First Nation. So, that means that the four other nations I mentioned earlier are not affected by this agreement, although, according to what we claim, according to the discussions we had with the main parties concerned, the bill has significant effects on the four other bands and that is why we have reservations about the bill.
There is one statement, contained in the usual explanatory notes accompanying a bill, that this version of the bill was developed in co-operation with the five bands. It would appear that this is not the case, because I have here a document signed by the four other chiefs saying that they did not have any part in this bill's being tabled in the House and were not adequately consulted.
Another odd thing in the explanatory notes accompanying the bill is that the English version states that there was consultation only with the Split Lake First Nation, while the French version states that all the bands were consulted. There seems to be an inconsistency there, and I think it would be worthwhile for the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to consider the true background for this agreement.
I mentioned the $20 million fund. I have the details about how this fund will be allocated. Of course, the Government of Canada and Manitoba Hydro are the ones paying into the fund. They have agreed on shared contributions to be spread out until 1997.
As well, at present, money is owing that came due in April 1993 and April 1994. This money owing will be paid as soon as the bill is passed. So it is important to note that Canada and Manitoba Hydro have acknowledged their responsibility concerning the flooding during the early 1970s.
Instead of going into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, the money is to be put directly into a trust account set up for the Split Lake Cree. As I was just saying, the money will be transferred as soon as the Act comes into force. Lands will also be ceded to the Cree, and a provision in the Act states that they will not be special reserves. That is important to those people. Normally certain provisions of the Indian Act should apply but, at the express request of the Split Lake First Nation negotiators, they will not apply in this case.
Provision has also been made for arbitration in the bill. Some systems are provided for, so that, in case of disagreement, the Cree and Manitoba Hydro can reach agreement under a system of arbitration.
In conclusion, I think that, like most bills that have been tabled concerning aboriginal peoples, including Bills C-16, C-33 and C-34, this one is in fact a step in the right direction. The clear intent is freedom from guardianship of the aboriginal peoples; through this type of agreement, we are freeing ourselves from it in part, by providing compensation fees and by setting up committees.
We plan to address the 80 per cent unemployment rate by giving the aboriginal peoples a chance to take charge of their lives. These are not programs applied from Ottawa. They are the ones in charge of certain aspects of jurisdiction. That is entirely in accordance with what the Bloc québécois wanted: the dismantling of this legislation that is, to some extent, the equivalent of apartheid in North America.
I must also give high marks to those who paved the way for this type of agreement. I must mention the James Bay Agreement, a very sophisticated, very advanced agreement in Quebec that, in my opinion, paved the way for the type of agreement we have before us today and the type of bill we are considering today. Quebec is very proud to say that we gave a great deal in compensation to the Cree and that the agreement and the legislation were reached in common agreement among the Cree, the Province of Quebec, and the Government of Canada. I think that is noteworthy. Quebec has something to be proud of. The agreements like the one we have before us today will be largely based on and similar to the James Bay Agreement.
Lastly, I must tell you that the Bloc Quebecois will ask simply that the bill be referred to the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, solely because of the lack of consultation. I do not think that we are in an emergency situation, as was the case in the Yukon, where people waited for 20 years and exerted tremendous pressure for the bill to be passed before the end of the session.
Negotiations surrounding this compensation agreement have been underway since 1977. I do not think waiting a bit longer will be catastrophic. The Bloc Quebecois would be hard put to agree to the bill concerning the Split Lake Cree First Nation without taking into consideration its effect on the other four nations. Having examined the agreement and the scope of the bill, I think it does impact on the other nations. In my opinion, therefore, it would be entirely appropriate for the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs to closely assess the impact of this whole decision on the other four nations.
Therefore, we will simply propose, after second reading, that the bill be referred to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs for a closer study of its scope.