Mr. Speaker, I was commenting on what we are trying to do as a government to help the aboriginal people. I make these comments because of comments made last week in the House and I think the hon. members from that party could learn an awful lot if they would just listen.
I will quote some more: "I do not know the answer to the native communities and the problems which persist". It should be fairly obvious that if the hon. member could keep the people thinking that he is ignorant of aboriginal issues and kept silent instead of opening his mouth and proving it, then we would all be much better off.
In the debates when we are trying to do as much as we can to ensure that aboriginal people have a rightful place by righting some of the wrongs that have been done over the years, the members opposite would like us to go back a further 100 years and just say it is not your land. We do not have to help you. You should be on your own. We are not asking for that kind of help. We are asking for righting some of the wrongs that have been done over the last 200 years. We have resided in this country for 40,000 years.
I would like to go on to the bill to address the Split Lake Cree First Nation's flood agreement. As hon. members are aware, this is a very short bill. It is nonetheless an important bill because it ensures that certain commitments of the Government of Canada will be met. I would like to explain why it is before the House.
In 1977 the northern flood agreement was signed by the Governments of Canada and Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro, and the northern flood committee which represents five Manitoba First Nations.
It was intended to resolve a number of issues that arose after 11,861 acres of reserve lands were flooded by hydro related projects on the Churchill and Nelson Rivers. This project also flooded up to 528,000 acres of non-reserve land, much of which was traditionally used by the affected First Nations for hunting and trapping. The affected waterways were used as a source of drinking water, for recreational pursuits, for food and commercial fishing, and for transportation.
The northern flood agreement sets out a compensation program to the more than 9,000 status Indians adversely affected by the Lake Winnipeg regulation and Churchill River diversion project.
Unfortunately the northern flood agreement has been very difficult to implement. Its vague and inadequate wording, along with its failure to anticipate all the issues that have arisen, have lead the parties to seek arbitration on many points.
A total of 172 claims have been filed and this has occurred at a great expense to taxpayers. To resolve these problems, in July 1990 the four parties agreed to a proposed basis of settlement for addressing outstanding issues under the northern flood agreement.
This new accord approved a long list of matters to be resolved and provided a basis for band specific negotiations relating to them.
The only such negotiations to be completed to date involve the Split Lake Cree First Nation. An agreement was signed with this First Nation in June 1992 and it is now being implemented with no significant problems.
In addition to providing financial compensation to this First Nation, the settlement agreement increases socioeconomic opportunities for the Split Lake Cree and releases Canada from further obligations to this First Nation under the northern flood agreement in return for compensation provided.
The Split Lake Cree settlement agreement includes a commitment by the Government of Canada to implement certain provisions of the agreement through legislation. This is what Bill C-36 sets out to do. It does not give force to the Split Lake Cree settlement agreement. This agreement has its own legal force and is already being implemented.
It does not include commitments by the Government of Canada which have not already been made by the agreement itself. It does not make any grand promises to aboriginal people and it does not make any new demands on the federal purse. Bill C-36 simply ensures that the government lives up to one of its commitments to aboriginal people. That is something that all Canadians and all members of the House would want to do.
Bill C-36 will achieve four specific objectives. I would like to quickly review them for the House. First it provides, as intended by the agreement, that moneys owed under the Split Lake Cree agreement are not payable to the crown. This means these payments will not be considered Indian moneys under the Indian Act. This is very important for a couple of reasons. First, it means that the moneys paid under the Split Lake Cree agreement will be administered by a trustee at the direction of the First Nation, rather than by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.
Not only does this reduce our administrative burden but it also gives the affected band much greater control over these moneys than it would have over Indian Act moneys. It also removes a potential source of friction between the Split Lake Cree and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development over the management of its money. This is strictly in keeping with our objective of empowering First Nations to set their own destiny.
The second thing Bill C-36 does is clarify the status of fee simple lands owed to the Split Lake Cree First Nation. Specifically, the legislation ensures, again as intended by this agreement, that 2,800 acres of provincial crown lands that are provided in fee simple title will not become special reserves under sections 35 and 36 of the Indian Act.
The objective is to give the Split Lake Cree more control over the use and management of their lands, including any future potential development than would be possible if they were reserve lands. This stipulation means that the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development will not have the responsibility for these lands, along with the related costs and administrative burdens.
Third, Bill C-36 ensures that individual band members can continue to make certain claims against Manitoba Hydro under the northern flood agreement. However, settlement or adjudication processes set out in the band specific agreement will have precedence over the process included in the northern flood agreement, which as I mentioned earlier, is cumbersome and costly.
Bill C-36 ensures that the Government of Canada can utilize the Manitoba Arbitration Act when matters are in dispute under the northern flood agreement. Currently Canada is the only party to the agreement that does not have access to these arbitration mechanisms.
I want to assure hon. members that Bill C-36 was developed in full consultation with the Split Lake Cree. The four northern flood agreement bands that have not yet signed settlement agreements will not be affected by the proposed legislation, which is band specific and deals only with the Split Lake Cree First Nation.
As well, the province of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro support the bill, as it simply implements some provisions of an agreement that was signed three years ago. Hon. members should also be aware that the province of Manitoba is now in the process of drafting companion legislation to Bill C-36.
The Split Lake Cree settlement agreement has provided an important new beginning for this First Nation. It has given them control over their own future and the resources needed to support their socioeconomic advancement.
This House is being asked to help fulfil all of Canada's commitments under that important agreement. I urge hon. members to join me in supporting Bill C-36. In so doing we will send an important message to aboriginal people, a message of action, commitment, partnership and respect.