Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote from the presentation to the aboriginal affairs standing committee from Miss Judy Gingell, the chair of the Council for Yukon Indians, with regard to the agreements that we are debating here today: "These agreements manifest a vision of our elders. Our elders maintained that our homelands must be protected in a manner that allows the sharing and natural resources with other Canadians. Our elders have instilled in us a great respect for other cultures and other people. Their visions of justice and fairness form the basis of our agreements".
We are debating these couple of motions with regard to amendments to Bill C-33. This has to do with the land claims. When we were trying to deal with the issue of land claims, this has taken some 21 years to date to come to this state.
It started by being a vision, a dream. It started by being something that people wanted to talk about but did not really have any understanding of what it would all lead to. Twenty-one years later this is what it is coming to.
I am very honoured to have taken a part in helping that dream come true. As well, I am sure that thanks and appreciation go to all the negotiators over the years on the government side and on the CYI side, and of course all the Yukon Indian people as well as the non-Indians whose hopes and trust are placed in the success of these agreements.
As we have found out in the last few days, these two bills have the support of all the Yukoners. We had the Yukon territorial government, the Council for Yukon Indians, the member of Parliament for Yukon and others all supporting these two bills.
In supporting this bill, we are making the dreams of Yukoners come true. In light of the local support, the position of the Reform Party which has opposed these bills from the outset can only be characterized as decidedly undemocratic.
The Reform Party which professes to uphold and respect the wishes and the will of the people has shown profound disrespect and contempt for the people of Yukon. The Reform's effort to thwart this bill and the will of the people from the Yukon through this process has been appalling.
What is most disturbing about the position of the Reform Party in all this in my view is it does not really even care what happens in the Yukon. It is more concerned about the potential land claims agreements in British Columbia.
By imposing its fears and concerns about land claims in B.C. and Yukon, it forced Yukoners and especially Yukon Indian people to unnecessary stress and indignities.