Mr. Speaker, the member is quite right in saying the role of the B.C. Treaty Commission is to assess whether the parties are prepared for negotiating.
In the case of one aboriginal group within my riding, the government is entering into agreements for negotiating with hereditary governments, not with elected representatives. People from that community continually come to my office and ask: "Who do these people represent and why is the government dealing with them? Why is the government signing agreements with them? Why is the government going to negotiate with them?" Their rights have been completely ignored in this whole process.
Yes, there are very serious problems in Canada's aboriginal communities. It is not because of a loss of culture nearly so much as it is a complete reflection of the state of the welfare industry which has been built up around native Indian people. This symptom will be found in any community, be it aboriginal or non-native, wherever we go. If people are treated as wards of the state and are going to be forever on a short leash from the Government of Canada, those are exactly the kinds of problems we can expect to find in communities like that.
Perhaps the hon. member could take time out of her busy schedule to come to my riding. I would be more than happy to take her to some of the aboriginal communities and introduce her to some of the people who have serious concerns about the direction in which both the federal and provincial governments are going. They have very serious concerns because they know it is not good for them. They know the government finds it very easy to deal with collectives but has a very difficult time dealing with individual rights and individual responsibilities.