Mr. Speaker, the hon. member talked about a substantial absence of treaties in British Columbia. That is correct. The assumption is often made that because there is a substantial absence of treaties and largely a reserve system in place, there is somehow an overriding legal obligation on the part of governments to enter into treaties.
A legal counsel for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development confirmed to me very recently that the current federal government position is that there is no legal obligation or imperative on the part of the federal government to enter into treaties in British Columbia. That is certainly consistent with what I had thought. It is also consistent with the position of the provincial government.
This means to me that government should only be entering into this process if there is something in it for all parties. This is the quid pro quo or trade-off I mentioned in my speech. My first question for the member would be whether that indeed is his interpretation as well.
There was some discussion about an independent commission. I assume the member is talking about the B.C. Treaty Commission. There was some debate about the B.C. Treaty Commission recently in the House when we debated Bill C-107, which is the enabling federal legislation, albeit quite tardy.
The terms of reference of the B.C. Treaty Commission actually leaves it rather toothless. In most areas of endeavour the commission can suggest but it is not very much of a decision maker. The commission is called the keeper of the process. Some things as basic as readiness guidelines for some of the participants in the negotiations were not foreseen at the time the enabling legislation was put together. For example, regional advisory committees do not have readiness guidelines that fall within the terms of reference of the B.C. Treaty Commission. This has been pointed out by many parties as a shortcoming. Therefore, it has no mandate.
What has happened in some circumstances in B.C. is that negotiations have pushed ahead by either the federal and/or provincial negotiators without the regional advisory committees actually being ready. This is quite a handicap and of course creates consternation at the local level. My second question would relate to that area.
The third and final area I would ask the member about would be the role of municipalities which he mentioned. Municipalities are recognized nowhere in the B.C. Treaty Commission terms of reference. There is a separate provincial memorandum of understanding. They are kind of a sidebar arrangement with the province. The municipalities through the Union of B.C. Municipalities are saying that their actual costs already, early in the process, are at least double that which the provincial government is compensating them.
I would say the door is not open. The door is ajar. It is a very unsatisfactory situation. There must be a much better way to approach this subject. Does the member have some suggestions in that regard?