Mr. Speaker, I would like the hon. member for New Brunswick Southwest to comment on something that has been troubling me for a long time.
This government seems to be entering into a multiplicity of land settlements with native bands or groups of natives on an absolutely ad hoc basis. Nobody gets the same deal. It is not just a question of wanting one size to fit all, we have one size that fits practically nobody. Every time there is a problem or every time somebody has been shortchanged on their land entitlements, the government sets out through the department of Indian affairs and comes up with something absolutely new. This is not a sensible way to do business.
The problem is made even worse by the fact that most of the agreements when made contain what we call a me too clause. If one band gets a better deal on a particular problem than some other band got on its, then the other deal can be reopened and brought up to speed so that everybody gets treated equally. If everybody is going to get treated equally, why could we not have a set of rules, some guidelines, something to follow before we get into these things?