Mr. Speaker, I to rise to support this bill.
Looking at it in the context of the four categories in the minister's statement “Gathering Strength: Canada's Aboriginal Action Plan”, this bill would fit very well in renewing partnerships considering it has been 21 years with very little action or compensation for the first nations that were flooded. It is important to be willing to renew an partnership. It will strengthen aboriginal governance. It will support strong communities, people and economies. But it remains to be seen whether it is a commitment to a meaningful and lasting change for these people.
The minister goes on to say that we have to learn from the past, that we cannot afford to repeat mistakes. First nations people have suffered disproportionately for the last 150 to 200 years. They cannot afford to have government make any more mistakes on their behalf.
The document deals with increased access to lands and resources, that many first nations lands and natural resources offer the most important opportunity for creating jobs and economic development. The government will work with first nations, provinces and territories to strengthen the co-management process and provide increased access to land and resources. This is a very important political document because it reaffirms the commitment to self-government.
My Reform colleague said he did not know what self-government meant and that it should be the same for everyone. But the whole objective of self-government is so that it is not the same. It offers each band within a framework the ability to set its own standards and laws. They develop very differently culturally than Europeans. They have justice systems and access to resources that are very different from ours.
In Yukon land claims are not such a scary idea. Most of the 14 first nations are now implementing self-governing land claims. It has been a real benefit to Yukon. It was a long struggle. Implementation is not easy. Our auditor general has said he does not know if the amount of money settled will be enough to achieve the objective of the claims. But it is still an improvement. It is an improvement in the communities that have self-government. We can see the change. We can see the activity. We can see the determination.
My colleague was also worried about first nations governments not being accountable. By having self-government they are accountable to the people who elect them rather than being accountable to a bureaucracy that doles out money. They have to answer to their people. The first nations leaders I know are very dedicated individuals who have worked tirelessly on behalf of their people.
Bill C-56 is concrete proof of a movement toward living up to the “Gathering Strength” document. It has two parts. Part one of the bill relates to the settlement of matters arising from the flooding of lands as provided for in an agreement concluded with the Norway House Cree Nation which is very specific to it. Part two establishes mechanisms to facilitate the implementation of claims settlement in Manitoba by the creation of reserves or the addition of lands to existing reserves. Some of the first nations were shortchanged when their reserves were developed. This gives them the opportunity to redress it.
Part one pertains to the master implementation agreement signed in 1997 by the Government of Canada, the province of Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro and the Norway House Cree Nation which was affected by the flooding arising from hydroelectric projects.
The first nations affected by the flood were Cross Lake, York Factory, Nelson House, Split Lake Cree First Nations and the Norway House Cree Nation.
Because of the 1997 agreement which was difficult to implement there was very little movement in settling long outstanding problems and compensation. There was a proposed basis for settlement and four out of five first nations have signed the master implementation agreement.
Part two is the reserve establishment. It is related to federal government commitments in Manitoba to treaty land and the entitlement framework agreement of 1997.
On the basis of agreement from the first nations, part two would facilitate the implementation of any Manitoba claim settlement where Canada commits to increase first nations reserve land base.
This document provides a guide to the future. Treaties impose serious obligations and we need to respect those obligations and move forward.