Mr. Speaker, a long time ago in a place far away political leaders decided that people should be divided and segregated so that some lived under one set of laws and the rest lived under another very different set of laws.
The world condemned the decision. The world said it was wrong to divide people on the basis of skin colour, ethnicity and language. The world said such state sponsored segregation was unacceptable and if we engage in it we do not have democracy.
Now, years later, the federal government gives us the Nisga'a treaty in British Columbia which proposes exactly the same segregationist ideas. The Nisga'a government is given supreme law making authority in at least 14 different areas, laws that will take precedence over federal and provincial laws but which will apply only to Nisga'a people. If you are not Nisga'a you cannot participate in this government even if you live in a Nisga'a community, are married to a Nisga'a person and have Nisga'a children.
All Canadians should be deeply concerned because this government proposes to sign similar agreements right across Canada that will entrench segregation as a major—