Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak on behalf of the New Democratic Party to Bill C-57.
The people of Nunavut have a unique culture and deserve to have a court system which reflects their culture and geographic realities. The NDP has been consistent in its support for self-government and that is why at second reading our aboriginal affairs spokesperson indicated our principled support for the bill.
However I have very serious concerns about the bill. If the court system created by the bill is implemented, it will have devastating consequences for the Manitoba Dene whose traditional territory straddles the Manitoba-Nunavut border. The Manitoba Dene are my constituents. Although I too support self-government for Nunavut, I cannot support or endorse a bill which runs counter to their well-being.
The Manitoba Dene are those bands in the Dene nation whose reserve lands fall within Manitoba. There are two such bands, the Northlands First Nation who signed a treaty with Canada in 1907 and the Sayisi Dene First Nation who signed a treaty in 1910.
These treaties guaranteed members of the nations the inalienable right to hunt, fish, trap and select reserve lands anywhere in their traditional territories. Fifty-seven per cent of their traditional territory lies north of the 66th parallel that divides Manitoba and Nunavut. This area represents less than 5% of the territory of Nunavut.
Ever since these first nations signed their treaties they have continued to hunt, fish and trap in their traditional territories north of 60. When the federal government negotiated the Nunavut agreement with the Inuit of Nunavut, the Manitoba Dene asked to be included in these negotiations but were inexplicably and unjustly excluded. There was no justification for this exclusion.
The government was negotiating the transfer of lands to which the Manitoba Dene have a right according to treaty. In a feeble attempt to justify what it had done the federal government claimed out of the blue that the Manitoba Dene had no rights north of 60.
This claim would almost be laughable if it did not have such serious consequences for the Manitoba Dene. No one who knows anything about the Manitoba Dene believes this ridiculous claim in light of the mountains of evidence to the contrary. Archeologists have proven that bands have occupied lands of north of 60 for 2,600 years. These bands have no less than 25 burial sites north of 60. They have occupied lands north and south of the 60th parallel for as long as there have been historical records about them.
For most of the past two and a half centuries they have been a nomadic society. The staple of their diet was the caribou and they travelled across vast distances following the great northern caribou herds. This is why their traditional lands do not match up with the nice straight lines we see on maps. Caribou do not care about the lines on maps. By the terms of the treaties the Manitoba Dene signed in the first decade of this century they have an undeniable claim north of 60.
The Government of the Northwest Territories acknowledges the ridiculousness of the federal government's position with an administrative measure called the border A licence area. Within this area, which very closely coincides with the traditional territory of the Manitoba Dene, Manitoba Dene are not required to have a licence to carry out their traditional practices.
This policy directly contradicts the federal government's claim but acknowledges the reality of the situation. To this day the Dene of Manitoba still hunt, fish and trap north of 60. In these communities where most food has to be flown from the south, making it very expensive, most people still rely on hunting and fishing to feed their families.
Despite the evidence arrayed against their position, the Government of Canada clings irrationally to its claim that the Manitoba Dene have no rights north of 60. Even when in 1993 the standing committee on aboriginal affairs unanimously called on the government to recognize the rights of the Manitoba Dene within Nunavut, the government refused. At that time the Progressive Conservative Indian affairs minister said that the Manitoba Dene claim north of 60 would have to be resolved in the courts.
In response to this challenge, the Manitoba Dene filed a claim with the Federal Court of Canada asking the court to enforce their treaty rights. This case remains before the court today. While the Dene of Manitoba case has dragged on, the Liberal government has forged blindly ahead with the implementation of the Nunavut Act.
The bill before us today is to establish a Nunavut court of justice to reflect the unique cultural and geographic realities of Nunavut. I say again that my party and I support the Inuit right to self-government and we support the creation of a separate court system for the territory.
The Northern Manitoba Tribal Council, of which the Manitoba Dene are members, the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, also officially support the Inuit of Nunavut. However, they know as I do that it is not fair and it is not right to settle one land claim at the expense of another.
When Nunavut comes into being a few months from now, the Nunavut wildlife management board will have jurisdiction over hunting, fishing and trapping in the traditional territory of the Manitoba Dene. Nunavut leaders have refused to recognize the treaty rights of the Manitoba Dene until there is a ruling from the court. In the meantime, since the rights of the Dene are not recognized, they will be subject to the rules and regulations of the Nunavut wildlife management board.
The Nunavut court of justice created by the bill will have the power and responsibility to enforce the regulations of the board. I cannot in good conscience support the creation of a legal authority that will prevent the Manitoba Dene from hunting, fishing and trapping in their traditional lands. I therefore submitted an amendment to the bill which would have granted a stay of prosecution of the Manitoba Dene people charged with these kinds of offences in their traditional lands.
I want to take a moment to read that amendment:
Any proceedings before the Nunavut Court of Justice that involve the Denesuline of Manitoba claiming as a defence any matter set out in the claim presently being advanced for and on behalf of the Sayisi Dene First Nations and the Northlands First Nation in the Federal Court of Canada (Trial Division) in a Statement of Claim dated March 9, 1993, as amended, initiating suit T-703-93 against the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Attorney General of Canada (among other defendants) shall be stayed pending the final decision of the Federal Court of Canada with respect to the matter of, if the matter is appealed or referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, the final decision of the Supreme Court of Canada.
When the Table ruled this amendment out of order because it went beyond the scope of the bill, I was extremely disappointed and frustrated. This one amendment could have protected the treaty rights of the Manitoba Dene until the courts affirmed them.
How typical of the disrespect and contempt with which the Canadian government has treated these people. In a bill dealing with the Nunavut court of justice and its jurisdiction to try different crimes in the territory of Nunavut, an amendment to temporarily modify its jurisdiction seems entirely within its scope to me, especially in light of the number of omnibus bills we have seen pushed through the House in the last two months. What hypocrisy on the part of the Liberal government. Without tainting or delaying the process that the people of Nunavut deserve, the Manitoba Dene, MKO and I have done what we can to try to amend the bill within the methods available to us.
Now that we are at third reading all I can do is say I am opposed to the bill. I will continue to do everything I can to ensure that the rights of the Manitoba Dene are respected. The Manitoba Dene deserve justice. If their treaty rights are respected there is no reason why the Inuit and the Dene cannot find some sort of mutually acceptable accommodation in the context of Nunavut.
I emphasize again that the area in question is less than 5% of Nunavut. Rather than promote such a resolution, successive Liberal and Conservative governments have denied Manitoba Dene treaty rights and have acted as roadblocks to their justice.