Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this bill.
The NDP was very pleased to support the bill at second reading. Everything seemed in order. Consultation had taken place and the First Nations of the Sahtu and Gwich'in were eager to move on with the application of this bill.
However a different story arose when it came to committee. Again, the department assured us that there was adequate consultation and that everything was as it should be. As witnesses appeared however, it became very clear that that indeed was not the case.
Before I go into specific details, I will say the NDP no longer supports this bill as three out of the five First Nations involved in the region of the Mackenzie Valley do not support it. It comes down to a very basic question of democracy.
The three First Nations people who are not in support of this bill believe that their land claims process will be jeopardized if this bill is imposed on them before they finish their land claims.
The Deh Cho people, the Slave people and the Metis of the region came before the committee time after time to ask whether we could wait until their land claims were finished or would we exclude them completely and have this bill apply to the Gwich'in and the Sahtu as part of their land claims. No one objected to that. In fact nobody really objected to the terms of what is in the bill. They thought that it was very good for the Gwich'in and the Sahtu but that it was not good for them. The justification for imposing it on them I do not think is reasonable.
Looking at this in light of the response of the minister for Indian affairs to the royal commission on aboriginal affairs and her statement of reconciliation imposing a bill on First Nations people, it is not consistent with her statement of reconciliation nor her response to the commission. She was very clear. I remember sitting in the Yukon and listening to her and feeling that this was on the right track, that the government's position would be to negotiate with First Nations people and not to litigate.
During the hearings I asked one of the witnesses from the Deh Cho people if they were included in this bill what it would mean to them as a people. The witness said that they would have no choice but to go to court. They would have no choice but to litigate. They would have no choice but to spend very precious resources, both financial and manpower, to direct their attention to fighting for the rights of their people an action which is totally unnecessary on the part of this government. It would be a waste of valuable human resources on the part of the Deh Cho people who are trying only to have some say over their land, their people and their future.
In the spirit of the royal commission, we saw the passage of Bill C-6 as not just honouring a federal government commitment and obligations or a payment of a moral debt to aboriginal people, but we saw it as proof of the new relationship the minister had stated she wanted. Those expectations have not been met and these new facts have caused us to re-evaluate our position on Bill C-6.
Bill C-6 sets a regime to meet the aboriginal needs of the Sahtu and the Dene-Metis under the land claims agreement. That is because the federal government is fulfilling a commitment to those groups. However, the procedures established under the bill will have an impact on the First Nations in the Mackenzie Valley living outside the designated Sahtu and Gwich'in regions.
The Sahtu and Dene-Metis land claims agreement is being imposed on the Deh Cho, South Slave and North Slave groups. These groups should be excluded from this bill, or the federal government should redefine an overall umbrella agreement through negotiations with all of the First Nations of the Mackenzie Valley to clarify the co-management of the Mackenzie Valley and future self-government agreements.
Another point that is important to bring into this is that with the two original First Nations groups that would have been included in this bill, it would have given them an equal say over their land. However, the more First Nations groups that are included with the two First Nations groups one can see that it will dilute the say that each group has over their land, their future and decisions made that will have a direct impact on their way of life.
The Northwest Territories Chamber of Mines advanced a series of amendments to the bill to facilitate doing business in the Mackenzie Valley. The chamber recognized that some First Nations were not really thrilled with Bill C-6 because it was coming before negotiations on their land claims, some started or finished. The chamber was concerned that if these First Nations decided not to appoint members to the boards before they had settled their claims, it could bring development in the area to a halt.
The business community was and is aware that other First Nations in the Mackenzie Valley are either adamantly opposed or are requesting major amendments to Bill C-6. The unwillingness of the government to accommodate these concerns will create in the end a high degree of uncertainty about the final regulatory scheme that will apply to that area.
According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, the legislation treats the whole Mackenzie Valley as one ecological unit. In this sense the department failed to consider the political aspects behind First Nations living inside this ecological unit.
There are serious shortcomings in setting up the political relationship between the First Nations in the Mackenzie Valley and the federal government. The outcome is a relationship on the basis of the old traditional attitude of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development toward First Nations and not one based on the stated objective of the minister which is a new relationship, a new beginning. The inability of the federal government to resolve this contradiction has violated the spirit of the royal commission and indeed the minister's statement.
The Metis Nation of the Northwest Territories supported the implementation of Bill C-6 but not in the areas that have not settled their claims. These people feel that Bill C-6 should not be imposed on them. They clearly indicated that the officials of the federal government were making a serious mistake by implementing the Gwich'in and Sahtu final agreement throughout the whole of the Mackenzie Valley.
The South Slave Metis indicated that while they participated in information sessions with federal officials on Bill C-6, they were never involved in consultations or in the drafting of Bill C-6. They requested that Bill C-6 should not be allowed to take place in their region. This group, like other First Nations, asked the committee to wait to implement the bill.
Again, three out of the five First Nations in the region requested exclusion from the bill.
The option of a dual system linking both areas for the settled and the unsettled was considered feasible by several witnesses but no consideration of the idea was given by federal officials.
It is the position of the NDP that Bill C-6 should only be applied to the Gwich'in and Sahtu area as the bill is a direct result of agreements reached with the federal government by the above groups.
During the committee stage it became increasingly clear that there was a lack of communication, allocation of resources and consultation with respect to other First Nations being affected by this bill. Historically, Canada has a poor record when it comes to aboriginal people. The new relationship heralded by the minister has not yet seen the light in that area.
Another aspect that was brought up over and over again was that sending the package through the mail to elders of a First Nation whose first language is not English or French is not consultation. It does not meet any standard of informing those people of what is going on and how their rights and their lives will be affected. Witnesses who came before us stressed how important it was that their elders be properly informed and that the opinion of these esteemed elders be sought.
It is really regrettable that the people whom this will affect were totally left out of the consultation process. Today this government is imposing legislation on First Nations lands with land claims that are not settled. Decisions will be made on their land before they have finished their claim. The input of these first nations will be diluted once the boards are set up. Decisions could be made that affect their land and their claim process. They will have minimal, if any, say.
What was proposed by the NDP was to exclude those groups from the bill and when the time came, when their land claims were finished and they deemed it proper, they could be included if it suited them. Unfortunately that was not adopted and we have before us a bill which goes against any kind of democratic principle.
Sitting on the committee as a northerner, I was quite shocked to realize the lack of knowledge of the north. I felt as a northerner excluded from the plans of the country because, as one of my Liberal colleagues stated, there are not very many of us.
There is no recognition of the inherent right to self-government by the first nations in the area. People who appeared before us explained historical agreements of goodwill and hope. They told us of the fights they had to take before the courts over and over again. I was hopeful they would not have to take that route, that they would not have to go before the courts to fight for the basic right not to be included in an agreement that will impose upon them, their land and their people conditions with which they may or may not agree or have no knowledge of.
Those are the reasons we do not support the bill.