Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the name of the party of the hon. member who just spoke, we do not think it is as democratic as its name might imply.
I said that there did not seem to be the level of consultation necessary for a bill termed important and historic. Nobody is denying that we can move power down particularly from the government to the people. We want enough people to have a say and express their opinions to be sure that is the direction in which they want to go.
As to whether or not the current system has worked, in places it does and in places it does not. A number of chiefs, their executive assistants and education people appeared before us. They were well educated, well spoken individuals under the current system. To think that we could put all the people into a basket and say they are poorly educated because they were educated under a system that is foreign to what we experienced in our past is ridiculous. People will flourish under a multiplicity of systems.
This is one that may work very well for these people. When something is as important and historic as the bill—and it may well prove to be one of the more important ones when it comes to how an entire generation is raised—it is surely not too much to expect real consultation so that we are sure we have democracy.