Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure and an honour to rise in this House to speak on Bill C-39. I have a great deal of interest in this debate. I have listened to it for five or six hours but I have to admit I am not interested in a lot of the discussion that ensues about dragging the debate into other areas and other jurisdictions. I am not interested in the term Balkanization. I am not interested in filibustering and I am not interested in how this affects the Senate.
What I am interested in is what this bill says to the people of Canada about a very historic occasion in this country. This is the first time in over 50 years that we are presenting a new territory, bringing a new territory into the Canadian mosiac. This is a very historic occasion and it is one that as a member of the Indian affairs and northern development committee I am very proud to have participated in.
I think it is time to quickly summarize what this debate is about. The Nunavut Act will create a new territory on April 1, 1999 in the northeastern and central regions of what is currently the Northwest Territories.
This process was initiated in the 1960s. It has been a long process and it has been a long debate. I am sure the people who started that debate in the 1960s would be very weary of it if they were still here. Some of those early participants are still here.
The creation of Nunavut was set out in the Nunavut land claims agreement signed on May 25, 1993 by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. The government of Nunavut will be a public government reflecting the demographics of the area which is 85% Inuit. The official language will be Inuktitut.
During the debate of this bill, during the process of this bill through parliament we made some additions. We made some changes. Amendments to the Nunavut Act were necessary to allow for a smooth transition for April 1, 1999 to ensure the continuation of services.
Because of the complexity of the regulations, the original bill required amendments to ensure this would take place. The amendments allow for additional seats for both a new member of parliament and a new senator to represent the territory.
As well, this legislation removes any uncertainty regarding basic services like drivers licence registration and courtroom proceedings to allow them to continue after April 1, 1999 in an uninterrupted manner.
These are the specifics of the bill. These are the nuts and bolts of what we are talking about here. This is not an occasion for members of parliament to get up, filibuster and ask questions that have no relevancy whatsoever to the piece of legislation we are trying to discuss.
Bill C-39 is an historic piece of legislation that will create the third territory in Canada. It is a step toward provincial status for all territories, Yukon, NWT and eventually Nunavut.
Amendments to the Nunavut Act and the Constitution Act were necessary to allow for an election prior to April 1, 1999 and to make a seat available in the House of Commons and the Senate to reflect and provide representation for this new territory.
This is an historic event in the development of our country. I want to let the citizens of Canada consider that for a minute. This is not a time for politicians to stand up, filibuster and talk about issues that are certainly interesting and important, I admit, but which are not relevant to the debate. If we are to have debate in the House of Commons surely we should have relevant debate.
Another thing for which there seems to be a misunderstanding is the size of this new territory. Nunavut will encompass 2,242,000 square kilometres. Approximately one-seventh of that is under Inuit title under Inuit land claims. That land claims area is Inuit controlled land. The rest of that territory belongs to the people of Canada. It is crown land. This is not one huge land claim.
I have listened to comments today. Obviously members have not read the act. I have heard the debate go on and on about 25,000 people and what it is costing the people of Canada. What has it cost the territories of Canada to belong to this nation? How much have we taken from Yukon? How much have we taken from the NWT? How much have we taken from the eastern Arctic in mineral royalties, mining rights, oil and gas revenues? How much have we taken in taxation dollars? How much has been contributed? A lot.
I think it is time to allow a bit of common sense to enter the debate. We are talking about maturity here. We are talking about the maturity of a nation. We are talking about having three territories. Surely it is time we can be proud of this historic occasion and the very fact that on April 1, 1999 Canada will have a new territory. I think it is an historic occasion and a wonderful event.
On those words I take my seat and I hope the filibustering has stopped.