Mr. Speaker, I listened quite carefully to my hon. colleague from Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca. I am struck by a couplet of Pope: “A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring”. I am very disappointed in my colleague. I have always felt he is a man of honour and a man of some intellect, but he has talked a deal of nonsense this afternoon.
I am not sure how much he knows about the bill. I was in Nunavut two weeks ago today. The weather was a little colder than here. Eighty-five per cent are Inuit and speak Inuktitut, which will be the official language of Nunavut. There was a feeling of springtime, a feeling of confidence and a feeling of looking at new things. Nunavut will be proclaimed April 1, 1999 and the Inuit have been working some 20 years toward this point.
There was a referendum and a vote in 1982 in which they expressed their strong approval for continuing; the same again in 1992.
Does the member not realize there is a distinction or difference between aboriginals and reserves and what the act is going to provide in the eastern Arctic? Much of what he says is quite true. Being a member of the aboriginal affairs and northern development committee for the last two and a half years, I know they are true. I also know he does not appear to know what he is talking about with respect to Nunavut. I do not suppose he is going to admit that.
The report of the committee on aboriginal peoples made the comment about respect, recognition, sharing and responsibility. It is the Inuit themselves who want this act to be proclaimed and who want to govern themselves. They will be a public government so they will obviously be accountable and they will obviously be assimilated. I do not like the term, but as far as that goes they will be assimilated about as much as the people of British Columbia or Prince Edward Island have been assimilated into the Canadian mosaic. That is what this act does. That is what the department has been working toward. I would like the member to acknowledge that.