Mr. Speaker, I am pleased on behalf of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to respond to the hon. member for Halifax West concerning Canada's fiduciary responsibility toward its aboriginal people.
The federal government takes very seriously its fiduciary relationship with aboriginal people. However, in a legal context, there is much uncertainty within fiduciary law on what the specific duties or obligations of the federal government are because of this relationship.
The Supreme Court of Canada has begun to outline Canada's specific obligations in this complex area, beginning as far back as the Calder case. Mr. Calder was one of the elders of the Nisga'a clan with whom we have just signed a very historical agreement. The Sparrow case is another one reaching the Supreme Court of Canada, and most recently the well known Delgamuukw case in which the supreme court outlined a broad context by which the federal government must interpret the specifics in each arrangement with its first peoples.
The government has studied these decisions carefully to ensure that Canada's actions conform to the principles articulated by these esteemed courts. Among these principles is Canada's fiduciary responsibility to ensure that surrenders of reserve lands reflect the intentions of the first nations for whom the reserve has been set aside.
The courts are one process chosen by aboriginal people to resolve outstanding grievances, as they should from time to time. In some instances the Government of Canada has intervened in courts cases to which aboriginal people are also parties. Crown intervention decisions like other positions in court are taken carefully, considering the implications for aboriginal people as well as for government policy.
With our special relationship with aboriginal people and with the Gathering Strength initiative, the government encourages the use of negotiation rather than litigation.