Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the hon. House leader of the Progressive Conservative Party on his very eloquent remarks in support of the Nisga'a treaty.
I underline the point that he made with respect to the Delgamuukw decision. Of course when we hear representatives of the Reform Party saying to scrap this treaty and go back to the beginning, that effectively ignores the mandate we have been given as parliamentarians by the highest court of the land in Delgamuukw to honour and respect the rights of Canada's first nations.
Would the hon. member care to comment on the suggestions that have been made, particularly by the member for Skeena, the member who has not met with leaders of the Nisga'a by the way since 1995, long before the treaty was signed. He has refused to meet with the leadership of the Nisga'a for the last three or four years. It is unbelievable when he represents that community. He has said that the treaty provides for taxation without representation. He said it entrenches inequality for aboriginal women and that it provides for a race based government.
The fact is that the treaty itself states that the Nisga'a Lisims government may make laws in respect of direct taxation of Nisga'a citizens on Nisga'a land, full stop, and that there can only be taxation of non-Nisga'a citizens if the provincial or federal governments delegate that authority to the Nisga'a people.
I wonder if the hon. member would like to comment on that gross misrepresentation by the Reform Party and also on the Reform Party's suggestion that in some way this entrenches inequality for aboriginal women.