Madam Speaker, it is not often that I thank members from the New Democratic Party for interrupting me while I am making a speech, but this time I would certainly concur with what the member is saying. Again it is an atrocious example of the dictatorial nature of this Liberal government that it will do things outside of the House which should be done in here and which should be done in consultation with members of parliament who represent their constituents and are accountable to them. Instead, the government does this when there is no accountability. Even the members present in the Liberal Party do not have anything to say on this. It is atrocious.
The Nisga'a agreement is a deal with two groups of people. We are not trying to obstruct the government. Probably the members over there will fail to understand this because of their inability to understand common sense, but we are actually trying to help them. If this deal is rammed through this parliament like it was in the legislature in British Columbia, the Liberals will put at risk the very future of our children, our grandchildren, our whole society, our country, the unity of the country and the fiscal accountability of the country. Everything will be at risk unless they reach an agreement between both parties.
We are taking this action today of blocking the travel of the finance committee. The Liberals are quite right in that it is a move to force them to listen to the people of British Columbia. We are absolutely fed up with the fact that Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and British Columbia are continually ignored by this government.
The country has a unity problem. People right across the country from coast to coast are asking “What is wrong with Ottawa? Can we not fix it?” The fact is that they can fix it, and we want to help them do that by engaging in a debate.
It is an affront to every member of parliament to bring in a Nisga'a agreement with a prior condition that not one dot or tittle in it can be amended. That is the condition. It is all or nothing.
We find a number of elements in that agreement to be quite offensive to Canadians. The Liberals are wrong. We are not permitted to amend it. Therefore we have no choice but to oppose it. The only way we can achieve this is by getting the people informed and involved. Contrary to what the minister said the other day, the more people find out about the facts of this agreement, the more they will say that it is going in the right direction but there are immense problems with it which must be fixed or else we are in trouble. Of course it is a ploy. It is a tactic we are using. The Liberals may not like it but it is in direct response to what they are doing, not to us. I have a pretty thick skin and it is padded beneath. I am not worried about that. I am worried about the fact that they are insulting and ignoring the voters and the taxpayers of British Columbia.
They can fix this. If they want to do their travel, all we are asking is that on an issue as important as this we should also have a committee travel, that committee being the committee on Indian affairs. Let it go to British Columbia and hear directly from British Columbians what their genuine concerns are.
This is of great importance. I do not know how to emphasize it. I know I could be dramatic. I could get on the news tonight if I stood on the table and maybe took off my shoe and banged it on the desk like Khrushchev did. However, I will not do that because I believe in the dignity of this place and that dignity is destroyed when ordinary principles of democracy are so trodden on by the government.
I believe that in order to solve the problem we must have both committees travelling. That is all we are asking for. We will absolutely not obstruct parliament, but we will not permit them to obstruct parliament either. If they do so, they can expect from a responsible official opposition that there will be a little bit of a tactic in return. They ought not to be surprised when they have been this blatant in their abuse of the democratic process.
Because of the importance of this, I will move an amendment. I move:
That the motion be amended by deleting the words “be permitted in 1999 to—”