Mr. Speaker, I think you did in fact pay close attention to my remarks.
The issue of citizenship, as set out in this agreement, indicates no racist intention, no intention of excluding anyone. It must be understood that the concept of citizenship and its possible extension are based on historical precedent and are intimately tied to the history of the Nisga'a nation, which was covered by the Indian Act, which was racist, of course, but which will be replaced by an agreement on self-government allowing native peoples to grant citizenship according to their own rules, which will not show them to be racist, in my view, any more than the other peoples of this country, such as the people of Canada and Quebec.
What interested me in this agreement is the willingness to allow the Nisga'a, the Nisga'a people and its government, to examine international issues, international agreements, international arrangements. Indeed, it is mentioned in chapter III, which concerns fisheries, particularly in section 115 where the Nisga'a are given the right to be consulted when the Canadian government negotiates fisheries agreements having an impact on existing rights they could have over these resources.
It is interesting to note that there was no hesitation whatsoever about this, despite the fact that negotiations on these points were difficult, apparently. That is what the Nisga'a representatives told us. Provinces, particularly Quebec, seldom have a voice in the process and have nothing to say in the development of a negotiating position concerning international treaties and agreements.
This agreement constitutes an example of partnership that should inspire all those who want to conclude agreements with the native nations. It would certainly inspire a sovereign Quebec, since Quebec intends to maintain the existing ancestral treaty rights of native nations when it attains sovereignty. It also wants to negotiate partnership agreements with the 11 native nations in Quebec.
Finally, I want to wish the Nisga'a people, its members and its representatives that the new freedom and the self-government the agreement gives them will allow for the full development of their nation. It is a process that will interest the Quebec people, which is searching in its own way and with its own timeframe for the same kind of development and freedom, and which will walk side by side with the Nisga'a people.