Mr. Speaker, I usually begin my speeches on Indian affairs by saying that I am very pleased to address the issue, but today it is with somewhat mixed feelings that I do so.
I am pleased because this is a historic day—and I know that a number of Nisga'a are in the gallery today—a day when we will finally vote to give the Nisga'a the opportunity to shake off a yoke called the Indian Act. The Nisga'a have been constrained by that act for over 100 years, and today the Bloc Quebecois, along with other parties in this House, will enable the Nisga'a to free themselves from that act.
I have mixed feelings however because, while we are about to do this for the Nisga'a, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs wants to put Quebecers under a yoke. This threat is the reason why it is somewhat difficult for me to be totally pleased on what should otherwise be a happy occasion.
The Nisga'a will understand that if the Bloc Quebecois supported their quest for self-government, it must also protect the Quebec people, another very important people in Canada but who many in this House will not recognize. I will elaborate toward the end of my speech.
I first want to salute Joe Gosnell and Harry Nice, who co-ordinated the entire negotiation team which is here today. I know this is a very important day for them, bringing to a close a long negotiation process.
Earlier I listened to the hon. member for Skeena, who said that negotiations first began in 1981, but in fact we must go back much further than that. We must go back to the end of the 19th century.
Even then aboriginal leaders were trying to convince the British crown in London of the importance of greater autonomy. This dragged on for over 100 years. I agree with the member that the pace has picked up in the past 20 or 25 years. Now we are reaching a conclusion with the signature of a final agreement and the necessary endorsement of the Parliament of Canada.
I first heard about the Nisga'a people at the time the agreement in principle was signed. I went to their territory and was shown around. These people were very happy about the signing of the agreement in principle, but I do not think they had any idea that, even after signing an agreement with the federal government, a whole series of stumbling blocks would remain before the final stage of third reading in the House of Commons, not to mention Royal Assent in the Senate. Today, they have made it through all these hurdles and the Bloc Quebecois has been with them all the way.
When parliament signed the final agreement last spring—the former Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development signed it—I again visited the Nisga'a territories and received the same welcome. It is an amazing area, with the Nass River that I mentioned earlier.
This far north in British Columbia, the water is the most amazing shade of blue-green. This is the result of mineral salts in the water. The Nisga'a attachment to the land of their birth, to the Nass River and the entire river valley, which is of extreme importance to them, is understandable.
Every time I have been there, I have had a chance to see what they call the lava beds. There is a fable relating to these waterways. I have read this fable; nearly 2,000 Nisga'a died 500 years ago because of a volcanic eruption.
According to the fable, the children had lost contact with nature and were mistreating animals. They were extremely cruel to the animals. The elders apparently told them “Stop your cruelty or the Creator will get angry if we are too cruel to the animals.” According to the fable, the volcano then erupted and two whole villages were engulfed by the lava, killing close to 2,000 Nisga'a villagers, who now lie under the lava beds of the volcano.
It was all explained to me during my visit. I was told about the importance of fishing, especially salmon fishing using the famous salmon wheel. When the salmon swim upstream, they swim into a sort of paddlewheel, which scoops them into a box where they can be kept fresh for days until they are caught. I thought this was an invention of the native people of the Yukon, but the Nisga'a have assured me that they are the ones who invented it. This goes to show how important fishing and this wheel is to the Nisga'a.
My guide on my latest visit was Eric Grandison, and with the usual warm welcome one gets from the Nisga'a, he took me to his mother's home to see the family smokehouse, where we sampled some excellent smoked salmon. This was not frozen smoked salmon like Price Club salmon. This was salmon that had been caught only a day or two before and then fully smoked. The taste was exquisite and this was something that one can rarely, if ever, get here.
Unfortunately, I would have had the opportunity to taste it again here last week but the Bloc Quebecois Christmas party was the same night as their salmon party so I could not attend.
During my two visits there, I could see that a rush on the natural resources on the Nisga'a lands was under way. The first time, when I visited the lands of the Chilcotin and Carrier Sekani, hundreds of trucks were hurrying to cut down the forests as quickly as possible before the land was handed over to the aboriginal people.
The Nisga'a will now have control over their own forests, but I also want to speak up for the Carrier Sekani and the Chilcotin, whose land claims are ongoing and who are unfortunately the victims of this rush on natural resources.
The agreement in principle and the historic bill were presented. After second reading, we travelled to British Columbia. We went to Terrace, Prince George, Smithers, Victoria and Vancouver. I will admit that it was a bit of a shock to Bloc Quebecois members. The hon. member for Manicouagan was also with me.
Of course, we asked for interpretation services. The witnesses who spoke in support of aboriginals and aboriginal people themselves were treated shoddily at the hearings. Bloc Quebecois members were stunned whenever they were asked to “speak white”. This was very shameful.
I do not want to make any generalization, but I think those who said that are best described as “rednecks”. My feeling is that these people came out to treat the Nisga'a, the aboriginals and French speaking people in a malevolent way. However, after speaking with many people in Terrace, Victoria and Vancouver, I am convinced that these rednecks were a very small minority.
I raised these incidents with Phil Fontaine, the first nations chief, when he made his presentation on the Nisga'a. His response was “You were told to “speak white” during one or two days, while this is the attitude we have been confronted with all our lives. How do you feel when you are being treated like that?”
We did not like it, of course, but it helped us better understand the Nisga'a issue and understand how long aboriginals have been in that situation, and what should be done to correct that situation, to change it and turn the page so that these people can now decide their own future.
The Bloc Quebecois showed its compassion and understanding. I think the Nisga'a will agree that we have always supported them. There are Nisga'a representatives here today, but I must warn them that they are in a turbulent zone and that the turbulence will keep increasing.
I can promise members of the federal Liberal Party that this will get worse, probably tomorrow, if the minister introduces his bill. We are warning them. They need to tighten their seatbelts because I think we are in for quite a ride. If they have never seen what stuff Quebecers are made of, they will now. We are as proud to defend our people as the Nisga'a were to defend theirs. That is all I wanted to add.
As to the concept of a people, I also heard the member for Skeena earlier cite an eminent constitutional expert by the name of Tom Flanagan. Mr. Flanagan tabled a brief before the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Throughout the trip, I brought up the concept of peoples with those I met. Opponents of the bill have always thrown two arguments at us: the uncertainty caused by this debate and the agreement's lack of equality. We often hear that everyone must be equal in Canada.
I asked Mr. Flanagan whether he believed that there were several nations and several peoples in Canada and his answer was that, like Pierre Elliott Trudeau, he thought that there was only one people in Canada, the Canadian people. So there was no point in supplementary questions on the rights of these nations, if we were hung up on that.
I think that this is the trouble with the Reform Party. It does not think that there are other peoples and other nations in Canada. It is proving its point with the Nisga'a issue, as well as its stand with the members of the Liberal Party to put Quebec into a straitjacket. Reformers no more believe in the concept of a Nisga'a people than they believe in a people of Quebec. For them, everyone must be treated equally. Quebec is as important as Prince Edward Island.
We disagree completely on this and that is why we are perhaps in a better position to understand the native peoples' move toward autonomy because we are taking those same steps ourselves. It is easy for us to understand them. When aboriginals approach the Bloc Quebecois and announce that they are working for greater self-government, it is only natural that we understand where they are coming from.
During my tour, I tested their concept of nation by asking people whether they believed that there were several nations and peoples in Canada. Their answer was yes. If there is recognition for this concept, it follows that these nations and peoples have specific rights. This is recognized in international law. With recognition as a people or nation comes recognition of specific rights.
Defining specific rights requires partnership agreements. As we see it, the final Nisga'a agreement is a partnership agreement between two, even three peoples.