Madam Speaker, I must admit that the hon. member and I have had many good discussions about this piece of legislation. When the Liberals say that we have done a good thing, our spider sense has to tingle a little bit. We are on different sides here.
With respect, it was obviously a treaty that we could all agree on. The greatest thing about this particular piece of legislation and the greatest mistruths that have been stated by the Reform members was to compare the fear that Canadians have that there will possibly be one group of Canadians that will have more rights than another group. They threw that bone out, it did not go anywhere and they tried it again. In my opinion, this treaty does not do that.
It is the fear people have in eastern Canada when they look at a very difficult situation going on with the Mi'kmaq over the 1760 treaty. They feel that somehow this will not be settled in an amicable way and we will not be able to negotiate it. What this treaty does is clearly lay out the rules for negotiation. It protects the interest of Canadians, as the hon. member said. It allows for taxation of first nations. It removes that particular first nation from the Indian Act, which certainly all hon. members would have to agree is a good thing. I do not think that even the Reform members can say it is a bad thing to have the Nisga'a nation no longer under the auspices of the Indian Act.
The fear I have with misrepresentation is if we try to move the issue over and say, “look what is going on in Nova Scotia”. What is going on in Nova Scotia is because there is no treaty, an aboriginal title has not been settled. We are depending on something that went on in 1760 that is a page and a half long and that is open to very wide interpretation. Let us settle these issues. Let us negotiate real self-government for first nations in Canada. Let us understand that all first nations want to be real partners in the Canadian federation. Let us open that door and allow them in. Unlike the Victoria legislature, let us open the door and invite them in.