Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about two questions today with regard to the Nisga'a agreement. First, what is an opposition party and what are its responsibilities? Second, what is a democracy? What is a democracy all about when we are facing issues such as this one?
When a problem or a concern of any kind about government legislation hits the House of Commons, there is a responsibility and onus on members in opposition to bring it to the attention of the public without concern for name calling or putting people down for what they think they should be challenging.
My colleagues have a detailed knowledge of the agreement. They know what they are talking about. They live the implications of these matters all the time.
We raised in the House financial concerns about future commitments in perpetuity for our young people. There is a commitment of dollars by the government on one land claim, not on the 40, 50, 60 or 100 that will be coming down the road. This one land claim involves hundreds of millions of dollars in cash payout that in today's dollars will amount to approximately $32 million in perpetuity on which young people, their children and their children's children will be taxed. That is a concern to me. I have the right to come here and express concern about the commitment the government is making, and so do my colleagues.
We have lived with the problem of the Musqueam reserve in British Columbia. We have seen people who live on property being charged lease payments which went from $300 to $400 a year to $26,000 a year. That is a concern. The Nisga'a agreement has implications on other things we are doing in the country. We have concerns about overlapping land claims on behalf of other aboriginal groups that have expressed those concerns.
Let us go back to my question on what is an opposition party. Why is it that only my colleagues in the Reform Party ask these questions? I have heard racial innuendo, bigoted comments and that sort of thing from other parties which should not even be articulated. An opposition party is in the House to question where things or going, why overlapping land claims are not being listened to, or why there are future commitments of millions and millions of tax dollars Those were the questions we had.
Where are the other opposition parties in the House? Why are they not speaking out? What do Canadians want as an opposition in the country? Do they want members who are afraid to speak out because they might be slandered with some kind of comment, or members like my colleagues who will stand and say they have some concerns which they want addressed. This is what one would expect from an opposition party. I find it strange that the other three parties find absolutely nothing wrong with the agreement.
What is in a democracy? When my colleagues and I came to the House we thought we would change things faster than we have. We have been forcing change on the people on the other side. When members first come to the House of Commons they think there actually is a real democracy in the country. However when they look at the effects of a majority government they begin to question that point, as have my colleagues and I. It is a joke to say that a majority government is a democracy.
Let me say what happens in a majority government. When we raised the Nisga'a issue we did not buckle down to the people across the way. We said that we wanted to debate it. After four and a half hours of allowed debate by the only party opposed the Liberals called time allocation to cease debate. Is that what a democracy is, four and a half hours of debate on one of the most important pieces of legislation brought before in the House since 1993? That is shameful. What is wrong with discussing this issue? It is disgusting that it is not being discussed.
The British Columbia government, as unfavourable as that government is these days, allowed debate to go on and on so people could listen to it and understand it. For weeks and weeks that government talked about the Nisga'a agreement. It tried to get all the issues out. When it comes to big bold Ottawa, after four and a half hours of debate government members told us to get the issue out of here. That is not a democracy. That is not what this is about. They cannot just do what they want in the House of Commons because they have a majority.
After debate the bill went to committee where it was rammed through. Government members said that they did not want to travel anywhere and asked why on earth people in British Columbia would want to hear about it. This is the biggest issue in British Columbia for many years.
What did we have to do? We told members of the democratic government across the way that they were not going to travel on any committee, that we would debate every committee that wants to travel, and that we would hold it all up if they did not want to go to British Columbia. Then they said that they would go to British Columbia, but they were unhappy about it.
We said that we wanted them to go to communities affected immensely by the agreement. They did not want to go there. They did not want to go to Smithers. They do not like it there. Is that a democracy? They did not want to go to Kamloops because they are unhappy in Kamloops. They decided to go to Prince George. The people in Prince George are concerned too. We forced them to go to five places. This is democracy in this country.
They said they had to hear from witnesses who appear before the committee. They tabled a list of 62 or 64 names, all in favour of the Nisga'a agreement. My colleague from Skeena and I had to fight just to get people who were opposed to be heard. They were a small minority. When they got to Prince George members of this democratic government hauled in four or five witnesses who were not even from Prince George but were in favour of it. They say that is a democracy.
We put a vote to the House and asked at least to be given a referendum in British Columbia, one of the basic foundations of democratic principles. They voted it down and were supported by three other opposition parties.
What about the fact that this may happen in Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland or Saskatchewan? What will people say then? The precedence has been set in the House of Commons. We do not hold referendums here. They send people who are in favour of these things. It is not a democracy if the government acts like this. The attitude has to change.
It is time to ask for the unanimous consent of the House to hold a referendum in British Columbia. I will do that. Why not do that if this is a democracy? Give us what we are asking for.
A lot of my colleagues are from British Columbia. They represent the greatest part of that province, the third largest province in the country. Give them what they are asking for.
Mr. Speaker, I ask for the unanimous consent of the House to allow a referendum to be held in British Columbia to deal with the Nisga'a agreement.