Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today and speak again to this very important issue, probably the most important piece of legislation that has come before the House maybe even in this century.
Some of my colleagues on this side of the House and in this party have talked today about the fact that as the official opposition we are the only party in the House that are standing against this legislation.
Sometimes people ask us why we are doing that. They want to know why we would stand against it when no one stands with us on it.
It is clear that there are times in one's life when one must take what might be considered an unpopular stand, one that perhaps may not win votes across the country and one that may engender hatred toward us, racial slurs, threats of violence and all kinds of things. They want to know why, in the face of all that, a party would take such an unpopular stand. We do it because we believe it is out of principle, the principle of fairness, the principle of equality and the principle justice. The former Premier of B.C. said that this agreement was a template for the many other agreements that are going to come along. If we do not take this stand now, I suggest things will not get better but will get a whole lot worse.
It has been my fervent wish that all British Columbians, indeed all Canadians, would have an opportunity to democratically state their opinion on the Nisga'a agreement. To date, only the Nisga'a people themselves have been afforded this opportunity. Even there it is not complete agreement by any means.
The government has tried to tell Canadians that the Nisga'a agreement is far too important and complicated for the citizens of B.C. to have a democratic vote. A lot of people would call this simply arrogance. The government prefers to keep its blinders on rather than listen to what the people of B.C., the people directly affected by this treaty, are saying to it.
I want to challenge, particularly the Liberal members from British Columbia, to listen to their constituents. I believe their constituents would like to say and are saying a lot of things but these members are not listening to them or hearing them.
The people of B.C. recognized long ago something that this Liberal government still ignores and fails to understand. The citizens of B.C. understand that the Nisga'a agreement will not solve the problems that are rife throughout the aboriginal system. They see the very real damage that this agreement will cause in British Columbia and, by extension, all across Canada.
The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is out of touch when he says that the people have already had their referendum when they elected MPs sitting in the House. Perhaps he would then convince the government House leader to make it a free vote and allow the members to truly vote on behalf of their constituents, particularly the Liberal members from B.C.
This is not the only example of the government's undemocratic ways. This treaty is not just about bringing equality to our native peoples. It is also about democracy and the misuse of it in the country. Let us consider how many times the House has had closure and time allocation invoked by the government. By my count, it is close to 60 times since the Liberal government came to power. It will soon eclipse Brian Mulroney's record.
We have also allowed the Prime Minister to have incredible power. The shift in power to the PMO from the House of Commons traces its roots back to the nemesis of western Canada, Pierre Trudeau. The current Prime Minister has continued to expand upon the flawed foundation that Trudeau built up from fuddle duddle, the one finger salute, the dreaded national energy program and now the Nisga'a agreement. Western Canadians fully understand what the Liberals think about them.
Naively, many people assumed that the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs' recent hearings would actually listen to the people of B.C. According to the member for Haliburton—Victoria—Brock, he stated “We are only out in B.C. because of a tactic by the Reform Party”. The Reform Party is proud that it forced the Liberal Party to actually go out to B.C. What is shameful is that the Liberal members cannot think for themselves and take the time to listen to the concerns of the people of B.C.
One of my constituents followed the committee process. He submitted his name to the clerk and asked to make a presentation. Everyone knows what the answer to that was. Even though he has worked for many years with native people in his capacity as an RCMP officer and could offer his own insights from a grassroots level, he was denied an opportunity to present his views or ask any questions of the committee.
I have known Mr. Ken Conrad personally for some years and I respect his opinion. I therefore want to put his brief into the record of the House of Commons today. Ken says:
I am 63 years of age and have been associated with native Indian people most of my adult life both here in B.C. and also in Saskatchewan. I have a great many close friends who are native Indians.
The current Reservation way of life has never worked and I see nothing in your current treaty negotiations which would change it. Native people have never owned any real property on Reservations, they have no hope of even owning the homes they live in. How can you expect anyone to have any sense of pride under these circumstances? Native people have always been at the mercy of their elected Chiefs and Council. If they vocally disagree with what is taking place politically on a reserve; they suffer the consequences.
At least in the past they could appeal to an outside agency in the provincial or federal governments. Under these agreements they will be at the mercy of a dictatorship. They will be forced off reserves when they find the political climate intolerable. They will be forced out of their homes rather than live under conditions which no other Canadian citizen would tolerate.
All this is an ill-conceived creation of the federal Liberal and provincial NDP governments. From all that I can gather from discussing these agreements with my native friends, your governments have made no effort to reach out to the grassroots natives who must live with this decision. The only people you have consistently consulted with are the persons who you deem to be leaders of the communities.
Do not use the excuse that they could submit their concerns direct to the Department of Indian Affairs. It is common knowledge that any adverse communication ends back in the hands of those being criticized. You have failed to communicate with these people directly and have lost their respect in any process which you are currently undertaking.
Your decision to move ahead with this treaty process will have grave consequences in other areas. I see adverse reaction to these special status Canadians already and it will continue to get worse.
The citizens of B.C. are questioning the process which you have rammed through without proper public discussion. I foresee a serious problem with racism, a problem that you and the B.C. NDP have created. You have made a very bad decision and unfortunately my children and grandchildren are forced to live with it.
I have taken the time to attend all public meetings (there were only two of them) which were available to me regarding treaty negotiations. The first was held in Mill Bay quite a number of years ago. At that time, I listened to the various presentations by both governments and native leaders and I was not impressed. There were too many uncertainties. What was shocking was the refusal of this committee of any public input. We as an audience were told that we could not give a submission and were only permitted to ask one question of the panel. I was completely outraged by this so-called information meeting. I did take the opportunity to ask my one allowed question and received a very ambiguous answer followed with the comment that I could discuss my question privately after the adjournment of the meeting.
The second occasion was a debate that attracted a large audience and one could see the serious concerns that were not being addressed by the panellists. The audience was not impressed by what they heard and became very vocal. The NDP representative did not seem too clear in his answers to such questions as cost to the taxpayers and the description of the type of government that would be controlling the reserves. He was vague on native Indian property rights. Instead of clarification he created even more questions to be asked for which he had no answers.
You have seriously underestimated the consequences of your ill-conceived action and I feel certain that there will be considerable unrest in B.C. as the general population start to understand more fully the mess your governments have created for us. I just hope that you have a plan in place to deal with these problems which I believe you have created.
The people of B.C. have been demanding a fair say on this matter. We need to return true debate back to the House. Let us begin now. I would ask that the government immediately take steps to bring forward a binding referendum on the Nisga'a agreement to the province of B.C. Let us try to bring democracy back to Canada.