Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond. Let us look first at the issue of matrimonial property. Let me convey again how significant it is that the recognition that the 14 chiefs, which include women I would point out, have agreed that it is highly important for them in their land codes to include provisions for matrimonial property or the disposition of property that effectively recognizes the impact on women, particularly at the point of marital breakdown.
To my mind, as we look across the provincial jurisdictions which have authorities in the area of matrimonial property, we have seen different approaches province by province. It is my expectation that the strength of these provisions will be developed in the context of the community in which they are found.
The challenge we have in providing services to citizens and responding to their needs is best met in the context of recognizing legitimacy in this particular case of the first nations government to work with its community in order to find the provisions that work for them. Those provisions and those land codes have to be developed in consultation with the community. They have to be ratified by the community. They have to be verified by an external verifier who looks at all the aspects and the intentions to ensure that they are legitimate and will provide what the community wants and what is required.
This gives us the first tangible opportunity to say to women who live in first nations communities that they will be part of this undertaking. They will for the first time have the opportunity to have this very important and essential aspect of their lives, the issue of property, managed effectively in the context of legislation and their land codes.
The second question raised by the hon. member was on the issue of expropriation. I would first say that that real estate agent should look carefully at the bill. I am afraid he is giving his client an opinion that is not based on fact. In a very unfortunate way it serves to escalate, heighten and encourage difficult relationships between and among people in that particular part of Canada.
There never has been and never will be the intention that lands can be expropriated willy-nilly. In this context lands can only be expropriated in the way in which lands can be expropriated through any other legitimate government, for the purposes of specific benefits to the community. That is absolutely clear and so this what I view to be a red herring on the issue of expropriation is an inappropriate one.