Mr. Speaker, it with sadness that I rise to remind the House of the government's abandonment of a sacred public trust, the origins of which reach back to the justinian code in Roman times when it was proclaimed that the water and sea were owned by no one and were available to all for the purposes of fishing, navigation and commerce.
The public right was also encapsulated in the Magna Carta. The right to fish belongs to the people, not to the sovereign or her government. That right was reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Van der Peet decision of 1996.
The Nisga'a treaty marks the first time since Confederation that parliament has been asked to create in British Columbia a fishery that excludes the public, a fishery that will not be open to all Canadians regardless of race. The Nisga'a final agreement will create an exclusive fishery for the Nisga'a based on race in what has been public waters.
The federal government has not sought to put a dollar value on the right being transferred and for good reason. The Nisga'a treaty will legislate an end to a right the Supreme Court of Canada has traced back to the Magna Carta.