Mr. Speaker, I observed the last two weeks of debate on the Nisga'a Treaty in the B.C. legislature. What I saw was not encouraging.
The legislature was presented with a done deal by ministers who themselves had little understanding of the implications of the treaty and who were intolerant of legitimate concerns raised by the Liberal opposition.
The decision to put off consideration of the treaty in this place until fall was a clear admission by the government that it was not ready to face parliament with the details of what has been negotiated away.
The limitation on access to the charter of rights and freedoms, the undermining of neighbouring treaty claims, the creation of a new unaccountable tier of government and the end of the public fishery are all issues which must be resolved before this treaty becomes part of our constitution.
The treaty provides that there can be no amendment without the consent of the Nisga'a, a significant derogation of the sovereignty of Canada.
The Indian affairs minister had one chance to get this treaty right and she blew it. She knows it and she knows that it will take more than a summer of spin doctoring to fix it.