Mr. Speaker, there was once a prime minister who stood in the House and said that he was terribly proud of trying to arbitrarily amend the Canadian Constitution. He too held a signing ceremony, but he neglected to consult the people or parliament in advance of the signing and he refused a national referendum. In the end the Meech Lake accord failed and that prime minister alienated and embittered the very people on whose behalf he claimed to be pushing that accord.
Why does the Prime Minister think we can go down exactly the same road with the Nisga'a people without producing exactly the same negative and divisive results?