Mr. Speaker, if my hon. colleague believes that the pursuit of the current treaty negotiations is a good thing, how does he account for the fact that treaties have been negotiated in hundreds and hundreds of reserves for people east of the Rockies?
When one compares the situation of reserves east of the Rockies with the reserves in British Columbia, one finds little or no difference between the condition of the people in both those reserves. Therefore one can assume that the negotiation of treaties in and of themselves is not a way toward political and economic emancipation for these people.
Mr. Clark, the Premier of British Columbia, mentioned before enacting closure in the legislature that indeed a new third level of government was be creating and that this level of government would be required to negotiate the treaties with the new levels of government? This new third level of government and the ensuing increase of bureaucracy in the provincial government will swallow up a lot of money that could better be used to help the aboriginal people on the ground. Does the hon. member agree with those comments?