Madam Speaker, the powers in the words of the premier of British Columbia create a new third level of government. Clearly this is not a municipal government. Municipal governments are given powers by the province. The province has the right to take the powers away. This is not the case in this situation.
The powers the Nisga'a government would have would fall under provincial and federal levels. Furthermore, where there is a conflict between federal, provincial and Nisga'a powers, the Nisga'a powers would supersede the federal and provincial powers. Those are the two clearest examples.
The bottom line is not the pursuit of political independence. The pursuit should be to create economic independence for aboriginal people by aboriginal people, political emancipation not political independence, but political integration with non-aboriginal people. Only if we engage in political and economic integration while ensuring that aboriginal people have their traditional rights preserved as is done under section 35 of the constitution, will we be able to move forward with a liveable and effective society for everybody in the future.