I thought the minister wrote the bill but I now have to take that back. Somebody else clearly wrote the bill.
I am not trying to be too cute here, but there is a good case to be made, both in terms of the bill itself having listed the territories, and rightly so, and the rights of aboriginal people as established both in the constitution and by constitutional convention going back to the Charlottetown accord when Ovide Mercredi was at the table. Are we retreating now from what was accomplished then in terms of aboriginal people having a place at the table?
I submit that in order for the bill to be as just as the government wants to portray it as being, aboriginal people should be included in that list of people whose views have to be taken into account. They should be listed clearly, definitively and separately from everyone else.
The bill should also provide that in any negotiation of secession, subsequent to a referendum with a clear question and a clear majority, that aboriginal people are not just people whose interests have to be taken into account, which is the way the bill reads now, but should be part of the negotiating process.
Having done that, I think the government would be much better able to come before the House and say that this bill is indeed a piece of democratic legislation. I do not accept the view of the Bloc that it is antidemocratic. There is still all kinds of room there for sovereignists to win. If they really feel Quebecers want to have a sovereign country then they should not be afraid of a piece of legislation that asks them to ask a clear question. If they get their clear majority they can have their country.