Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to follow on the comments of my colleague, the member for Nunavut.
This is my first opportunity as a critic for this portfolio to add some comments to the record on an issue of great importance to the Nunavut people, an issue that has been long standing before the House. Now at third reading we have the opportunity to perhaps move forward.
The amendment that has been brought forward is one which will give closure potentially to the legislation. The times we live in are exciting times for all of us but they are especially exciting for the people of Nunavut. The opportunities that this legislation may open to them are opportunities that many other groups within our society have had for a much longer period of time, opportunities to exercise governance and leadership within their own jurisdiction with a recognized authority and a recognized structure of that authority that has not been there in the past.
The bill addresses the water resources and the surface rights tribunal aspects of the Nunavut agreement itself. What we are talking about today is the amendment which has come back to the House from the Senate. The amendment proposes to delete subclause 3(3) on page 4 of the bill which reads:
For greater certainty, nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing aboriginal or treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
The use of derogation clauses has been open to debate by members of the legal community in other contexts for some time. The reality of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is that it has in itself answered the larger questions about who owns the land and who owns the resources of the eastern Arctic.
What is necessary at this point is to give greater consistency or assuredness to the people of Nunavut and to the people of Canada about the resource management regime that will exist in Nunavut. Water management and surface rights are key aspects of that management regime.
I believe it is critical that we do everything in our power to remove the barriers that stand in the way of people achieving their potential and being able to participate in the economic benefits of a vibrant Canadian economy. It is an economy that has been made somewhat less vibrant because of the mistakes of the government, but nonetheless it has been a vibrant economy at times in the past and we hope the Nunavut people will be able to fully participate in it in the future.
In terms of the economic growth potential and the self-sufficiency that we hope to see achieved in Nunavut, the passage of the bill with the proposed amendments would assist in creating a greater opportunity for full equality and full participation of the people of Nunavut in the Canadian economy.
The bill would provide greater assurances and certainty to industry. Industry is critical to achieving the full participation of the people of Nunavut in our economy. It will provide the job opportunities that will give the Nunavut people the abilities, which most Canadians now enjoy, to sustain themselves and their families.
We will support the amendment that has been proposed in this case because we want to see those goals achieved for the people of Nunavut.
I want to dwell a bit on the non-derogation clause because I think it is important to understand. I am told that in the past non-derogation clauses have been included at the request of aboriginal and Inuit leaders who wanted to make sure that it was clear within the legislation that there would be no infringement on the rights of those peoples. The non-derogation clause has also been included in other legislation.
We have been told by the government in this case and in these other cases that non-derogation clauses are not meant to assign rights nor are they intended to diminish rights but are simply declaratory clauses. In other words, they would give credence or recognition to the need for other documents to be supported and recognized that would give such rights. The other document in this case would be the constitution.
It is interesting when one reads the clause and one looks at the comments that were made by some of the witnesses at the committee. Hon. Paul Okalik, the premier of Nunavut, has said that he does not want this clause. He does not feel it needs to be there. I will quote from his comments before committee:
The first item I would like to address is the so-called “non-derogation clause” of the current legislation. Having looked at the text, I find this clause very offensive. I feel that it is an attempt to provide a new term that I would like to introduce to you today: It is what I would call an “Inuit-giver” clause. It has the potential of undermining a modern treaty that we negotiated in good faith with the federal government.
The premier seems to think that the intent of this clause is not declaratory. He reads much more into it than the government has said it intended to be there. I can understand the government's willingness to support the Senate amendment, given the fact it is certainly far from being requested by Inuit leaders. It is actually a request of Inuit leaders that it not be part of this piece of legislation.
The goal of the Canadian Alliance is to make sure that there is equality of opportunity for all Canadians. Now that this agreement and the larger agreement from which it stems have gone forward, we want to do everything in our power to ensure that the people of Nunavut and the people of all Canada's groups have that opportunity for equality. They need to know that their government will be accountable to them and that it will operate in a transparent manner. They need to know that their government will be chosen by them as people who should have the right of equality to vote in elections for example. Right now numerous Indian bands do not exercise such governance. Many of the country's aboriginal peoples are not able to vote in elections.
These are changes we will fight to achieve in this country. We want to see the equality of opportunity and the equality in terms of franchise and individual rights a reality. We do not want to see it sacrificed.
Transparency, accountability, equality of opportunity are worthy goals. These are the goals the Canadian Alliance has stood for and will continue to stand for. Because of that, we will support the amendment as proposed and we will support this legislation.