Mr. Speaker, with that speaker, I do not know where to begin on some of the misinformation. I will take that it is innocently laid on the table, so I will try to clarify some of the comments he has made.
The Tlicho agreement and the tax treatment agreement set out the status and authorities of the Tlicho government and the Tlicho community governments with respect to taxation. Tlicho citizens will be subject to taxation in the same way as other Canadians. The Tlicho agreement provides that the Tlicho government can enact laws in relation to direct taxation of Tlicho citizens on Tlicho lands or in Tlicho communities.
In addition, the Tlicho community governments can make laws respecting taxation similar to property taxation in other municipalities. Federal taxation authorities are not affected by these new authorities. Like other governmental bodies, the Tlicho government will be entitled to a refund of the goods and services tax paid in the course of performing a function of government, and similarly the income of the Tlicho government and the Tlicho community governments will be tax exempt.
The ratification process we are going through is where they will get inside their agreement the taxation authority. Documents have been made. The only document that is left undone is the tax sharing one between departments, like we would have with any province or territory and the federal government.
What is important to understand is Tlicho people pay taxes now and they will continue to pay taxes. They will have new rights. The new rights will come about because they are in the written agreement, which we will ratify. For anybody who understands procedure in the House, and he is a longer-standing member so I would have expected him to know this, when there is a taxation authority, the procedural ways and means motion is the way we bring it here. We have to do that because there is a taxation part on what we are doing.
That is procedure. It is not something that somebody dreamed up. I know the member from our party said that. It is in the documents at the table. It can be confirmed by the clerks who sit at the table who are independent procedural experts. It is a rule of the House and that is how we have to proceed. It has nothing to do with what can or cannot be done afterwards. It has to do with the authorities that are needed. The member for Winnipeg Centre also reiterated the same point. We are certainly not of the same party and often not of the same view.
He said many things about minerals. The lack of generosity boggles my mind. The whole point of giving resources is so a community can develop. There will be taxes paid. There will be certainty for those inside the territory and outside the territory as to the boundaries of the territory. Economic community for aboriginal Canadians is good for every Canadian. It is all about that.
Is this the same mindset that we saw in Nisga'a, or is it really just an evolution to another excuse not to contribute to the advancement of aboriginal Canadians and treaty processes in the country?