Mr. Speaker, the agreement certainly has its major shortcomings. In fact, the agreement brings back some memories of mine when I think about some of the activity on one of the local reserves in Canada that is shared partly with the U.S., Kanesatake.
I drove down to Kanesatake once. In fact my colleague from Wild Rose and I drove into that particular region down by Cornwall. As we drove across the bridge we saw a huge sign which read “The laws of Canada and the United States do not apply on this reserve”. I believe the sign is still there to this day.
The RCMP were unable to patrol the St. Lawrence River for fear of getting shot. The level of crime within the reserve was far beyond anything reasonable or acceptable. Smugglers lived in huge mansions on the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River, and those who did not involve themselves in criminal activity suffered at their hands. The band police could not enforce the law because they were subject to those with more power. Sometimes the chief and the council, even though they allegedly held the power, did not enforce the law evenly.
Therefore I have a concern over where this agreement might end up going. There does not seem to be a process set up that if somebody is not happy with the way they are treated by the laws that may be established, where do they go to appeal? If we look at the power granted to the Tlicho government to enact its own laws, if somebody is not happy where do they go?
Could my colleague shed any light on that particular point?