Mr. Speaker, I would tell my hon. colleague that he is viewing this piece of legislation as limiting instead of empowering. Indeed what this would do is provide the tools so that first nation leaders could exploit the potential for their constituents in a way that is most appropriate for them.
We need only look at the variety of first nation peoples across Canada to see some best practices and some examples where there has been extremely fine leadership and where first nation bands have been able to utilize the resources at their disposal in order to see great benefit throughout the people they represent.
This is not a limit. This is offering additional tools for first nations, somewhat like what my hon. colleague from Burlington spoke of earlier, the variety of tools that municipalities have. First nations can look at a variety of tools, pick the ones that are most appropriate for them and the government will partner with them and try to facilitate the kind of infrastructure needed so they are able to make local decisions that fulfill local needs in a way that is appropriate for them as an individual band.