Mr. Speaker, the first part of the question by the member for Winnipeg South Centre suggested that Canada wanted to proceed with the declaration in the text that was negotiated. As we have said, we were not supportive of that declaration. We attempted to continue that negotiation previous to the ratification and that did not occur. The language of the declaration was not something we could support and was not modified to bring about our support.
The member and her party like to suggest they were always supportive of the declaration and that was not the case. The government's civil servants stated that the Government of Canada was not supportive of the declaration for many years, dating back to the previous Liberal government.
However, Liberal Party members like to try to represent that they are supportive of our indigenous peoples, but we can look to actions. Actions speak louder than words. They wanted to bring about some historic important changes through the previous Indian affairs minister, Robert Nault. That was set aside. They suggested some proposals in their dying days with the Kelowna accord. A government perhaps should have done at the beginning of its mandate if it believed that, but it left it right to the end.
We are proceeding with real changes, real important innovations for first nations people, such as the extension of the Canadian Human Rights Act, which I hope will happen. This was delayed for many years by previous governments.
I will address the member's comments in relation to the declaration's text, which contemplates bringing countries back to a pre-context state. This is in the declaration itself. Some groups would like see many of the treaties opened up. Groups in Quebec would like to see the province return to a pre-Cartier moment.
This is simply the case of the text. The text speaks for itself. As a government that is responsible for this negotiated history, we must stand up for what we believe is the most appropriate action for Canada.