Mr. Speaker, last night, the majority of the House adopted the motion of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women calling on the government to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007. This declaration recognizes the right to self-determination of aboriginal peoples and their territorial rights to hunting and natural resources.
It was with the utmost respect for aboriginal peoples that my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois and I voted in favour of the motion. The only problem is that the Conservatives refuse to respect the will of the United Nations, thereby making Canada one of the only countries refusing to sign the declaration.
We are calling on the government to respect the will of the House and finally ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.