Mr. Speaker, what was very interesting about the process that was undertaken, whether it was Ms. Grant-John's report or the work that the Native Women's Association of Canada undertook and proposed some possible solutions, was some of the key elements out of those consultative processes were not included in the legislation.
In a previous life I used to do consultation work. We used to call it the DEAD model of consultation, decide, educate, advise and defend. It had nothing to do with listening to people, taking the information they provided, having them included in drafting the legislation so it reflected the consultative process, which would then ensure we had a bill that was much closer to what people told the people who conducted the consultation.
I would argue that, yes, it was a positive step to start the consultative process, but when a huge percentage of the information presented to us is ignored, that does not actually count as consultation.
In terms of the length of time, I agree that this is a matter on which we need to move forward. Therefore, I welcome the bill going to committee so perhaps we can take some of the consultation, incorporate some of those recommendations into amendments and then bring a bill back to the House, which more reflects the consultation carried out from coast to coast to coast.