Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the comments of the member opposite, who mentioned that there is resistance, as she termed it, each time the government tries to get people out of the Indian Act. She said it saddened her that people are only looking at negatives.
With all respect, I would remind my friend that the job of this House is to scrutinize bills that are put before it. That should be the case with this bill, as it is with others. This treaty was negotiated by some bureaucrats. I have been the member of Parliament in that area since before these negotiations began. Never once during the whole process was I asked by either government for my comment or what I thought the people in my constituency might be thinking.
The folks who did participate in the process were sworn to secrecy, the councillors and whatnot from the municipalities, such that they could not even report back to their own councils. These folks walked away from the table.
It was not an open process and the issue was sidestepped in the provincial legislature, so the fact of the matter is that this is the last place this treaty will go before it is brought into effect. Our job here has to be to scrutinize this bill.
Bertha Williams was in town the other day. I had hoped that she would be able to meet with the member opposite and express her concerns to the member, because Bertha has been there all along. Her grandfather was a chief. Her father was a chief. Her brother was a chief of that reserve. Also, Bertha served on the council, yet she is the one who is going to pay the bill because the land that her family has owned since the reserve was created is going to be expropriated and industrialized.
I would like to know from the member if she thinks that is appropriate. Is it appropriate that the members who are living on that reserve are to have their property expropriated so that folks who are living elsewhere, as I say, in Los Angeles, Alabama, Winnipeg and elsewhere on the North American continent, can benefit? I would like to know if she thinks that is okay.