Madam Speaker, I appreciate the question from the chair of the aboriginal affairs committee, which has been seized with getting this bill through the House.
Indian Oil and Gas Canada is responsible for managing and administering exploration and development on first nations lands. They are carried out under the direction and with the approval of first nations band councils. They are mandated to fulfill the Crown's fiduciary and statutory obligations.
Regarding the issue of Canada's fiduciary obligations, the federal government has committed that the fiduciary relationship will not diminish and will continue unchanged. In fact, the proposed changes actually strengthen Canada's ability to express its fiduciary obligations because of the clarity in the bill in terms of specific legislative and regulatory capacity, so that will allow us to fulfill our role much more efficiently.
The aboriginal and treaty rights of first nations are clearly unaffected by the provisions of the bill. They remain the same.