Madam Speaker, this bill does accommodate that particular scenario. I believe that witnesses at committee and those who were involved in the consultations on and the drafting of this piece of legislation understood that conditions could change and could change rapidly, as with the current economic conditions in which we find our country and the world.
The government has committed, and we can only hope that the government will honour its commitment, to a process of ongoing change so that we will not get caught in a legislative time warp where there is something that was established 20 or 30 years ago, but we are dealing with a much more current set of circumstances. This is a positive development. It speaks to the duty of the minister to consult with first nations and Indian bands as we go forward.
There was a letter of comfort provided. Some people think that letters of comfort are not as strong as something that can be written in legislation, but at least there is something on the record that talks about the minister's commitment to engage in an ongoing process of evolving regulations and, where possible, maybe even legislation to adapt to the changes to first nations and the oil and gas producing first nations.