Madam Speaker, this is close to home for the member, so he knows a great deal about it and is able to give us a good history lesson on how he got here and any experience in Quebec related to the relationship between aboriginal people and different levels of government. I thought all of it was very useful.
I would like him to comment on this. It has been my experience that a strong and vibrant aboriginal government is a good news story for everyone. It is good for the province. It is good for the federal government and for the aboriginal people that it represents. We are getting that with this agreement.
We are strengthening further the already good work that the Cree of Eeyou Istchee, Naskapi and others have put together over the years and have been able to formalize, in increasingly detailed ways, to ensure they represent their people strongly when it comes to resource development and revenue sharing, relationships, which are all described in the “New Relationship” document, and much more. Everything from the day to day issues, such as fire protection to important things like environmental standards, all become enhanced when there is a good, strong government, and this will move us to that quickly.
He had mentioned something in passing, and I know it is an issue about which he is concerned, and that is how a strong, regional government of the nature we talk about for the Cree of Eeyou Istchee could be useful to the Algonquin people.
He is right. There is a message in there that it not only strengthens the hands of the Algonquin people, but by strengthening that opportunity, it provides other opportunities for other levels of government to engage more formally to get good things done for people at the community level.
Could he talk a bit about why he thinks this kind of a regional government, and eventually the Cree nation government, allows for not only good economic opportunity, but good social development in those regions and how it might apply in other regions with willing partners?