Madam Speaker, the hon. member gave an important overview of our government's position. We recognize the need to do proper consultations with first nations. There is no question in our mind that when we do this, and we have an obligation to do it, and when we do it successfully, we get this kind of legislation, legislation that has broad support in the local communities and from what I hear today, broad support in the House of Commons.
Another good example is the Specific Claims Tribunal Act, where we sat down with the Assembly of First Nations and drafted the legislation. The first nations have been waiting for 40 years, ironically the same period of time as the James Bay Cree agreement, to get to this next stage, and that too long. It points out the need to have good faith negotiations. It is key to good consultation and gets this kind of good agreement.
Could the member comment, in general, on what his impression is in the province of Quebec on the relationship between first nations and our government? I do not get there as often as I would like, because I have to be in all 10 provinces and 3 territories, but I am there often. It seems to me it is going well. When I was there to sign the agreement a year ago, my sense was that people were very pleased with the degree of consultation.