Mr. Speaker, one of the procedures at the Manitoba legislature—and obviously the House of Commons has different rules—is that because points of order can be lengthy, often they are not included in the time remaining for the member's opportunity to speak. I understand that we lost two minutes or so because of the points of order, and that might be part of the strategy of the official opposition.
I have been completely relevant, as you have even pointed out, throughout the debate on the concurrence report. As my colleague attempted to state in his point of order, I recognize that this committee met on four separate occasions to deal with this issue. As in all committees, there is always a need for more time on virtually every issue that comes before them, and it has been pointed out that the last time this committee met was on June 3. We have a problem with that.
The report states the following:
One of the primary challenges presented during the land management hearings had to do with what witnesses described to the Committee as “legacy issues”. These issues surface when individual interests in land are not formally documented or otherwise lack formal legal recognition. Not surprisingly, these undivided interests in land and uncertain tenure of reserve land holdings can have serious implications for First Nation individuals when determining the descent of property, often resulting in difficult and protracted disputes.
The point is that this is not an easy issue. It is a very complicated issue. If a report is to be concurred in, at least let us consider talking about the report. At least let us consider allowing committees to meet to discuss the report.
All of these are important points, and I look to members recognizing and respecting our first nations and aboriginal issues by allowing our committees to meet and have dialogue so that we can continue the debate on issues such as this.