Mr. Speaker, my colleague's question is certainly valid.
One of the issues here is that members of the aboriginal groups themselves had a hand in determining what the criteria were. So the question really is on the application of those criteria being fair and equitable. Unfortunately, they discovered that some of the definitions, or how these criteria were spelled out, were subject to interpretation and perhaps insufficiently clear, which is in part what may have caused the large number of applicants. It may also have caused some anomalies to occur in the process.
By reaching a new agreement in 2013 as to how the enrollment process would operate and providing for more opportunities for people to bring forth evidence, they are trying to get a fair process.
The question is, did they get it right? Will this process end up being fair to those who were included and will it be fair to those who may not have met the criteria, which is also a big question?
Clearly, a lot of people have an interest in being part of this band.