Madam Speaker, evidently I went on too long in posing the last question. Notwithstanding the fact that it is a little different from the themes the colleague just addressed, I did want to pose the question to a Liberal member about the issue of indigenous consultation, and it is a very important one.
When our foreign affairs committee was recently in the north, we heard great frustration from indigenous leaders about the decision of the federal government to unilaterally announce, without consultation and I believe while the Prime Minister was abroad, an offshore drilling ban. It would seem to me that the principle of indigenous consultation should go both ways. In other words, if one believes indigenous people should be consulted before proceeding with a development project, then one should also believe indigenous people should be consulted before arbitrarily imposing moratoriums or bans on development they could undertake within their traditional territories.
Does the member agree with me that indigenous consultation should include consultation both when development projects are proceeding and consultation before decisions are made to impede development by indigenous people?