Mr. Speaker, I think all of us in the House will support the legislation. However, we have concerns with the fact that time allocation was called yet again today on what the Liberals have said is a critical piece of legislation going through the House.
Last week I had the opportunity to share this document with the chiefs and councils of the first nations in my riding. None of those first nations have had an opportunity to get back to me with their response to the bill. That just goes to show that although the government keeps talking about there being no relationship more important to it than the relationship with Canadian first nations, it is not giving them an opportunity to have any timely input on the legislation.
I know they are going to say they consulted for over a year, but the first nations in my constituency certainly did not have an opportunity to provide feedback on the bill. I would like to ask my colleague why the government is rushing, and why it did not give first nations across the country opportunities to speak to the legislation.