moved:
Motion No. 1
That Bill C-49, in Clause 4, be amended by replacing lines 39 and 40 on page 2 with the following:
“ratified and will be brought into effect in accordance with its provisions for any band on the addition of the name of that band to the schedule in accordance with section 45.”
Motion No. 6
That Bill C-49, in Clause 45, be amended by replacing line 16 on page 22 with the following:
“so signed, that a land code has been developed and adopted in accordance with this Act and that the governing bodies of neighbouring jurisdictions have confirmed in writing that consultations respecting the land code have been completed in accordance with the laws of the province in which the first nation land, for which the land code has been adopted, is situated.”
Motion No. 7
That Bill C-49 be amended by deleting Schedule 46.
Mr. Speaker, we in the Reform Party truly would like to be able to support this bill because in many ways it fits with the Reform principle of devolution of decision making closer to the people who actually have to live with the effects of that decision.
For far too long the decisions with respect to aboriginal people in Canada have been made in Ottawa and the obvious results of that are everywhere across this land. In that vein, we looked at this legislation long and hard and really wanted to support it and would really like to support it.
However, we see some flaws in the bill that can be fixed with amendments. We see some flaws with respect to the disposition of marital assets in the event of a marriage breakdown. We see some flaws with respect to consultation with communities, surrounding municipalities and so on adjacent to reserves to be covered under the land act, and we see some real concern with respect to the expropriation rights that bands will receive under this act.
However, in talking about the way the Liberals respond to constructive suggestions, it is just typical for them to say “we don't agree with you”. We could have had this legislation through the House before Christmas had the Liberals and other opposition parties agreed to fix these flaws in the bill. Of course we have not been able to achieve that and that is why our amendments are on the table now and why we are debating them.
I begin with Group No. 1 amendments. They deal with concerns of adjacent municipalities, municipalities that were not consulted with respect to Bill C-49. I think that is important because it really does tell a story about how the Liberals approach government and passing legislation.
It would have been a relatively easy exercise to have the adjacent municipalities where this legislation was to have an impact notified, consulted and asked for their opinions prior to drafting the bill and prior to bringing the bill before parliament. Sadly that has not happened. Sadly municipalities have been left out of the picture. It also really does demonstrate the Liberal government's lack of concern on what is arguably a very sensitive issue. We all know that this is a sensitive issue. Land is always a sensitive issue.
Good neighbours, in our view, always discuss development plans which may affect or impact on their neighbours next door. It is only sensible that people would do that.
Not long ago at my home I decided to build a fence. The fence I was to build was on a property line separating my property from my neighbour's. Before I constructed the fence I talked to my neighbour and told him what I intended to do. I told him what kind of fence I intended to build and asked him if he had a problem with it. I told him that if he had any objections that I would like to know before I spent any money on building the fence. I told him that if he had a problem we could sit down and talk about it to see if we could work out some sort of resolution.
Consultation is vital in these matters. In the matter of the bill before us it is vital that bands that are to receive the decision making authority under this legislation have some requirement to consult with adjacent municipalities. That requirement for consultation should run both ways. It should not just be one way.
There are so many things we must plan for such as transportation corridors, services and so on that there has to be some sense of reasonable integration. All our amendment serves to do is require neighbouring municipalities and neighbouring aboriginal bands to sit down and talk about their plans, to make sure there is integration and that there are not two communities working at cross-purposes.
I underline that our amendments are not intended to provide a veto for anybody else's decision making authority. That is not so. They are intended to require that a band coming under the umbrella of Bill C-49 actually proves it has consulted with adjacent municipalities prior to implementing changes in its land management.
This lack of consultation goes further than with just municipalities. I will discuss the expropriation provisions in the bill. That is really important. It is important for Canadians to understand that. It is important for those Liberal backbenches who are not familiar with this bill. It is important for them to understand the tremendous powers of expropriation that are to be handed over in this bill.
This legislation grants the right to expropriate if “in the band's opinion it is necessary for community works or other first nations purposes”. The phrase “other first nations purposes” is a very broad statement. It is very wide open in terms of interpretation. It could mean virtually anything. You could establish almost any reason as a reason for another first nation's purpose. It could be a golf course, a condominium complex or a casino. If the band were to determine that was a first nation purpose within the meaning of this legislation, it could expropriate people from their homes including band members and non-band members who may be on leased land on that reserve. That band could do this because it had decided this was a better purpose for the land.
We all know municipalities, provinces and the federal government must have a higher purpose than that before they enact expropriation legislation. This bill would grant that kind of power without defining the actual services that might be required by the community for the band to enact expropriation proceedings.
The Muskoday people have already designed a land code which I am familiar with. Within their land code they have defined the reasons they would use expropriation. That is a much clearer, more focused definition. We certainly find it is much more agreeable.
I will talk about this lack of consultation because I think it is so important. Most of us are familiar with what happened on the Musqueam reserve in Vancouver. This has come about as a lack of consultation. The department of Indian affairs induced non-Indian lease holders to come on to the reserve in 1965 to build homes and to enter into long term leases. The long term leases were between the department of Indian affairs and the lease holders. In 1980 without any notice or consultation, the minister of Indian affairs of that day, a Liberal minister, Mr. John Munro, signed an authority under section 53 of the Indian Act that gave the band all rights to deal with the leases. Although the department of Indian affairs was named on the lease and that is who the lease holders had signed their leases with, it was the band that was dealing with the leases from that point on.
No notice was given to the leaseholders. That is the crux of the problem that many of those leaseholders face today. I have just come back from Vancouver having spent hours in meetings with the leaseholders on the Musqueam reserve. They have not been consulted on Bill C-49. They are not familiar with the clauses. They have not been told that this is coming. They have had to find out from people like me and others in recent days that this land management act could very much affect them, and this is outside the problems they already face.
That is what is wrong with this legislation. There is no requirement to consult. The people who are going to be affected by this ought to have that right and expectation that they are consulted. They have not been consulted. It is a flaw and it must be re-thought.
