Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House again to debate the Nisga'a treaty, Bill C-9. Hopefully I will dispel some of the rumours, innuendo and plain mistakes that have been cited in the House about the treaty and perhaps about the way we deal with first nations in the future of the country.
As with any piece of negotiation, as with any agreement where two parties sit down to try to formulate a long lasting and permanent treaty, one side will negotiate some issues more vociferously and adamantly than the other side and they compromise. At the end of the process hopefully they come up with a treaty which reflects the interests of both parties. In this case it actually reflects the interests of three parties: the Nisga'a nation, the province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada.
The treaty was not something that was entered into in a frivolous manner. It was negotiated over 110 years and now it is in the House. I certainly condemn the government for forcing closure on this piece of legislation and not allowing free, open and continuous debate. However we have reached the point where we are at closure in the House and I think there are a couple of basic points which need to be reiterated one more time in this place so everyone who is listening or watching or interested in the proceedings today understands the basic premises of the treaty.
We know that the Nisga'a stand to gain a number of things in the treaty. They stand to gain nearly 2,000 square kilometres of land in the Nass Valley which have always been their traditional lands. They stand to gain 18% of the salmon catch in the Nass River. With the salmon stocks where they are, obviously 18% of the salmon catch today is not significant. Eighteen per cent of the salmon catch in the future with conservation applied could be extremely significant and a great opportunity for both commercial and industrial growth.
Certainly, there is a settlement of $190 million which will go directly to the Nisga'a from the federal government.
The Nisga'a will have a sustainable allowable cut in the valley from their numbers of 115,000 cubic metres of fibre per year. The point should be made that since timber has been cut in the Nass Valley starting in 1958, in the last number of years 250,000 cubic metres have been harvested on an annual basis. That is more than double the sustainable allowable cut of the Nass River Valley. To cut that back to 115,000 or 120,000 cubic metres of fibre is a sensible, responsible and conservation based way to harvest timber.
There is a 10 year agreement on taxation. That agreement is based on eight years for provincial tax and ten years for federal tax. Surely, even the most rabid opponents to this bill can understand that this is the way we should deal with first nations in the future.
On the argument that this is possibly some sort of a template, our forefathers made a decision many years ago to deal with first nations in Canada on a nation to nation basis. This is not a template. This is a treaty between the Nisga'a nation, the Government of Canada and the province of British Columbia. This treaty will be looked at when we negotiate other treaties, but it is not a template for another treaty. We base each treaty on its own merit given the number of band members, the geographical area and the traditional territory that they once held sway over.
There will be 300,000 decametres of water flow from the Nass River, or 1% of the total water flow in the Nass Valley, which will be set aside for Nisga'a use for possible future industrial purposes.
Moreover, the rights of the Nisga'a are protected, the right of language and the rights over culture.
Many members have stood in the House and argued that this is a race based government. It is patently unfair to say that. People stood in the House and said that non-Nisga'a will not be allowed to vote in this government. Quite honestly, non-Nisga'a are not allowed to vote for chief and council now. Non-natives have never been able to on any reserve in Canada. This is a step beyond that, with full recognition of inherent rights of first nations in British Columbia and in the rest of the country.
The thing we do not hear about in the House is the fact that non-natives living in Nisga'a territory will have rights. Those rights are protected by the constitution of Canada, the charter of rights and by the Nisga'a government. They will have their property ownership in fee simple. They will even own the road beds and have rights of way to the road bed and highway leading to those pieces of property. To say that non-Nisga'a have no rights in the Nass Valley after this treaty finally goes forth is patently false.
The other thing that has been misrepresented about this treaty is that the charter of rights and freedoms will not apply. The charter of rights and freedoms does apply. The constitution of Canada applies. There should be no mistaking those two issues because they are basic to the democratic rights of all Canadians.
I would like to read an excerpt from the treaty on the charter of rights and freedoms. Section 32(1) states that the charter of rights and freedoms applies. I heard a lot of members try to make the argument that the charter of rights and freedoms does not apply. This charter applies to the Parliament and Government of Canada in respect of all matters within the authority of parliament, and to the legislature and government of each province in respect to all matters within the authority of the legislature of each province. As it relates to the Nisga'a final agreement, “the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to the Nisga'a government in respect to all matters within its authority, bearing in mind the free and democratic nature of Nisga'a government as set out in this agreement”.
This means that the charter of rights applies within the parameters of section 1 of the charter of rights and freedoms which says that rights are guaranteed in a free and democratic society. This is not rocket science. This is pretty basic stuff that should not be misconstrued, or manipulated in a manner that was not meant to be implemented.
Therefore if the charter of rights is breached, apparently it is okay as long as it would be accepted in a free and democratic society or in other words if government can justify the infringement. It is no different for the Nisga'a government than it is for the Canadian government or for any provincial government. This is a basic right that gives a level playing field for all Canadians, whether those Canadians are aboriginal Canadians or non-aboriginal Canadians.
Quite frankly we have to decide how we are going to deal with first nations in this government. A few rules and parameters have already been set down which we have to abide by.
I will go back to when Canada became a nation in 1867. Our forefathers made a decision that we would recognize first nations in this country nation to nation. Surely we cannot turn our back on that concept now.
I am running out of time but one more point needs to be made. We should stop mixing up aboriginal rights as granted under the Sparrow decision and aboriginal title. They are two distinct and separate things. To put them all into one grey area that they are exactly the same thing is patently wrong. It is misleading to all Canadians who are interested in this important debate. It should be an informed debate. All of the issues need to be brought out and discussed in the light of day. I do not think there is anything to be ashamed of but there is a lot to be gained.
In conclusion, there are three ways we could deal with first nations. We could have open warfare which is not acceptable nor wanted by either party. We could try to negotiate or deal with first nations through the court system which is another mistake because no one gains at the end of it. Quite often the issues become more blurred. Or we could sit down and negotiate modern day treaties which is obviously what the Nisga'a treaty represents.