Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In New Brunswick, there are 15 altogether.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are five Maliseet; the other ten are Mi'kmaq. Then we have our little friend down in the southern corner, close to the Maine border, called Passamaquoddy.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Currently, you would.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Currently, under the law that's what would be required, if they wanted to push it and challenge it, until we get our treaties back in place with our 73 historical nations. That would change the whole concept of consultation; then it would be with the nation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, I didn't. I didn't speak to him that night, except to say hello and here is the room and thank you for coming. I invited Dr. Bennett and Ms. Crowder; they were also at the function. I left it for my board members and the members of the organization who were there to approach

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The one I have put forth, at this point, is about reporting on the treaties. I think it's very important for aboriginal peoples across Canada to know what point various treaty tables have reached, because many of us, in particular those of us who live off-reserve, have been total

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't buy that. To me, consultation is a two-way street. It's give and take.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If Parliament wants to change the laws—because this could be a private member's bill coming from any party—and if it's going to affect aboriginal peoples and it's done with the best of intentions, then Parliament itself is going to have to start looking at them and putting resour

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, I'm not a parliamentarian. I'm just an ordinary person, so I'm not too familiar with how things happen in the House sometimes. I've seen consultation occur with aboriginal peoples after bills have been passed.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  My understanding is that if this goes farther, there will be consultations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, but this is not the be-all and end-all, here right now. My understanding is that it's still going to have to go to the Senate, and at that point there will be opportunity for more consultations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I've said, we've been down that road before under JMAC, which was excellent, the governance bill, Bill C-7, under Minister Nault at the time. God love him, he tried because he saw what the act was doing to us. Unfortunately, when you have various aboriginal peoples, not unlike

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First off, there is the term “first nations”. Everybody thinks there are 633 first nations in Canada. No, there are not. There are 633 federal Indian Act bands in Canada. There are 73 first nations in Canada. The Mi'kmaq nation, the Maliseet nation, the Cree nation, those are the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Dr. Bennett, I can't speak for other aboriginal organizations, but I do know, as an aboriginal leader, that when I first heard of Bill C-428, the very first thing I did was contact the member and set up a meeting to sit down and discuss it with him. Then I made the offer. I've be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I stated in my opening remarks, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples—we were formerly known as the Native Council of Canada—has been around for 43 years. Our organization was started back in the seventies to address the issues in our province. It was five women who had been thro