Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think what investors are looking for is certainty, and I guess what first nations are looking for is that if there's development occuring on land, our people are going to have jobs. What is the benefit of locating business on the reserve? Perhaps there could be longer-term lea

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There are about 150 businesses on our reserve.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's really a resourcing question. We have a very successful revolving community housing loan fund. We mortgage the houses to our members. We currently have about $17 million in mortgages to our members. The problem is with the various pieces of legislation that have been passe

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  On the regulatory gap, I guess the federal and provincial governments have never come to a common understanding on what the laws of general application are. What is the stance of the lawyers and the Department of Justice as it relates to the laws of general application? They have

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's also one of the challenges.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  First of all, in Ontario there is a ministry devoted to environmental protection for everybody who lives in the province. Within that ministry, they have a variety of experts. They have hydrogeologists, air quality specialists, and toxicologists. There is a whole gamut of profess

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  [Witness speaks in his native language] Good afternoon, everyone. Bonjour. On behalf of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development for the opportunity to make a presentation today on the topic o

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The first statement in the current policy talks about the return of the land as compensation. If we want to make that happen.... The government is very apprehensive about beginning a process to do that. If we simply ask Canada to go and approach the parties to buy the land, to se

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The bill will work for some communities. The communities it will work for should be in a specific schedule that applies to their communities, and it should be up to the local government of each community to decide whether they want this legislation to affect their community. It

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We view the existing bill as being unconstitutional in that it doesn't meet the standards of the royal proclamation on how the crown acquires title. It has to be with the informed consent of our people. Our people do not wish to surrender any more land to the crown. Already we do

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Another point is that we believe the bill violates the equality provisions under the charter. Cash compensation should not always be forced on the Indian, where the title to the land goes to the non-Indian. We believe that's a form of discrimination on the grounds of race. I just

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The solution is really a treaty land repatriation process that recognizes the crown's lawful obligation to correct the mistakes it has caused and the injury it has caused our people. I don't think we can ignore the passion that is in our young people. They see that our land bas

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The tribunal cannot exercise the rights of our people. The right to decide to alienate property rests with our people. That can't be exercised by any other party, including the tribunal. A large number of claims would be affecting our community. We have 13 different alienations

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Get away from the idea that one shoe will fit all feet. Numerous pieces of legislation could be involved that are culturally appropriate to the first nation that's involved. For example, the Iroquois communities may need a very specific process, and I think our experts should be

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Money does not address the crown's responsibilities to our treaty, nor is it addressing the growing need for restoration of our land base for generations to come. The tribunal will not look at land claims over $150 million. Given the fact that our community has less than 20% of