Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good afternoon to you all. My name is Luke Hunter. I'm the research director of Nishnawbe Aski Nation. I am very pleased to be able to speak to you on Bill C-30, An Act to establish the Specific Claims Tribunal. First I would like to provide a brief background on the organizatio

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  When we talk about land, we don't necessarily distinguish between the federal government and the provincial government. We view it as crown land. As we all know, in the communities I represent, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, although it's provincial crown land, there are large trac

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I didn't really quite understand your question, but what I think I hear you saying is that Treaty No. 9 has provisions regarding the way to settle traditional lands or land claims. Yes, I think it has, so it's a question, strictly speaking, of Bill C-30. One of the problems I se

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think there has been, I guess, political agreement in the past. You mentioned residential schools. I guess most of those resulted either through our legal system or through political pressure from interest groups if there was an issue that needed to be addressed or raised. Yes

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Actually, I didn't comment on that at all.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, thanks. In relation to the provinces, yes, as we all know, in Treaty No. 9 we do have that treaty relationship. In terms of working together to deal with land issues, in the past, federal and provincial governments worked together to draft the land transfer act. We weren't

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, short answer, yes--

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I really have no issue with the judges. Judges are very competent people. I would rather see an independent judge make an impartial decision, as opposed to government bureaucrats making decisions on all my claims. I'm okay with it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No. I'm not an elected individual. I'm not a chief or a politician.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. I deal with land claims, and I work in the research department. I assist our first nations, dealing with their land claims and also treaty matters. Whatever definition we use for consultation, in general terms if you look at the English dictionary, it's a straightforward def

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, on the issue of consultation, I want to point out that Canada is a very large country, and we need resources to be able to provide that meaningful consultation. In terms of AFN, I know there's been a joint task force on various matters concerning land claims. I would think

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have just a quick answer. I'm not in a position to answer on the issue of consultation. In general terms--I can't speak for my member first nation or my political executive--my understanding is that when we talk about consultation from anything that impacts the welfare of Canad

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  When we are talking purely about money compensation, it's fine, but when we get into land, then it becomes a totally different dynamic. If you look at the bill under the release and discharge section, what's to prevent the government from saying that we've released our obligati

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  But the thing is that it has no capacity to award--