Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Bonnie, perhaps we could see one of the copies we gave you. I'm sorry to do this; something has happened in our notes. Thank you so much.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Just very quickly, I think you were asking about one judge reviewing it versus a number of judges, and that actually doesn't seem in keeping with any other adjudicative body I've ever heard of. I guess it's intended to mirror a Supreme Court thing, an appeal, the last appeal--the

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  As I was saying before, it seems that in any other adjudicative body, if decisions are binding, then both parties typically have a say in who makes those decisions and agree on that jointly. This is not the case here. The power of the AFN to make recommendations is not the same i

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't think I could come up with a number, but there certainly are a number. One was recently rejected based on the Weyweykum Supreme Court case. The land value of that is approximately $750 million. It was a larger commonage claim, and there are a number of those right now in

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It would mean talking directly with communities, particularly in British Columbia, because British Columbia represents a unique situation in terms of specific claims: the largest number of claims in the backlog, the largest number of new claims by far. B.C. first nations need to

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think first that all reserve creation claims must be accepted for review and have access to the tribunal; that there must be no cap on the claims that are considered and that have access to it; and that the issues surrounding conflict of interest must be truly dealt with throug

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think some of the remedies the minister was discussing in his testimony had to do with grouping claims and with joint research. As Ms. Abbott was saying earlier, the general idea of grouping claims is very logical. I think it can move a lot of claims through quickly. There are

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We are aware of the letter. Unless it's legislated, it comes off as another assurance. I can give you an example. Since that letter was sent, the Okanagan Indian Band also received a letter from the minister in which he informed them that he was backing out of negotiations on t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Except that it was just rejected; it was a reserve creation claim that was rejected and now has no recourse within the current system.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  What we found was that the political accord was presented, and this—what we're experiencing right now—I understand to be some sort of consultative process. What we're saying is that B.C. communities need to be directly consulted, given the large number of claims in the system th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If first nations had the same level of approval as Canada had of who was on that list.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There have already been a number of instances where communities or organizations from across Canada have made recommendations about who should sit on the tribunal, so it could be as simple as setting up a process for how those recommendations are made.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No. We're concerned that the first nations recommendations are not binding on the process. The ultimate responsibility and power for that I guess would lie with the DOJ, and they can take or leave the AFN's recommendations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That the appointment process isn't truly joint.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Neither are we in B.C. The bill and the political accord were presented as they were: as we see them, as you see them.