Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In theory, the two do intersect often, particularly for urban or suburban first nations where they do have development on the reserve. It's been a while since I've looked at the First Nations Land Management Act or the land codes, but there might be a possibility for them to put

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, I think you put it very well.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In his presentation, Mr. Roe referred to buckshee leases. Certainly, in British Columbia, this is an issue. This is a situation where a first nations entrepreneur, we'll say, decides to invite a developer or a number of people to come on to his property and build a mobile home

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Only when you're a lawyer. It could take many forms. I think there is certainly room for policy improvement at the department now. There are the regulations. It's a lot easier to change the regulations than it is to change the act itself. The regulations certainly could be broug

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There's a paper I did back in 2010, which was a presentation to the CBA wills and trusts subsection. I reviewed it again this morning. It's a great paper—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  —that really sets out, I think even for lay people, the framework that we're in right now. I think that might assist the committee. It's there already.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I could probably come up with a list of the top 10 things that need to be changed if you want me to do that, but it won't be as entertaining as Letterman's. One thing that comes to mind, for instance, is that when you're dealing with estates, particularly intestacies, it's not

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't think there is a silver bullet. As Brock mentioned, in the B.C. Treaty Commission process, the first nations that have negotiated treaties are just relying on provincial laws, so they don't seem that interested in it at this point. Those negotiations will go on and on for

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, the fact is, though, there are seven sections dealing with estates and then you have the regulations which are kind of all over the place. When you read them, there doesn't seem to be a really comprehensive code, so you do fall back on policy. Policy implies discretion is wha

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, I'm not.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  My understanding is that there's no fee charged for doing that. That might be a better question for somebody from the department, whether or not they've actually quantified what that cost might be for departmental administration. I know that some of the complex or older estates

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In terms of the trustee's duties, yes. If a departmental representative is managing the estate, they're in the same position as Canada Trust, for instance, or a family member, in terms of their fiduciary duties to manage the estate. Certainly there are potential liabilities if

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  One simple thing....

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely. As I said, both the legislation and the regulations are pretty lean and there are some huge holes in there. Oftentimes, you're left with policy to try to fill those gaps and even the policy often doesn't address all of those issues. My guess is that the policy may n

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.