Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. The short answer is that once the wills provision in the Indian Act is repealed, then the provincial definitions of common-law partner would prevail vis-à-vis wills and estates regimes in their respective provinces or territories. So you're correct i

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. Again it's the doctrine of interjurisdictional immunity. Whenever you have specific.... Sorry to get technical this early in the morning, but—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  —whenever you have specific federal legislation that occupies the field, as it were, then that will push out the provincial.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  But this kind of goes to our first recommendation. I would caution the committee about taking a piecemeal approach to this area of reform. There are many things that need to be thought out, intricacies about how the provincial wills regimes would work vis-à-vis Indian estates. Th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The last part of our paper, the third section, deals with the proposed repeal of bylaw provisions. We talk there about section 85.1 and about how some first nations do have bylaws that govern intoxication on reserve to the extent that those nations may be affected. As well, the d

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. I understand that all of the members have a copy of our paper in front of them, which will be very helpful. We have three comment sections in the brief. The bill proposes to repeal several sections of the Indian Act. The first section of our paper just reviews the se

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It has been a while since I've looked at it—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would just add one last comment, though, which is that, again, property taxation is not a panacea. Like all of the things we're talking about, part of it is only if you're blessed with a location advantage, right? We have clients who are in the hinterland. They could have a pro

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I can go first, if you like. I'll make it quick. That's a huge question. What leads to overcrowding on reserves and inadequate housing is really a huge issue in itself. There are systemic problems with housing on reserves. If we go to what Dr. Le Dressay said about the First Nat

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I did. I wanted to say two things in response to those questions. The first is this. One of the economic costs goes back to those legacy issues that I was just talking about. We have one client who adopted a first nation land management code and spent the last three or four year

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. I have worked for communities where the collective interest is held very near and dear to their hearts, and they refuse to issue certificates of possession to anyone as a result. It's all communal land and there are no certificates of possession what

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I haven't reviewed that particular piece of proposed legislation but stepping back on the fee simple question generally, you talked about existential questions and the nature of the aboriginal title held in reserve lands recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada in Garron. I thin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I was just going to add that in some respect it's not much different from if you have a bunch of small, fee simple parcel holders. If you're looking for a large development, either all the CP holders are going to have to get together to bring together a parcel that's economically