Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Can I make one comment about off reserve? I totally agree, that we should not be concerned about our reserves being flooded by people returning. Of my three children, only one is living on the reserve. The other two are out within the broader Canadian society. There will be that

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's history, too. We have our own oral history, and that's part of that. That would just be verifying that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, it's obvious. If you have more people, then you will have to expand. Some of our first nations have been doing that, and they're making arrangements with municipalities that are surrounding those first nations, so that the land would be acquired and be able to be used by t

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In the best of worlds, there should be. There would have to be.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't feel comfortable answering that question simply because it's a Quebec case, and it's a first nation in Quebec. If I look at the Indian Act and the implications for the non-recognition of certain members of their family, I can see the impact that it would have. Maybe they'

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I would totally agree with you. We had a workshop in September, in Sudbury, and it was agreed that we have done quite a bit of work already within our own governance structure. We just need to get to the next phase, which will be the implementation. This is where we will be look

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Well, you would have to tell me if they are.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Exactly. That's what we are aspiring to, because right now we are losing so many more of our members under the current system. This is one way of ensuring that we don't lose any more of our people. We cannot afford to lose any more of our members.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If that's what we are going to be working towards, it would have to be.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, because we will have our own registrar. We'll have our own body of governance and leadership to determine all that. It has all been drafted already. I didn't have time to really get into it.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That's under the current Indian Act.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, they do.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I believe that because so many of their people had lost their Indian status over the years, it dwindled to the point where we have to continue to ensure that the grandchildren, or maybe even the great-grandchildren, of those original members are not lost. Bill C-31 made a slight

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's still functioning right now, because it just happened. They did a study, and that was the outcome of the study. With their current membership and the way things were going, they said that was going to be the end of the members who could be registered as status Indians, unl