Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I completely agree with that. Reconciliation must occur at all levels. It also includes recognizing what has been done to first nations throughout history, including assimilation and cultural extermination attempts. Just like you, I wonder why we should pay for the negotiation.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If you are talking about potentially using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, that option is definitely constantly discussed. We are trusting the current process implemented by the federal and provincial governments. That said, the fuse is becomin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  That is part of first nations' DNA. We are very patient, but as I said, not much time is left before the new generation starts pushing for a new approach to be adopted. For a very long time, I advocated a different approach. In general assembly, members of our nation still belie

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We tried to develop this approach, but it's always been thrown.... They say, you are going to take care of it at the land claims table, the comprehensive claim. It's always when we have a problem, they throw it to that table. You are going to take care of it at that table. It's

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  But there's an opening. Can I just say a bad thing about them? There's an opening, but as I said, they put everything on the land claims negotiation table. We say something else. We say that it's been 40 years. We don't want to wait another 20, 30, or 40 years. Let's address th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Do you mean non-native towns?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. There are many towns there.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We work closely with the municipalities around us. I know there were some issues created in 2003 with the fusion of municipalities in Quebec, which created a lot of tension among the first nations and the municipalities. Still today there's an effect from this, but, yes, we as fi

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes, of course. We are starting this approach too. As I said, our people really believe in the negotiations. We are doing it this way, negotiating. There is also self-propelling to sovereignty. We are working, talking to companies, exercising our rights on our lands, and slowly,

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  No, we never did that.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  They keep lending the money and we don't get to an agreement. As well, I think the party who, in the end, leaves the table in bad faith is the one who will have to pay for that. Maybe that's the reason why.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  In 1979, our people, our leaders, believed that the best way possible was negotiating. They believed in the good faith of the government. They believed in the system, the rule of law, and negotiation was the way they chose. We could have chosen to go to a tribunal at that time, b

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's been 35. It stopped in 2009 until 2013. The Quebec government kept negotiating, but the federal government stopped negotiating from 2009 to 2013. I was just an observer at that time. There was another part when I was younger, and the same thing happened.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  There's a different formula, and I think the best for us is to preserve our rights, aboriginal title, and our land. We want general recognition of our rights. To paint a picture of this, let's say the government recognizes all our rights and our titles on the land, but we're goin

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I have no problem with that. I could sit here all day, if you want.