Yes, Mr. Chairman. First of all, by approving constitutional amendments, based on this agreement in Charlottetown, does not mean that on October 27, the Constitution is amended. You still have to come back, and your Legislature still has to deal with legal text. You still have to deal with the Metis Nation Accord, and having that finalized, before it can be signed.
Just as there will not automatically be constitutional change on October 27, even when the amendments are approved, and the Metis Nation Accord is signed, it does not mean that self- government agreements exist. The self-government agreements have to be negotiated by the people and the governments.
Now obviously, in a place where people have decided they want to have one common self-government agreement, for their area, if that is so, and it is based on settlement of a claim, that is the way the negotiations will go. That is the way that the people will decide. Nothing is imposed. What we are talking about is putting something in place that will permit self-government negotiations to take place.
Even though, people are living side by side in the north, you know, there is a very simple fact that they may be living side by side, but they are certainly treated differently by Ottawa. Some people are Status Indian people, and receive certain benefits and services, and entitlements, that their relatives sitting next door do not enjoy. We want to tear that barrier down. We want the measure of equality to apply equally to all aboriginal people. We do not want to be treated, any longer, like second class aboriginal people, and third class Canadians.
The only way to do that, to guarantee that we will not, is to have a constitutional amendment that will provide, clearly, that the federal government has obligations to the Metis as well, and that is the fundamental objective of the Metis Nation Accord.
I do not think any of us, Chief Antoine, are interested in seeing divisions carry on further in our communities. None of us wants to set up any kind of false divisions. We certainly have had enough of it. We have been victims of it, and we are sick and tired of it. If people in our communities want to go a certain way in self-government negotiations, that is their decision, but what we do want to guarantee is that they have the option to enter into self-government negotiations if they want to.