Just a short answer to Mr. Antoine's question, and I tend to agree with him, it will be people at the community level that will make that final decision irrespective of what we negotiate in Ottawa, or whatever part of the country that we may arrive at.
I agree with Tony's comments, that is what we are trying to do, to create an opportunity so that all aboriginal people, if they want to enter into self-government negotiations, have that opportunity to do that. It should not be myself, or anybody else, that makes that decision on their behalf. I think that is part of our reason for being involved in this process, because it was a process of inclusion, not an exclusion of people. We have situations where people have decided to co-exist together, irrespective of whatever designation they have, and I think that should be encouraged, the cooperation and development.
We also recognize that there are other parts of this country, in which that is not going to work. You alluded to it earlier, when you talked about those people, the designation of those people living on, and living off-reserves. In particular in the Maritimes, where I come from, because we changed our wording in our Constitution, it says nice things about aboriginal people being treated equally and fairly. We make those changes in the Constitution, or put those words forward, it is not going to change 400 years of attitudes in my part of the country. Our nations have been basically destroyed. It is going to take generations to overcome divisions, our people have had to face since confederation, and even before. We talked about the treaties. We waited 267 years for our first treaty to be honoured, and we are still waiting, so a lot of it is attitude.
We can change our worlds, but it is not going to change over night. I regret to say at this point that I have got to go, because I am due to catch a plane out of here, but I would like to thank Members of the Legislature here for giving us the opportunity to speak to you. I know every time I come north, the hospitality of northerners is second to nobody, and I know I have enjoyed that when I have come up to meet with the Metis Nation. I sort of felt a great sense of hospitality by the Members here today, and I thanked them for their kind words throughout the day. I also thanked them for the gift that has been given to us.
On that note, I hope that we can have the opportunity of returning some day, or at least talking to each other more on this issue and others, because I think it is very important that we work together through this process. We have a long way to go, and I think a lot of people have recognized that we have come a long way in this process, but we have a long way to go together to ensure that the aboriginal people in this country take their rightful place in confederation. We hope that we can realize that together, and make a better way of life for our children coming up, and our grandchildren, and those yet to be born. Thank you.
---Applause