Mr. Chairman, I am not going to get into long debates with the Minister, but I totally differ with his opinion. I want to, for the record, go to page 20 of 22 of our document that the Minister had eloquently read to us last week, before we put this document into committee of the whole.
In there, he indicates with one paragraph on page 20, "recognition of the inherent right to aboriginal self-government will provide the Dene, the Metis, and Inuit, with the means to develop their own institutions of government, create public institutions which better reflect aboriginal interests and objectives, or both."
I ask myself, how can this be? Particularly, when there is no commitment from the G.N.W.T., and them not being a signatory to the Metis Accord. What particular areas within this document can you unequivocally state that the Metis can develop their own institutions of government, and create public institution that reflect their interests? There is not any particular area, and that is one of our concerns. I mean, it is my concern as a Member. I have a large constituency with a large Metis population.
When we talk about this document, I have not fully convinced myself, even though the native organizations, and many of our witnesses here have indicated that yes, this is a good time to go out, and encourage our constituents to vote "yes" on the accord. There are some areas that cause concern to my constituents, and I do not want to be telling them yes, vote "yes", and your inherent rights will be looked after when this government cannot even convince me that they will look after the Metis rights.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will continue later on, as you want to go down the list, and I will speak in regards to constitutional concerns of women's groups. I will let my other colleagues go first. Thank you.