Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Maybe just to add a little bit more on what has been happening, nationally. Last week, before the House of Commons recessed, all the three federal parties supported the Charlottetown Accord. It was based on that support that they now have gone out into the country to try and get a "yes" vote for this.
I have no problem, Mr. Chairman, supporting the Charlottetown Accord. Basically, what will happen is that if the accord is supported and passed, the legal text is going to have to reflect exactly what that means. If it is not what they agreed on, with any of the organizations or provincial governments, then it will be made known at that time, and they would not support it, based on what was agreed upon.
Mr. Chairman, I have difficulty in why I would not support this accord. If I did, I would got out into my constituency and convince the people on why we should endorse it, or vote for "yes" on the accord. One of the things that I want to say, is that it was never in aboriginal history, we have not made that many gains in such a short time, as we did during the last six months. It was significant, in my view.
Further, Mr. Chairman, if the Meech Lake Accord was ratified, we would have had basically nothing with regard to further aboriginal rights, just limited rights. Having a lawyer sitting in front of us, or myself, I am not a lawyer, I think I know what the intent of the aboriginal section means, and I think it is a great gain. We have not lost anything, and for that reason I am going to convince the people that we have never had as much before, as we have now. Not endorsing it, or not formally endorsing it, is suggesting that we deny the people that right to say "yes" or "no". I think by endorsing it, we are saying that we have a general consensus on what has been agreed to by the Charlottetown Accord, and we explained that as best we could to our constituencies. I will do that. I do not think I will go to the point and say that I think we have a good deal, I will convince my constituency that we do have a good aboriginal package with that accord, and that I will try to convince them, perhaps maybe to vote in favour of it. I will not say that you should vote "yes".