Thank you. Mr. Speaker, in the newscast, C.B.C. I believe makes a misleading statement when they suggest that the territorial government will not sign an accord that ensures Metis people get the same rights as other aboriginal people, under the Constitution of Canada.
The fact is this is misleading because the Metis Accord does not do that. It just makes it possible for Metis people in the provinces to be given some assurance that they will have some reasonable cause to believe that they will have access to resources, and particularly, lands, that they need in order to complete negotiations.
The Constitution, as it is proposed to be amended now, gives the Metis people all of the rights that are being accorded to all of the aboriginal people of Canada. The accord does not deal with the rights, only with the provisions that would make governments committed to negotiate the provisions.
Secondly, the announcer goes on to say that Mr. Bohnet says that a draft agreement was reached with officials of the territorial government but that by the time it got to Cabinet, the government changed its mind. There is absolutely no basis for this statement, I would say that it is a false statement, or at least a misinformed statement. The President of the Metis Nation goes on to make the allegation that there are certain individuals in the government who are not laying their cards on the table and not dealing fairly, or honestly, with the Metis.
I reject that categorically. I believe that there is also a further false statement. When the announcer says that myself, as a Minister of Aboriginal Rights, told M.L.A.s that even though the Metis were told that the government would originally sign the accord, the decision was not to be much of a concern. I think what I had said was, and I have said it from the beginning, that the territorial government support the accord as it is, if we were to sign it, would have certain wording changed.
The leaders of the Metis Nation had originally agreed to the draft and at a later date changed their mind. The National Chief of the Dene Nation had serious objections to the Metis accord as it was being contemplated, with the idea that the G.N.W.T. should sign such an accord. Mr. Speaker, I raise it because I think that we are in a tight time frame and there is a real need out there in the communities for factual, clear statements to be made in regard to peoples' views, and positions.
The allegations and the statements contained within that statement needed to be clarified and clarified immediately. I believe it was making allegations which I think are totally unsubstantiated. Thank you.