Let me try this, one of the approaches. One of the big points that was made by the aboriginal leaders, from the onset is, it is necessary to give some comfort to aboriginal people and aboriginal governments. They do not have to follow strictly the practice and traditions of provincial and federal governments, let us say a parliamentary system of government. There are certain cases to be made, where it is going to be their choice, it is going to be the choice of aboriginal people themselves as to how their governments are going to function. If the Charter of Rights conflicts with that first law, then there is going to be some concern, and in fact, it was argued, for a certain period of time, that the Charter of Rights should not apply to this third order of government. In the end, they agreed, that the Charter will apply, but that the not withstanding clause will be extended to aboriginal governments.

There is no reason, I believe, in advance of aboriginal governments developing, for women to fear that they are going to be left out in the dark, or that they are going to be trampled all over, in the development of these new governments. I believe that the suggestion is, that if it is possible, politically possible, to develop an aboriginal Charter of Rights, that this will be considered in future constitutional discussions. At the present time, this was the understanding that was reached in the course of the negotiations.