Mr. Chairman, the legal counsel said it is according to his understanding, and he told me not to be concerned. But, being an aboriginal person, coming from a small community, I go by my own understanding and my own experience, and I am concerned. It may be according to the books, what is written down, and it may be put down on paper and you follow it. In the communities where I come from, there are municipal boundaries and governments. However, the aboriginal people, who lived there before these municipal councils came into place, have a claim to the municipal area, as well as the land outside.
It is not only the land outside the municipal boundaries that people in communities are interested in, it is also land within the municipal boundaries. What this authority is going to do is alienate the municipal lands within the communities. In some of the communities, there are large tracts of municipal land that the municipal government has taken over in block land transfers. So, we're looking at a substantial amount of land within these communities. That's my understanding of it.
The concerns I heard today from the chiefs is that it is the first time some of them heard about it and they're not too clear what this bill is all about. We are here in this Legislative Assembly to represent the people in the communities. There are legitimate concerns out there that these chiefs have given me. They have their own legal advice, and their own positions. They weren't given a chance to review this and have their views heard on these bills. That's one of my main concerns.
We are going to go ahead and pass it without listening to the voices of the people. That's what it said in the motion we passed yesterday, in the conduct for Members, that we are going to listen to the voices of the people. And, there is a substantial section of peoples' voices that haven't been heard. That's the point I want to make. We have to let these people have their say on this bill, as well.