Thank you, Mr. Chairman. From Aivilik, for the record.
---Laughter
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm not convinced about the effectiveness of or low potential costs of this bill, as we have discussed this over the past couple of days. Even now, the Minister is saying there may be a proposition to amend the bill which would allow for translation. How many other hidden costs will there be? Translation is very important and other O and M needs will probably be very important, too, but they are still costs in implementing this bill.
In my approximately, 25 years with the public service, I have had experience with land claims and cultural preservation programs. I have seen the evolution of my people from outpost camps to modern communities, with their aspirations to govern their own lands with laws initiated by them. That is their desire. Most of us remember this from the early 1970s. This is 1994.
It has been almost 25 years that we have been active in promoting self-government for Nunavut. Before that, there were complaints about the laws made for them. There were big differences between the laws, the constitution, regulations and government orders -- or directives, they call them -- from the Minister of Indian Affairs. You could transport northern Quebec people to Resolute Bay and Grise Fiord. There was
the building of low-rental, prefabricated houses, or matchboxes, for people, however the government saw fit.
The Inuit, especially, have witnessed many laws. They didn't understand them and didn't find them relevant. Because of that, the Inuit worked very hard to achieve land claim agreements and the Nunavut Act with Bill C-28. By 1999, the Nunavut Act will finally allow Nunavut residents to initiate laws that pertain to them and that are important to them.
This Legislative Assembly, I feel, has a responsibility to respect the spirit of the Nunavut Act by introducing bills that are of urgent necessity, not of popular political view. They should be practical, financially-responsible bills, such as Bill 1, Bill 7, Bill 8, Bill 4, Bill 9, Bill 11, and Bill 12. These are important today. We all support them. These are money bills, most of them, that we must introduce and pass. If we don't, we are not looking after the people we represent.
But, this Bill 6, if it is passed, is putting down what is in the Nunavut Act. I am part of that race and they are not very aggressive when it comes to finding out the nitty grittys of how the government operates, the nitty gritty files that the government may have. What they want to have is a more holistic approach. They want to have a better lifestyle, with better education, social programs and economic development.
I don't feel very comfortable in pretending to represent the people of Nunavut by allowing this bill to proceed the way it is. Mr. Chairman, with that comment, I would like to ask a question of the Minister. I'm not trying to get into a specific clause here, and if it is too specific, I can wait. Because I'm not sure, I think I will ask. My question is, is it the intent that this bill will become part of the laws of Nunavut if it is passed by the Legislative Assembly?