Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will be voting against this bill on the principle that I, for one, believe that religious values, family values and aboriginal values are not being taken into account. You talk about the difference between aboriginal rights, individual rights and collective rights, yet when it comes to aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories and the rest of Canada, who should have the right to decide in regard to legislations passed through this Legislature and other legislatures in the country, to have a say in how it affects aboriginal people's rights under section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Section 9124 gives you the right to be able to be treated differently.
What this does is impose on First Nation governments and First Nation organizations in the Northwest Territories, and especially the groups that I represent in the Beaufort-Delta, who are negotiating a self-government agreement, for them to be able to establish programs and services and determine exactly who their membership is and collectively how they will be able to allocate programs and services.
Here again, we missed the opportunity of consultation. We talk about involving First Nations, aboriginal groups in the process of legislation that is being drafted through this House to allow for public involvement in this process, but what we see happening here again is we are being railroaded into bad legislation. When push comes to shove, we will threaten you with court action so you better do something.
I for one can state the Canadian Constitution has been a long time coming for aboriginal people, yet we have section 35. We have a court case that has gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, which recognizes aboriginal and indigenous people's rights to hunt and fish, yet provinces and jurisdictions have that legislation but they do not recognize it. Why is it when it comes to recognizing people's rights and individual rights, that when it comes to aboriginal people, we neglect that basically they have a fundamental, unique role to play in the Canadian dynamics?
What this does is it takes the whole picture of the values of indigenous people, aboriginal obligations we have by way of self-government agreements and also in regard to the sections of the Constitution, which basically protects and ensures that we are able to enhance but not diminish the right of indigenous people to basically continue on with their values.
I for one feel that we, in regard to this case, this bill, have to realize that there are other court challenges in Canada at this time that are presently being put in place or being looked at by lawyers, by religious groups, by family groups and other groups in Canada. For us to basically say we are in the position that we are damned if we do, damned if we do not, and if you do not do anything, you are going to lose in court anyway, I would just as soon lose it in court and allow the justice system to dictate to this government how we are going to do our jobs. They did a good job in regard to the sunset clause and the Friends of Democracy. I think this is the same situation we are in with this case. I have a real problem that this government is not going to allow its membership to speak on this issue.
I would like to know exactly how the Ministers sitting across the House...have a free vote on this matter and also ask the Premier if he would allow his membership to basically speak on this matter in regard to where their values are. Where do you stand as individuals in this House? I think that is the important thing, so that not only ourselves on this side of the House will be speaking on the matter, but yourselves as our elected representative on the Cabinet side should really, honestly tell us exactly where you stand on this issue. By simply sitting on your thumbs and not doing anything basically tells us that, you know...
I think this is such an important issue that we have to have a full consultation process. If it means we go into every community, I suggest we go into every community.
--Applause
For me, this is a matter that is serious and that we have to ensure that we have a real feel for our constituents, the people in our communities and what their values are, not just the values of the people in this House.
I for one, Mr. Speaker, would like to ask that we have a recorded vote on this matter and that the Premier allows his Ministers to speak freely on this issue and vote freely in regard to what their moral beliefs are and what they stand for.
-- Applause