Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Draft amendments to the Wildlife Act are not there yet. It has been a long road, and a pressing need to update the act into the legal reality of today is clear. The draft bill does go some distance towards recognizing Aboriginal and treaty rights but fails on our additional responsibility for bringing those without these rights into a cooperative management future.

As I have said repeatedly, whole management is the only approach that will work, but workable whole management requires that this bill also provides for wildlife users without Aboriginal and treaty rights to be directly engaged in the process. While the legal makeup of advisory and management boards may omit wildlife users without Aboriginal and treaty rights, that does not preclude a direct and funded role for them and advising government representatives who are at the table. The difficulty lies in the fact that government representatives must represent all people, including those with Aboriginal rights. And thus they have an inherent conflict of interest. Unless those without treaty rights have a clear mechanism for participation and debate, our solutions can only produce the failed management practices, discord and resistance that now prevail.

Another key issue is recognition of the legal fact that priority rights do not mean exclusive rights. Few, if any, would debate the recognition of priority access for those with Aboriginal and treaty rights over residents and then commercial interests. Case law indicates that while Aboriginal harvesters have pre-eminent rights of harvesting, that does not mean completely excluding allocation for users without Aboriginal and treaty rights.

Mr. Speaker, you have heard me speak out many times on behalf of Aboriginal and treaty rights holders. I am extremely pleased to see this draft

legislation making significant progress in recognizing those rights, but we have a responsibility for maximizing the use and enjoyment of our wildlife for all our people within the provisions for recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights. To achieve this, we need to conduct and fund consultation for all users and provide all users with a meaningful mechanism for direct participation in wildlife management. Conservation is most supported by those who use the resource. Working together requires providing a real opportunity to engage.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted