Thank you.

I know this is subjective in terms of where you're situated in Canada. We're situated in B.C. and first nations over here are tired of policies or agendas that are used by third parties, with first nations stuck in the middle. We're talking about this happening all over Canada, but it's happened predominantly in B.C.

We already have paternalistic ideas about funding first nations in Canada through the Indian Act. We don't need any more policies like this, especially when you think about what we're trying to achieve here as first nations leaders. We're trying to dig ourselves out of poverty and the violence of poverty and it's working. It's been working from 2004 to 2017. It contributed to the standard of life, which had a reversal. It built a future for our people and it actually achieved independence for a band like my own.

When you think about some of the activities we did, like mining, forestry and LNG, it was my band, the Haisla Nation, that pushed that on Canada and B.C. You also talked about some other developments. Some of the biggest polluters in Canada are cities and towns and their landfills. Guess what. First nations utilize that just like everybody else. The other thing you have to consider is that the lifespan of first nations has actually increased due to the development that we've been undergoing.

You're doing something that is redundant. We already have processes here. First nations' interests are already covered in the Constitution of Canada under section 35 and the case law that was decided in the courts of Canada and B.C. at the same time. Underneath that, you also have the interests of first nations' leaders participating in environmental assessments, both federally and provincially, to cover off more than what you're talking about here.

Do you know what we did here in B.C.? We accomplished something Canada didn't. We actually resolved Canada's shame in terms of the exclusion and the racism, and we did it on our own terms.

Because three minutes is not a lot of time, I'll leave you with this: Where does this end in terms of financial costs? Everything I've seen in terms of government policy always ends up on the ratepayer, the taxpayer, or it actually chases investment out of provinces. First nations people are citizens of this country just as much as the non-first nations. They depend on hospitals and schools. They depend on the highways and the shopping just like everybody else.

At a time when Canadians are facing the worst unaffordability in my history, at least, this is not a time to talk about this kind of policy that is big and general. If you really want to support indigenous people, support them through existing mechanisms that are already proven to be highly effective. Don't do what they did in B.C. Don't use first nations as a shield for somebody else's agenda. That's just shameful.

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