Okay, thank you, Chair.
There's a lack of alternatives to monetary compensation. The Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Innu, and Passamaquoddy people have had very strong traditional, social, economic, and cultural connections to their traditional territories. Our connection to our lands defines who we are as indigenous peoples. The bill does not grant the tribunal the option of awarding lands as part of the compensation package to a first nation. We believe this is critical, and we support the inclusion of alternative remedies as outlined in the political agreement. First nations should have the option of acquiring back the traditional land they claim or obtaining new land.
On the operation of the tribunal process, we have some concerns regarding the lack of details in the bill about the tribunal process itself. While it is assumed that most of these details will be worked out through regulations, and we recognize the need for the tribunal to have some flexibility and authority to deal with certain matters, we ask whether there's enough guidance in the bill to ensure that the tribunal does not adopt the same adversarial approach, which we are only too familiar with.
Related to this, first nations have in the past expressed concerns about inadequate research capabilities and insufficient funding to participate in the process. At a minimum, sufficient and independent funding must be committed by the Government of Canada to support first nations research and negotiation efforts as well as any other costs related to participating in the tribunal process.
There's a lack of ability to compel the provinces to participate. The tribunal does not have the ability to compel a province to participate in this process. A province must agree to become a party to this process before it is subject to the tribunal's jurisdiction.
We are concerned that a first nation would have to sue a province in order to obtain settlement of an outstanding claim. This is contrary to the spirit of the legislation, which is to address all specific claims under $150 million in a fair, independent, expedited manner. The Government of Canada must identify options to compel provincial involvement in the tribunal process, where it is warranted, as an alternative to the courts in resolving many of these long-standing claims.
In closing, as I mentioned at the outset, it's our position that we generally support Bill C-30 in its current form. However, our expression of support for this bill is subject only to the Government of Canada fully addressing all the outstanding issues committed to in the political agreement.
The Minister of Indian Affairs, when he introduced the bill to this committee, stated that the bill and the accompanying political agreement are the result of a collaborative approach between the Government of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations. We recognize that a political commitment to try to address change does not necessarily translate into actual change. However, we aim to hold the minister and the Government of Canada accountable to these commitments through our continued work and support of the Assembly of First Nations.
We wish to thank the committee for giving us this opportunity to express our views regarding Bill C-30, and we strongly urge you to seriously consider the issues we have raised regarding this bill.
Welálin. Thank you.