NDP Leader Reveals Minister Bryant Smokescreen

Hansard: March 18, 2008

Mr. Howard Hampton: My question is for the Premier. Yesterday, after the jailing of the chief and five Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation members, Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy stated this: “The extreme positions of the government of Ontario in jailing First Nation leaders is an insult to the so-called new relationship with our people.” He then added, “Once more we are being moved out of the way, our valuable resources are being exploited, and everybody is benefiting except us.”
So here is the reality. The McGuinty government has now jailed First Nation leaders from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and from Ardoch First Nation, who only ask that the McGuinty government fulfill its constitutional duty, as set down by the Supreme Court of Canada, to consult and accommodate First Nations.
Premier, is this the McGuinty government’s new relationship with First Nations, to have the discussion between jail bars?
Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
Hon. Michael Bryant: This morning, I spoke again with Grand Chief Stan Beardy, who indicated to me very clearly that he wanted to continue to work with the government as he was meeting with chiefs this afternoon, to find a way in which we can ensure that First Nations who were not properly consulted by mining industry at the beginning of exploration talks, in fact are able to come to a position where they can come to an agreement and share in the revenues. That’s why, with respect to KI, there was an offer to share in revenues, ensure that the exploration had supervision by First-Nation-appointed archaeologists and by elders, would stay 100 metres away from the burial zones and sacred sites, would be provided with $150,000 in order to engage in new talks on a new relationship.
I will have more to say on that in my supplementary.
Mr. Howard Hampton: Once again, the McGuinty government tries to hide behind something that is simply not true. The obligation to consult is not on the mining company. The obligation to consult, as set down by the Supreme Court of Canada, is on provincial governments—the McGuinty government. The trial judge said in his decision that it is completely unacceptable for the McGuinty government to say, “Oh, no, you just consult with the mining company.”
This is a failure of the McGuinty government. The grand chief yesterday suspended talks with the McGuinty government. This creates more uncertainty for First Nations and more uncertainty for resource companies.
My simple question is this: When is the McGuinty government going to meet its constitutional duty to consult and accommodate First Nations, as set down by the Supreme Court of Canada, and stop blaming someone else?
Hon. Michael Bryant: The leader of the third party knows very well that the information he is providing to this House is completely inaccurate. If there was ever a finding by the court that the government of Ontario had in fact violated the Constitution, do you really think the hearing would have ended up the way it did yesterday? No, it wouldn’t.
The member seems to want to continue to divide communities when in fact this is a government that is trying to bring us together. The member knows very well that this government bent over backwards with three trips up to KI, with terms under the agreement conceded by Platinex that included guaranteed jobs, that included guaranteed revenue, that included talks around resource revenue sharing and land use planning. It was a package that was put together and presented to the community and still remains before the community that the community needs to make a decision about.
Mr. Howard Hampton: After the fact.
Hon. Michael Bryant: No, it was not after the fact, I say to the leader of the third party. He knows very well that it has been on the table for the last three months.
I would encourage the community—
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.