Hon. Joan Fraser:

Honourable senators, my question is to the Leader of the Government in the Senate. This question is essentially a repetition of a question that I put to her on May 6 of this year, which she took as notice. Her colleagues must not have provided her with the necessary information yet because I have not had any written response. I will ask the leader again about non-derogation clauses. I am sure she will remember.

By way of background, honourable senators, it is now nearly two years since the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs recommended that the government abrogate the hodgepodge of clauses now existing to ensure that legislation does not derogate from the constitutional rights of Aboriginal people, and substitute a standard clause pledging non-derogation of Aboriginal rights in the Interpretation Act.

We made that simple suggestion after an exhaustive study nearly two years ago. Fifteen months ago, the Minister of Justice told us that this idea was worthy of serious consideration, and he would canvass Aboriginal groups for their opinion.

In February of this year, one prominent Aboriginal leader, Mary Simon, of whom we are all aware, and for whom we all have high respect, wrote to the Minister of Justice agreeing to apparently all that was on offer, which was "informal conversations at the officials' level." However, she said that she hoped these conversations would allow Aboriginal groups to have a definitive response to the Senate committee's recommendations within a reasonable time frame, which she defined as the end of this year.

This preamble to the question has been long because the process has been a long, long, wearying one. What progress has been made? Are the Aboriginal groups being consulted? When can we expect a "definitive response" to the Senate committee's reasonable recommendation?

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