Hon. Elizabeth Hubley:

Honourable senators, the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples last year adopted a report on comprehensive land claims agreements. The committee's Recommendation No. 2 called for the establishment of an independent commission, such as a modern treaty commission, to oversee the implementation of comprehensive land claims agreements, including financial matters.

The government's response, tabled in September of this year, did not address our recommendation directly. Moreover, officials made it plain in a recent meeting of the committee that there was no intention to create any kind of independent body. Instead, the government has set up a forum, a kind of internal, interdepartmental committee.

Will the government acknowledge that an internal committee is incapable of providing the effective oversight and credibility that would come with an independent commission?

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