As always I am very impressed by her passion for the topics we discuss in the House of Commons.

I think she presented some good arguments today in support of dividing this bill in two parts so that we can better examine it.

Does she think there is a chance the government will agree to this proposal?

Ève Péclet: Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. I also admire her intelligence and her luminous spirit, which brightens up the House of Commons.

I would like to say that I believe in the Conservatives’ goodwill, that I believe the Minister of Health and Minister for the Arctic Council when she says that they will look after Canada’s north.

I would like to believe that, but unfortunately, we have been quite disappointed over the past two years. That is why it is important for all MPs to rise today to tell the government that enough is enough and we must work together for Canada’s north.

This bill must be split in two. So we must continue to call on the government here in the House to listen to what our democratic institutions want and also what Canadians want.

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Elizabeth May : Mr. Speaker, my comment for the hon. member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River is in absolute support of what he has just said.

I had the pleasure, and it was a pleasure, of working for the then Minister of the Environment from 1986 to 1988 and putting legislation forward as part of a majority government, putting forward legislation to committees where we welcomed changes. As an example, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act was put forward without a priority substances list. The idea of a priority substances list came from an opposition member of Parliament on a parliamentary committee for environment. My boss, the Minister of the Environment, Tom McMillan, saw that it would be a benefit and would improve the act. This was a normal occurrence.

Parliamentary committees studying legislation used to be essentially non-politicized zones. We went in there, set our partisanship at the door and worked to make a better bill. I mourn that this is lost now. The comments that the member is making on this specific bill apply to every piece of legislation we have seen go through this House. Every piece of legislation in this place is treated as though accepting a single amendment to any government bill is a political defeat that the administration today will not tolerate. That is an offence to democracy, and I appreciate the member’s mentioning it.

John Rafferty: Speaker, I appreciate the member’s comments. She is absolutely right. That is the feeling that we in the opposition get in committee. We know that these are worthwhile amendments and we wonder why the Conservatives consider that it would be some sort of defeat if they were to accept any of them. Perhaps the Ottawa bubble syndrome causes them to think that for some reason they would lose votes.

I do not know what they are thinking, but the thinking should be that we go through all of the controls to make sure that we come forward with the best legislation possible.

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The second meeting of the week was a continuation of the study of land use and sustainable development. Three different groups, representing a range of perspectives, gave witness, including delegates from the Office of the Auditor General, the National Aboriginal Forestry Association, and the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association. They stated, respectively, that the federal government (through HRSDC and AANDC) had failed to sufficiently foster and support training programs and economic development; that the aboriginal forestry sector must be better enabled to fully realize its potential production capacity, in turn creating prospects for aboriginal youth; and that increased funding arrangements with the private sector were necessary in order to expand Small and Medium Enterprise loans for aboriginal entrepreneurs. Committee members showed broad support for the recommendations of each group, seeing value in all proposals.

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