Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Thank you for your speech. You said in your speech that those lands are owned and controlled by Parks Canada. Are they not in unceded territories? Otherwise, why are we doing land acknowledgments and quoting number treaty areas in the work that we do?

Senator Sorensen: Thank you for your question. Perhaps the wording was not appropriate. What I can say is that all the lands that are being expanded on are currently under the management of Parks Canada, and what is important is that by putting them into these two acts — the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act and the Canada National Parks Act — they can do the enforcement they need to on these lands.

Senator McCallum: You are aware, then, that all of Saskatchewan is covered by treaty. It is all unceded territory, so why is it under provincial jurisdiction?

Senator Cotter: All of the territory is covered by treaty, but most of the lands that are not reserves could be described as traditional territories. You are asking a question that is about provincial jurisdiction, but the view taken — as a result of the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement in the 1930s — was to transfer what Ottawa asserted it owned as federal lands into provincial lands.

The land that is governed by reserves is governed by First Nations. The lands that are traditional territories are subject to a more contentious set of authorities.