(Deputy Chair) in the chair.

[English]

I would like to begin this meeting by acknowledging that the land upon which we gather is the traditional ancestral and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation and is now home to many First Nations, Métis and Inuit people from across Turtle Island.

I am Senator David Arnot from Saskatchewan. I am the deputy chair of this committee.

I would like first to state that we have an unusual situation. Senators will be called to vote. There will probably be a 30-minute bell. We will continue until we have enough time to allow the senators to vote and return. This panel is likely to be interrupted. However, we will continue on, because we have the ability to sit later to ensure that every panellist gets a fair opportunity to speak.

Committee members and witnesses, I would like to begin the session tonight by noting that this bill, Bill C-51, and the questions that are going to be asked and the dialogue that we will have here this evening will be a part of history; it is history-making. This is true of all Senate deliberations, but we should keep in mind that treaty making and treaties with First Nations are extremely rare events in Canada. Most of the legislation that we consider does not have, at least, a 140-year history of its making.

Personally, I’m deeply honoured to be allowed the privilege to chair tonight’s meeting and to be a part of the process where the Whitecap Dakota people shape their future in their own way.

With that, I will now ask the senators to introduce themselves.

Senator Nancy Hartling from New Brunswick.

Karen Sorensen from Alberta, Banff National Park, Treaty 7 territory.

Mary Coyle, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Mi’kma’ki.

Margot Greenwood, British Columbia. Treaty 6 is my homeland.

Dennis Patterson from Nunavut, where we have a settled major land claim.

Thank you, senators.

Today, we begin the committee study on Bill C-51, An Act to give effect to the self-government treaty recognizing the Whitecap Dakota Nation / Wapaha Ska Dakota Oyate and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

I would now like to welcome our first group of panellists. We have with us this evening from the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, Darcy Bear, Whitecap Dakota Chief; Dwayne Eagle, Councillor; Frank Royal, Councillor; Murray Long, Director of Self-Government; and Maxime Faille, Legal Counsel.

At this point, I will ask Chief Bear to make some opening comments.

[Indigenous language spoken]

I want to say to the senator, thank you for chairing this meeting. I thank the Senate for allowing us to be here and represent our First Nation, the Wapaha Ska Dakota Oyate, to speak to this important bill.

When you look at the history — I believe that you are very familiar with it, Senator Arnot, regarding the War of 1812 and how our ancestors fought alongside the British and French, and helped to make this beautiful multicultural nation called Canada. Sadly, though, there were many promises made to our people, but none of those promises were honoured.

When they were signing treaties in Saskatchewan, Treaties 4 and 6, our chiefs, Chief Wapaha Ska also known as Chief Whitecap, who was present at Treaty 4 and Treaty 6 signings, and wasn’t allowed to enter into a treaty; yet, our Nakota brothers and sisters were allowed to adhere to a treaty.

You are familiar with the history; I know that you are. You are a former treaty commissioner from Saskatchewan. But it has been a long journey, and as far as self-government goes, Whitecap First Nation has been, over time, had our own election code, our own First Nation land management code and our own membership code. We eliminated about 35% of the Indian Act already. There are some sections that our nation wanted to keep, such as sections 87 and 91. Those are kept. That was the wish of our people. Our original votes came out for ratification with the self-government agreement — that was before the self-government treaty — and 92% and 62% showed up to vote.

Then, when we looked at changing it to a self-government treaty, that was when we talked about the acknowledgment of the Whitecap Dakota people as Aboriginal peoples of Canada. Of course, the inherent right to self-government is something given to us by the Creator — and making sure it is protected by the Constitution.

We got 100% vote in that regard. Of course, my councillors are here as well and Mr. Long. I want to thank them for the work that they have done. I want to thank the Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, or CIRNAC, team as well for the negotiations and receiving unanimous consent from the House of Commons.

Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and, hopefully, this will be passed today. That is what we’re looking forward to, senator. Those are my comments. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Are there any other councillors, Mr. Long or legal counsel, who wish to make any statement?

Thank you, chair. I am glad to be here and looking forward to some good discussions this afternoon. Thank you.

Councillor Eagle.

Good afternoon to everybody here and everybody back home. I know we get a lot of people watching online, and I would like to acknowledge them as well.

This is significant for our people. I think of my mom who comes from a treaty First Nation. When she married into Whitecap, she lost all her treaty rights. It would be nice to get them restored.

This is very important for everybody. We got our mandate, as the chief had mentioned, a 100% yes vote. That was an incredible night because our people want this. They gave us a mandate to become a self-governing First Nation and a self-governing treaty nation. This is incredible. We are going to make history today. I cannot see anyone standing in our way to achieve this. This is something that every First Nation across Canada should achieve. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Dwayne Eagle.

With that then, we will move right into the discussion. We will start with Senator Sorenson.

Thank you. It is certainly my privilege to be here today to be a part of this bill and this evening.

Under the Indian Act, Indigenous communities were deprived of the right to manage their own affairs but, despite this, Whitecap Dakota has a long track record of excellence in economic development, service delivery and land management.

Could you elaborate, Chief Bear, on what steps Whitecap Dakota has taken over the years to develop this capacity for self-government? It is a fascinating story. I am sure it will be difficult to put into a concise answer, but what made the difference?

Pardon my ignorance, but could you elaborate on what section 87 and section 91 are?

For Whitecap, it has been a journey. Again, I should also acknowledge our people back home.

I remember when I was first elected I was asked by members to come and run for our nation. That was back in 1991. We did not even have a dollar in our bank account. We had an overdraft. We had a stack of payables. There were not a lot of policies.

One of the first things we had to do was to get our financial house in order. That was about ascertaining the size of our deficit, creating a financial management plan, approaching a financial institution for debt consolidation and sticking to the plan. Once we got through that and got our financial house in order, then it was a right to an economy. Every nation should have a right to an economy.

We went on that journey. First, we built infrastructure. We built a new school and a new health centre. We started off with a small business, a store. From there, we were looking at how the Indian Act was slowing down the speed of business. It was slowing down the speed of business because in order for us to have economic development, like the golf course, we have to designate the lands for that purpose. We have to do a land surrender vote. The minister has to give approval. It is a long process. You cannot move at the speed of business.

That is when we started to look at our other options. One of the other options was the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management, which is a nation-to-nation agreement, government-to-government. It enabled our nation to eliminate 25% of the Indian Act and self-govern our lands and create our own land code. That had to be approved by our people, and we had 87% in favour back in those days. It has made a world of difference, moving at the speed of business.

Even when they were going to bring the casino into Saskatoon, there was a plebiscite. Whitecap was “Plan B” but because we had our land code in place, we could move at the speed of business and give the Saskatoon Tribal Council a lease for the casino building, and then the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority manages it for us.

From there, we have just developed the hotel and the convention centre. We’re going to work on a thermal spa as the next project; a virtual health hub with Dr. Ivar Mendez, a world leader in regard to remote health care. He is working with us as well.

It is important to have jobs because now Whitecap Dakota First Nation is seen as a regional employer. We have 700 jobs in our community. We have 500 people commuting from Saskatoon daily to come and work within our nation. Everybody benefits. We work with everyone.

There are many partnerships with the provincial government; that is the other thing. We work with all the surrounding jurisdictions. Even when we had to build a highway to Whitecap, we knew that the province would not build a highway just to a casino, so we talked about it as a council and with my team. We said, “Let’s build a tourism corridor that goes from Saskatoon to Lake Diefenbaker.” Then we got everybody on board — the City of Saskatoon, four rural municipalities, two towns and Whitecap — and it was very difficult for the provincial government to say no. Because how many times do you see RMs, towns, First Nations and the largest urban centre in Saskatchewan working together?

Rarely, if ever.

Out of those five phases, we actually managed three of the five phases for the province.

Sorry to interrupt, Chief Bear. There is a technical problem here. We are going to have to suspend, but this is a compelling story, so I am going to make sure that the chief gets to tell it and answer your question fully. We are now suspending for a short time.

Senators and witnesses, we have been advised that we can proceed with the meeting, and we will do so, because time is of the essence.

When we were interrupted, Chief Bear was just starting to answer Senator Sorensen’s question, so I’ll ask the chief to carry on and tell the story so all the senators know what they need to know to assess this bill.

The floor is yours, sir.