The Senate resolved into a Committee of the Whole in order to study the subject matter of Bill C-39, An Act respecting certain measures to strengthen the economy.

Senator Francis: Welcome, ministers. At a recent press conference, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak cautioned the federal government against fast-tracking Bill C-39, the Building Canada Strong Act, and urged it not to repeat the approach taken with Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act.

Given that Bill C-39 is among the most consequential pieces of legislation introduced in recent decades, with implications for Indigenous rights and interests that could be felt for generations, will the federal government commit to ensuring that Indigenous Peoples are afforded adequate time and meaningful opportunities to raise concerns and propose amendments as legislation advances through both houses of Parliament?

Will your government also commit to being open to amendments that strengthen protections for Indigenous rights and interests, including measures to align Bill C-39 with Canada’s obligations under the UNDRIP Act? That question is for all three ministers.

Mr. MacKinnon: I’ll take the first stab at that, senator. I wish to point out that we had extensive consultations and, in fact, we extended those consultations in the past months. To illustrate the interest, which would confirm your point, we received 403 submissions from Indigenous groups, rights holders, stakeholders and others. Over 30 meetings were convened or held with First Nations groups and all of that during the engagement period.

Of course, we expect to hear from rights holders and national organizations as we continue through the parliamentary process. We will obviously carefully consider all of their feedback and advice. This process is truly at the core of what we’re doing.

I would simply point out that, in the early days, Minister LeBlanc and I have experienced a lot of very positive feedback from rights holders when it comes to these processes, which now bring First Nations, titleholders and others into projects at their very beginnings. I think we both know that too often, in the past, these projects were conceived, developed, financed in many cases, with the procurement streams, employment streams and other things all conceived in one big package — and then the consultations began.

We are experiencing now, literally seeing someone from a First Nations community with big ideas, useful feedback and ways to shape a project. Minister LeBlanc and I have experienced this several times over the past year in the context of Bill C-5. We, obviously, very much hope that continues.

Mr. LeBlanc: Mr. Chair, I just wanted something fantastic to add to the question.