Louttit speaks at anti-prorogue rally

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit spoke about Bill C-71 during Thunder Bay’s anti-proroguing Rally, held Jan. 23 at the Lakehead Labour Centre.

February 4, 2010: Volume 37 #3, Page A15

“There are many bills that would be affected or put on the shelf by this (proroguing), including Bill C-71 … on First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act,” Louttit said later. “This bill would allow First Nations to have property on reserve, which could be an industrial complex, a pulp and paper mill or commercial real estate project.”

Louttit was impressed with the number of people speaking with a unified voice at the rally, including a number of current and former MPs.

“There were quite a few First Nations people there,” Louttit said. “There was quite a multi-cultural crowd recognizing the diversity of Thunder Bay.”

Several hundred people, including Nishnawbe Aski Nation Deputy Grand Chief Les Louttit, attended the anti-proroguing rally in Thunder Bay Jan. 26.
-Javier Espinoza - Wawatay News

Louttit said the protesters were all opposed to the proroguing of Parliament.

“They were all speaking with a unified voice saying we have basically the Canadians voters being locked out of Parliament,” Louttit said. “Through their MPs they elect, they cannot get work done and can’t get any movement on issues affecting their lives.”

Louttit said all the committees and bills before Parliament would be negatively impacted by the proroguing of Parliament.

“Some of these bills have already had first and second readings,” Louttit said.

“They would have to go through the whole process again if they were reintroduced. So that is very time consuming.

Chances are, because there could be a looming election, there would be no time for reintroducing some of these very important bills, such as this one (Bill C-71) affecting First Nations economy.”

Louttit said the current provincial and federal regulations have gaps that do not allow for the market development on First Nations land.

“Resource developers or commercial developers are reluctant to enter into those kind of joint ventures or projects with First Nations,” Louttit said. “This bill (C-71) would allow that. The new regulations under the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act would be made at the request of the participating First Nations. They are very project specific and developed in cooperation with the First Nations and relevant province.”

Louttit said the proposed regulations would allow the federal government to have the province carry out the monitoring and enforcement of the new regulatory regime by agreement between the federal government, the First Nations and the province.

“Major commercial and industrial development projects would contribute quite substantially to the local economy and would create jobs,” Louttit said. “Also, investors would have greater certainty about the regulations involved in developing major commercial or industrial projects on reserve.”

Louttit said this would improve First Nations prospects for attracting more investment.

“It would give First Nations a greater potential rate of return from those investments, increased employment and other business opportunities and spinoffs within the reserve,” Louttit said. “The province would also benefit from uniformity of regulations concerning major commercial industrial development within the provincial borders.”

Louttit said Bill C-71 would result in a more balanced economic development with environmental protections, thereby promoting more sustainable use of reserve lands and resources for the First Nations and their future generations.