MPs trade barbs during hot summer meeting on native human rights

OTTAWA (CP) - Applause erupted in a packed meeting on Parliament Hill as a rare, midsummer Conservative bid to push through contentious legislation was derailed by united opposition MPs.

The Tories want to extend human rights law to First Nations, but native leaders say they weren’t properly consulted and don’t have the cash to comply. The national Assembly of First Nations has asked for a three-year transition period - as was granted to provinces before the Charter of Rights took effect - for education and preparation.

Reserves are largely excluded from human rights law because of a “temporary” 1977 exemption that was never removed.

The government recalled 12 members of the Commons all-party aboriginal affairs committee Thursday in a widely panned bid to move the bill forward. Observers packed the public gallery in a sweltering meeting hall as tempers quickly flared around the committee table.

Conservatives accused their rival MPs of delaying human rights for vulnerable native people. Opposition MPs assailed the government for staging what they called a calculated political stunt.

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