Up all night to fight for equality

December 8, 1999

OTTAWA-Today Jay Hill, MP and his Reform Party colleagues stand alone in the House of Commons to fight against the Liberal government’s undemocratic handling of the Nisga’a Treaty.

"We had two main objectives in our battle over the Nisga’a Treaty; to force the Liberal government to allow the people of British Columbia to vote in a referendum on the Nisga’a treaty; and to decouple the Nisga’a Treaty from the Constitution of Canada," stated Hill.

In a history setting tactic, the Reform Party, in their role as the Official Opposition, moved 471 amendments to the Nisga’a Agreement. This tactic will shut down the business of the House of Commons for over 50 hours.

"We are using every tool available to us. The government can either respect the democratic rights of Canadians or sit and vote for three days. Even though the Liberal majority will win out in the end, the history books will show that the Reform party went to the wall on behalf of British Columbians. Our fight against this inherently bad legislation that divides Canadians along racial lines will continue," concluded Hill.