suspended without had been invoked any parliamentary debate; and why the National rather than the Emergency Measures Act. Defence Act the representative of the State party pointed Out that 92. In his reply, Canada was a country with a multicultural heritage and an evolving demographic resources were devoted to protecting and promoting, in make-up. Substantial accordance with article 27 of the Charter of Right6 and Fr6edom6, the cultural diversity that COnStitUt0d the national heritage, The objective was, to give everyone the possibility and the right to participate therefore, in the social, economic and political life of fully, and on an equal footing, For that purpose, Parliament had in 1988 adopted the Canadian the country. Multiculturalism Act, under which a minister was re6pOnSible for administering and coordinating multicultural programmes executed by government agencies reoponsible to Parliament. In a period of economic constraints, rigorous prioritieation was, however, necessary, and controls on programme6 might have the effect of limiting progress to a greater extent than was desirable. Although article 27 of the Charter stated that the interpretation given to the Charter had to be consonant with the promotion, maintenance and enhancement of the cultural heritage of Canadians, it had not yet been possible to guarantee, in the Constitution, new right6 for the indigenous peoples. explained that the 93. In response to other questions, the representative indigenous people6 of Canada did not consider themselves to be minorities and The objective of community were not regarded as such by the authorities, self-government was to develop a new relationship between Indian communities and the Federal Government by working out practical new arrangement6 for Indian government at the community level. Such arrangement6 were given effect through specific legislation that would replace the Indian Act for that community. Substantive negotiation6 were under way on 8 projects, involving 30 bands. An additional 15 projects involving 29 band6 were at the framework negotiation stage, and project6 involving some 170 other band6 were at the initial development stage. In two recent cases, in which the Supreme Court had for the first time interpreted the expression "existing rights of the Indians" in article 35 of the Constitution, it was held that what characterised a treaty was the intention to create obligations, a6 well a6 a certain degree of solemnity. Amendment of the Indian Act designed to eliminate discrimination against Indian women, to restore the right6 of the bands, and to grant them greater autonomy had posed problems because some bands were opposed to the inclusion of women and children in their lists. That would entail the reintegration of 76,000 persons into communities which had not yet been provided with resource6 for such an increase. 94. Referring to questions raised in connection with the proportion of seats in Parliament held by members of minority groups, the representative pointed out that there were 295 seats in the House of Commons, 3 of which were held by itldigWOU6 people. In the Senate, they held 3 out of 111 seats. In recent elections in the Province of Manitoba, indigenous people had obtained 3 out of 57 seats in the legislature, and in the Northwest Territories, where they formed a majority of the population, indigenous people held 16 out of 24 seats in the legislature. 95. The 1988 Official Language6 Act represented significant progress in the recognition of the linguistic rights of all Canadians, With the exception of the Northwest Territories, the official languages were English and, in Quebec, -23-