House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 17% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, as the responsibility is delegated to agencies by the provinces, I cannot give the member the exact figure of the number of children who are in care tonight. These are figures that I am sure we could gather after the fact. However, as the member knows, this responsibility belongs to several agencies and the provinces that administer child and welfare services on reserves where there are no agencies.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, as I indicated earlier, the position of the government is really clear, and it is one shared by many first nations and also victims of violence. We do not need more studies. We need action. That is what we have put forward and that is what we will act on going forward.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, we are so committed to reconciliation that last July I announced a series of measures to improve the treaty-making process to ensure we could conclude a more comprehensive land claim agreement.
I have appointed a special representative to consult with stakeholders, with first nations, provinces and everybody interested in order to renew the comprehensive land claim policy, which I strongly believe can be done through reconciliation.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, I do not have that information. I do not have the cost of that facility.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, I do not have that information.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, would the member please accept my apologies and repeat his question?
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, I do not have information about communities off reserve, but I can tell the member that the 43 department-funded shelters provide service to some 68% of the aboriginal population on reserve. Once again this year, the main estimates clearly demonstrate that we will continue to support these shelters.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, the hosts of programs being implemented by this department, by the Government of Canada and other departments all work in that direction. Whether it be education, or training, or skills development, or housing or child and family services, these are all programs we believe can help address this phenomenon, which is not acceptable to anybody.
The fact is that this government, the first one, to my recollection, has adopted an action plan to deal with the issue of missing aboriginal women.
I want to point out for the hon. member that all provinces, territories and national organizations at the round table agreed that the actions we had singled out would be the framework upon which we would be acting—
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, to be precise, the organization in question never submitted an application to the department for funding under the program we are talking about. That is a fact. It used to get funding from Canadian Heritage.
For the hon. member's information, the association in question was informed that it could submit an application under the existing program and that its application would be evaluated on the basis of the existing criteria.
Business of Supply May 13th, 2015
Mr. Chair, in New Brunswick, I was was repeating a comment that the chief made to me. He was congratulating Canada on the measures we were taking with respect to income assistance. As members may know, two years ago this government introduced a $243 million initiative to help young members of first nations get into the labour market, with personalized skills training development, basic skills. As a result of this great initiative, which I know the NDP opposed, today we have a significant decline of young people who depend on income assistance because they are in the labour market.