Human Resources committee  Is that the $100 or--

Human Resources committee  Yes.

Human Resources committee  There are two fronts on that. First, the houses that INAC builds are not for us, they are for first nations. We haven't had any houses built in the communities, as I said, for over a decade for sure. We don't have any senior homes. We had a few built at one time, back in the late eighties or early nineties, but that was it.

Human Resources committee  My office was involved, but at this point I would stray away from answering directly. I would have to reflect on the question a bit more and read the full context of what the recommendation means in its entirety. Clearly, from our perspective, the holistic kind of concept is more than learning, getting an education; it's learning how to be proud of who we are and the culture of our people.

Human Resources committee  I've been involved in politics for a long time. Sometimes there could be enough money as it now sits to actually make a big difference. The challenge we face is that it's not steered in the right direction. It got lost in a maze of end results where we don't know what the success was.

Human Resources committee  In my view, accountability is essential. It has to come. I've been elected four successful times. I have elections coming and I can anticipate being elected again for the fifth successful time. I always tell my people that my job as president is to manage their money. At the end of the day, I have to be accountable.

Human Resources committee  Set-asides, Madam Chair, are this. In Manitoba, the Premier, for example, had a procurement strategy for the Red River diversion, saying that so many aboriginal people had to be hired for that. However, what he also did was to take $50 million and put it into a separate fund where only aboriginal construction contractors could compete inside that industry.

Human Resources committee  Those types of initiatives are great, but they are few and far between. What we are finding now is that some of our companies that are starting to formulate themselves to become successful are being swallowed up by bigger companies. That's why they'll become the dinosaurs of the past, if there are no set-asides.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question, Madam Chair. It reflects on my meetings I just concluded with university presidents. In Brandon, for example--let's talk about our province--there's a 0.5% vacancy rate. What they're finding is that there are also many... It goes back to an earlier question by--I forget her name, and I apologize.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. If there were any recommendation I'd suggest that would result in significant change, clearly it would be investing in Métis-specific child care. That would be the first and fundamental one, to strengthen the family. It has to be Métis. I used the words “Métis-specific”.

Human Resources committee  If you look at the Métis community—and I'll give you an example of the economic incentives that occur in our community as indicators of jobs—our traditional economy is one of the pivotal creators of jobs. I'm talking about forestry, commercial fishing, tourism, trapping—pivotal traditional economies.

Human Resources committee  Yes, guaranteed. If you take the time to reflect on some of the independent studies, they'll show what the spinoff will be if you invest in this or that field, not only for the Métis but for all Canadians. I think it's imperative to look outside of what... If I can impress on this committee, I would encourage you not to get caught up on the word “aboriginal”.

Human Resources committee  What project are you referring to?

Human Resources committee  I'll start off with the last question with regard to the stimulus. In Canada we signed a protocol with Minister Strahl to advance a new partnership with the Métis people. One of the segments in the protocol was to include the Métis as part of this stimulus plan. We were invited...in fact our national leader attended a meeting with the Prime Minister.

Human Resources committee  Yes.