Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, of course, that member does know that lapsed funding is not money that has disappeared. In fact, 97% of that funding was carried forward to future years and spent on a wide range of programs. Every time we spend money on aboriginal programming or aboriginal infrastructure in this House, whether it is for waste water treatment, water treatment, education, or to give women on reserve the same rights as women living off reserve, we can count on the Liberal Party to vote against it.

Aboriginal Affairs  Of course, Mr. Speaker, that member knows that is not true. Lapsed funding is not lost funding, and in the last five years, over 97% of what was marked as lapsed funding in the public accounts has been carried forward to future years and spent on a wide range of programs, programs that member and that party voted against.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, of course that member knows that is not true. She knows that 97% of those lapsed funds were spent on aboriginal programming in the following year. She knows that it takes time to negotiate and get community votes for first nations spending. She also knows that she voted against water treatment plants in first nations reserves.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as we approach the end of the day, and I believe this is the last speech on this supply day motion, we now have yet another position from the NDP. In the last six weeks, it has gone from 55 to 46 to 50 communities that it wants added. During the first speech of the day, the member for Northwest Territories said that he thought all communities in the north should be added.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, as the member mentioned, the NDP has changed the number of communities it believes should receive this additional subsidy three times in the last six weeks. The Auditor General said that Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada should review community eligibility and base it on need.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for his passion and for his speech. He is one of the leading advocates for protecting our hunting, fishing, and trapping heritage in this country. When I have talked to people in the north, I have heard that they want to be able to hunt, trap, and fish.

Northern Development  Mr. Speaker, we have taken action. We have invested additional funds into nutrition north Canada. We have accepted the Auditor General's recommendations. However, we have changed the program from the old food mail program under the Liberal Party. We believe that nutritious, perishable foods that improve the health of northerners should be what we subsidize.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that northerners, like all Canadians, have access to affordable healthy food. Since the implementation of nutrition north, the volume of healthy food shipped to northern communities has increased by 25%, and the cost of a food basket for a family of four has dropped by $137 a month.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, again, we thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for its work, and the former students for sharing their stories with Canadians and with the commission. Unlike the Liberal Party that endorsed all the recommendations without even reading them, we have said that we would wait for the full report to come out before considering those recommendations and that we would consider them responsibly as a government.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, when the NDP brought this issue up in April, it said that it was 55 communities. A month later, it said that it was 46. Today, it says that it is 50. It clearly has no idea what it is talking about on this issue. We are committed to ensuring that northerners, like all Canadians, have access to nutritious food.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and Justice Sinclair for his recommendations and for his work. Our government remains committed to addressing the legacy of Indian residential schools and moving towards reconciliation. It was this Prime Minister who moved forward with an historic apology in the House of Commons on behalf of all Canadians.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as I said previously, we thank the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for its work. We thank the former residential school students for sharing their stories with the commission and with all Canadians. When the Prime Minister made his historic apology in this House of Commons in 2008, we acknowledged the policy of forced assimilation was devastating to individuals, devastating to communities and devastating to families.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his work on the aboriginal affairs committee. He is a leading government member on that committee, and he certainly brings a valuable perspective as a former lawyer. I want to talk about the nutrition north program vis-à-vis the old food mail program.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister of Natural Resources is always, first and foremost and no matter what position he holds in the cabinet or with the government, the member of Parliament for the great Kenora riding. He puts that first in everything he does here. I know he puts the people first, which is what his speech outlined.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his speech and for his passion for the people he represents. I have noted two communities in his list—Moosonee and Winisk. Moosonee has year-round rail access and Winisk actually does receive the subsidy, but under the name of Peawanuck. Perhaps the member would address those two questions on the eligibility list.