Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on May 3rd, 2006

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Chairman, as a matter of fact, I brought my grocery list, so to speak. We all know how to use email. And so you could between now and Monday, for instance, send us an outline of how the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois see things. Then we could begin to determine the order of the topics on which our future business will focus.

I would like the parliamentary secretary to inform us on certain points. I would like to begin my work by putting questions to the minister. That minister, who is new, is responsible for a very important portfolio. In order to avoid taking initiatives willy-nilly, I would first like to know something about the minister's vision and the mandate entrusted to him for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Can we organize that quickly? That type of overview would be helpful.

Although I already know the topic in part, I would also like us--and I want to insist on this point--be given a profile of the department. Someone could inform us about the number of branches and their names, as soon as possible, so that we have them in mind when we begin to discuss education, housing, territorial rights and so on. It would be good if we had a briefing on this topic. If possible, I would like the parliamentary secretary to inform the minister of that.

However, I do not want us—and I say this sincerely—to invite the minister to give him a hard time. My purpose is to get to know his vision of his department for the next few months, if not the next few years. All of this is of course related to the Kelowna Accord.

Finally, I would like a briefing on the department, because we no longer know who does what. We do know that 40 per cent of the budget is allocated to administration. I would probably have quite a few questions to ask about that.

And that is the end of my rant.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Okay, that's a fair comment.

If I understood you correctly, this is the shopping list, the additional things we're adding here. What I would suggest, before we go to Mr. Bruinooge, is that we do get those all in to the clerk of the committee, and we'll get an extensive list of all these different ones. We can attach names; I guess it would probably be a good idea as well to know who was suggesting the idea and the nature of it. Then we will proceed and figure out a way of prioritizing those in what could be an extensive and lengthy meeting as well.

So I'm hearing you say as well, and I think we've duly recorded it here, that we get a look at.... Well, we have the departmental officials in at a point in terms of sketching what's all there with the department, the various facets of it. Also, the minister will be in to report on his vision--the Kelowna accord, I think, you've referenced there as well. We've noted those things, all for our list in respect of the work plan come the Monday meeting.

Mr. Bruinooge.

[Rod Bruinooge, Conservative, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Chair, I agree with Monsieur Lemay. I think at the next meeting we're going to be talking about our vision as a government, and of course we want to hear the suggestions of others as to what the committee's business should be.

That is likely the agenda for the next meeting. Maybe I'm wrong.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Are there any other comments or thoughts?

I think there are some good suggestions there, and the consensus is to move on getting a list of all of these and submitting them, as has been done already by different ones. I'm sure you'll have additional ones.

Jean, I think we have yours on record here. If you have additional ones, certainly submit them. Monsieur Lemay had several things suggested and we've noted that. If there are additional ones from the Bloc, and from the Liberal members as well, you'll have that in, individually or as a consensus among your respective parties.

If you can make an effort to get them in so we can get the translation done by the end of the day tomorrow--they don't have to be long, a sentence or two with respect to the particular subject that we undertake to look at. Is that reasonable? If we can make every effort to have it in so the translation can be done on Friday, it would be distributed on Friday, hopefully, to our respective offices. If we could try to get it in by the end of tomorrow, we'll undertake to have those out to you by the end of day Friday, translated, so you have them well in advance of the Monday meeting.

Would that be fair? Okay.

Are there any other comments or questions?

I'll let the researcher speak. She'll explain probably better than I could.

[Mary Hurley, Analyst, Law and Government Division, Library of Parliament]

Maybe I can just remind you of what you've already told me, which I've taken note of, and if there are additional things you can add them.

For the Bloc Québécois, I have the Kelowna accord, housing and health.

For the Liberals, I have essentially follow-up topics from the 38th Parliament, including matrimonial real property. You also mentioned, I believe, Bill C-31 and land claims.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

And I might put at the top of our list the Kelowna accord.

[Mary Hurley]

For the NDP, Ms. Crowder has added indigenous children in care, land claims, and education, with a particular reference to the Berger report, as well as an update on what's happening with the residential schools agreement--the timeline, who gets what when, etc.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

I would add lands claims and treaties. I'm from British Columbia.

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

If I might, Mr. Chairman, my colleague would like to add others.

I would also emphasize that we are in accord with just about everything my colleagues here have identified.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

What was the one you were adding, Anita? Mothers?

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Gary Merasty has....

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Gary.

[Gary Merasty, Liberal, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

I think the Kelowna accord will cover most of the topics around health and education, that side. I think we're covered there, but I think specifically aboriginal justice issues is a major topic in light of some of the recent developments. There is also support for Métis, because there was zero there.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

You didn't say “mothers”; you said “others”?

[Anita Neville, Liberal, Winnipeg South Centre, MB]

Others. This isn't where we talk about mothers.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

I know women had an issue with the Kelowna accord.

I thought I understood the Bloc member, Mr. Lemay, to say something about having department officials in to sketch out the breadth and the different facets of the department. Is that correct?

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Quite so. I would like us to be briefed on the organizational chart and the way in which the department operates.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Okay. The minister's vision is also what I thought I heard you to say, with respect to Kelowna and the general vision.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I want us to ask him how he sees his new role as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Are there other comments?

Mr. Lévesque, and then we can conclude our meeting.

[Yvon Lévesque, Bloc, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

A certain number of topics to be examined during the next meetings have just been proposed. Moreover, it was suggested that we send in our own list of topics. Would it be preferable to include all of the discussion topics or to remove those which have already been suggested from the list?

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

We already have these on record, the various ones that have been verbally recounted here. So those will be on that list that we attempt to prioritize on Monday. If there are things that come to you and you think of after having departed here and you say “Oh, I forgot that I want that”, then give an email to the clerk of the committee and we'll get those on the list. It's a long list, a growing list as well, but the things you've mentioned here today I think we've captured, and those will be on the list that we attempt to prioritize come Monday.

Do we have somebody, Gary, willing to move adjournment shortly?

[Gary Merasty, Liberal, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Just quickly on the land claims, we're talking, of course, about specific and comprehensive, but I think the parliamentary secretary brought up issues here that are going to lead into land claim discussions, the whole duty-to-consult discussions, and I'm just hoping that is part of the land claims under that topic.

[The Chair, Conservative, Maurice Vellacott]

Nancy.

[Nancy Karetak-Lindell, Liberal, Nunavut, NU]

I have just one follow-up question. I haven't read the whole Federal Accountability Act, but I'm a little concerned about the implications on first nations bands and whether that may be an aspect we might want to look at, too, at some point, because there is some fear of it going against some of the responsibilities that a band has.