Evidence of meeting #24 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was schools.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:55 a.m.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I have a question.
Part of the distribution we received, dated May 28, from our clerk was two letters, one from the Samson Cree Nation and one from the Montana First Nation. The Montana First Nation letter is not dated, and it's essentially the same text as the one from the Samson Cree Nation, concerning Bill C-5, an act to amend the Indian Oil and Gas Act.
This letter from the Samson Cree Nation was dated March 23, 2009. So my question is this. When did the clerk receive that letter?
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
That's a good question, and we'll turn it over to the clerk for a response.
Okay. I recall that now. Essentially what happened there is that both letters, in this case, were in fact received on the same day that the committee considered clause-by-clause examination of Bill C-5. In fact, they were not translated into both official languages, so they were sent off to translation and then received back. Once they were received back, they were sent out to members.
10:55 a.m.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
So this letter, if I understand correctly, was received by the clerk on the day we were doing the bill.
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
It came in only in English, and our rules of course require that the distribution to committee members be in both languages.
10:55 a.m.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
I'll end it for now, Mr. Chairman, but it's interesting that the Samson Cree Nation is from Alberta, and they expressed some grave concerns with the bill and support for the amendments that had been presented.
This letter was sent to us on May 28, which is more than a month after it was received. I just want to leave that for now on the record and maybe we'll revisit it someday.
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
I think that's a fair comment, Mr. Bélanger. I would also point out, though, that they essentially echoed the same concerns as were brought before us by the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
10:55 a.m.
Liberal
Mauril Bélanger Liberal Ottawa—Vanier, ON
Well, then, could you please explain to me why it would take more than a month to have letters distributed to us that were sent to the clerk?
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
We are finding in fact that in some cases the translation process is taking up to two weeks. Translation has indicated to us that they have considerable volume in front of them, and even in the normal course it has been difficult for us to get documents translated and out to you on a timely basis.
10:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
There being no other business, thank you, members.
Thank you, witnesses, for your presentations again today. They were very informative and we had great questions from members.
We'll see you on Tuesday. We'll be hearing from Neil McCrank on the McCrank report regarding northern economic development.
The meeting is adjourned.