Meegwetch.
What I would like to see is continued dialogue. If you don't have dialogue, then things aren't going to happen. Our chiefs have to receive money from this outfit to be able to work, to get together, and to put work together on this issue from a first nations perspective.
I can talk about governance and elections. Traditionally under the Indian Act, when I was chief, we used to pick an electoral officer. When I was there, we used to pick a fellow from the Meadow Lake area, an old cowboy. He'd come to run our elections. Now we have a band member running our elections, and there's chaos at the reserve. That band member sits on boards with the chief and council, and that should never be taking place. It's a conflict of interest. That should never happen.
If you're under the Indian Act—and there are some bands under custom—then for elections there should be a neutral, independent electoral...even Elections Canada could come in to run the election. Then nobody's going to have a squabble. Otherwise there's a squabble out there. There are over 400 people on the reserve who signed a petition against the electoral officer. The chief and council—a majority of them but not the whole works of them—picked this woman to run their elections. That has to be changed, just for the sake of fairness for people.
I talk about the demoralizing situation that student residences have gotten us into. I really have a hard time—and it's not only young women but also young men—with the amount of abuse that goes on. It's not liquor now so much; it's drugs. Whether it's prescription drugs or illegal drugs or whatever, it's rampant. You get those suicides, as I was talking about earlier, taking place on a reserve in Ontario here. I don't know how many, exactly, but there are quite a few.
We can do what we can, but we need the dollars to work with culture and language, to restore pride in our people, pride in our history, pride in ourselves as a people.
It's a heck of a job to be a chief or to be on council today. I know it's a heck of a job.
The housing dollars and capital are still the same as when I was chief. A lot of people don't really agree with CMHC—in our country, anyway. There have to be systems. It needs to be looked at, but how is it going to be looked at? Our chiefs have to be involved with their advisers to be able to put things together, to meet with you guys, to have a common understanding and eventually agreement on what needs to be put in there and what needs to be changed.
You are working ahead. You are doing things. As I said, I congratulate Rob Clarke. He's being called a sellout by a lot of our people, but he's not being a sellout. He's being a visionary for the future.
The Ahtahkakoop and the Mistawasis, and the other chiefs who signed treaties, have to change their lifestyle. We have to try to do something today for those young people. Otherwise you won't even have chiefs in the future. People will be so doggone demoralized. Everybody will be on substance abuse. It's crazy.