Mr. Speaker, for almost three weeks now three Indian bands have illegally blocked the road to the Apex ski resort near Penticton, British Columbia. Two hundred and fifty people have been denied their right to work. The owners of the resort are facing financial ruin and the 300 homeowners in the Apex area are subjected to daily harassment.
Feelings in the non-native and the native communities are running high and the battle lines are being drawn in a dispute that I fear is headed for violence. Yet the minister of Indian affairs has refused to act.
Will the minister live up to his constitutional responsibilities and take immediate action to end this dispute peacefully?