Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has severely criticized the department of Indian affairs for its lack of financial accountability, its lack of program monitoring and its lack of program evaluation. Yet instead of being cut back like all the other departments in the government, Indian affairs actually received a $447 million increase in its budget.
Considering that it is well documented that Indian affairs spending is out of control and has a serious lack of accountability, how can the minister even begin to justify an increase in his department's budget?