Mr. Speaker, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People's report was released today. The commission outlines some 400 recommendations which are an attempt to address the serious issues facing Canada today.
The commission's report is not about how to address what has been called the Indian problem. It is about restructuring the relationships between federal-provincial-territorial governments and aboriginal people to redress the current problems which have been created historically by those same governments.
The Prime Minister has two choices on this issue, shelve the report or assume real leadership. In 1990 the Prime Minister told aboriginal people that he wanted "aboriginal issues to be front and centre on the agenda of the Liberal government". Here is the chance to do it.
The government can begin by immediately establishing a working special committee of parliamentarians and representatives of aboriginal people to develop an implementation plan.