Mr. Speaker, one year after the tabling of the report by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, I rise to criticize the government's failure to act on its main recommendations.
They include self-government, and negotiations on this point are still dragging on. This issue, however, is a fundamental right, which will allow Native peoples to free themselves from financial dependence on Ottawa.
The commission raised many social problems, which require the government's immediate and effective attention. Need I remind this House that the conditions Native people live in are beneath human dignity. Their health is precarious. The levels of drug and alcohol abuse and of suicide among Aboriginal people are the highest in Canada, and they are among the most poorly housed Canadians. In Quebec, on the other hand, the statistics are much more positive.
On behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I urge the government to act in this matter. I ask it to draw on the commission's recommendations, which aim at correcting this unfortunate situation.