Mr. Speaker, I wrote to the minister on this matter about five months ago and he has responded, so I think he is informed.
Band members have told me they cannot get travel money when they need to go to Vancouver or Terrace for a CAT scan or to see a specialist. As a matter of fact, I have had band members tell me that when they are in Vancouver they sleep in a pick-up truck because there is no money for them to have a motel room while they are waiting to get a hospital bed.
How can the health minister refer to these funds, in writing, as surplus funds when so many of the band members are so obviously short changed on their health care?