Mr. Speaker, a week after it was reported that Canada tops the UN list for the highest quality of life in the world the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development released a report that proves how wide a gap there is between the average Canadian and our aboriginal population.
The minister for this portfolio said this study was needed to measure the progress. What progress? The quality of life of Canadians living on reserves is a national shame.
This government has legislated a system that condemns these people to a life of poverty, sickness and squalor. The government says it is trying to make things fair, equal and anti-racist. Instead the Prime Minister has thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at aboriginals as compensation while blindly clinging to the hope that native poverty will simply resolve itself.
The government believes that money can create the ideal atmosphere for natives to succeed and become self-sufficient. Mark my words. This will never happen as long as the money is paid to band administrators. The process is plagued with financial mismanagement. Until this is resolved, the quality of life will never improve.