Mr. Speaker, I take this opportunity to read a small article that appeared in Friday's Ottawa Citizen for the minister of Indian affairs:
As many as 25% of Canada's 500 Indian bands are broke enough that the federal government will have to either intervene or take over financial management this year, Indian affairs managers said yesterday. The bands have made little headway in recent years to dig out from debt loads that are causing federal officials grave concern even as aboriginals strive toward self-government. The trend, blamed on mismanagement by both federal officials and Indian leaders, has continued for the past five years. The problem has been like a revolving door: a dozen indebted bands straighten out their finances each year as another 12 sink into the red.
When will the minister finally listen to her own officials and close that revolving door of mismanagement? The grassroots people are suffering and deserve accountability. I challenge her to be the first minister of Indian affairs to do the right thing, not the political thing, and clean up this mess before we go from a bad situation to an impossible one.