Madam Speaker, on November 22 of last year I asked the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to act on the 1996 report given to her and prepared for her department on first nations social assistance.
The report confirms the findings of the auditor general, several internal studies and the royal commission on aboriginal people that the department is grossly mismanaging social assistance funds.
The report concluded that on reserve welfare dependency is increasing, costs are out of control and the department is running out of money. This confirms the Reform Party's audit which showed that 75% of DIAND's social affairs budget is unaccounted for. All of this is despite the fact the 1997-98 estimates allocate $1.03 billion for on reserve social assistance.
Judge Reilly of the Provincial Court of Alberta was so concerned that he took the unprecedented step of ordering an investigation into alleged political abuse, violence, drug dependency, suicide and other social ills. The results were staggering.
Grassroots natives are not receiving the benefits that are earmarked for them because of the government's inept approach to native issues. It is causing serious problems on Canada's reserves and nowhere is this more apparent than in my constituency of Wetaskiwin.
The Hobbema reservation is home to four Cree bands: Samson, Montana, Louis Bull and Ermineskin. Considered one of Canada's wealthiest reserves, Hobbema receives huge payments for oil royalties. The children receive about $100,000 in trust fund payments on their 18th birthday, yet this reserve is plagued with high unemployment, poverty and substance abuse. It has been estimated that 80% of the people on the Hobbema reserve live on welfare and in poverty. How can this be possible in light of the royalties and the transfers from the federal government?
Members of the Samson Band asked the same question. When they were not provided with any answers they staged a protest to draw attention to what they consider to be mismanagement of funds by the band council. Four concerned members travelled to Ottawa to seek a meeting with the minister but they received the proverbial brush off.
I asked the minister to clear the air and order a forensic audit of the Samson Band's finances. The hon. member for Skeena, Reform's Indian affairs critic, also asked the minister for an independent audit. Our requests fell on deaf ears.
The reluctance of the minister and her officials to get involved is another example of this government's determination to maintain the status quo, to keep people in poverty and to perpetuate dependency. One of Hobbema's respected elders, Norman Yellowbird, wrote in the Wetaskiwin Times that “the conditions outlined in Judge Reilly's report can be found on almost every reserve in Alberta, if not Canada”.
It is increasingly obvious that there are bands operating outside normal bounds of acceptable standards in terms of proper fair management of their social assistance programs. The human cost of this accountability crisis is both staggering and appalling. An effective monitoring appeal process is urgently required, preferably one run by the Indian people that is designed to protect against excess and to ensure equity and accountability.
Aboriginal people are clearly unhappy. Canadian taxpayers do not want to see their hard earned dollars misspent. How many more reports are needed? What kind of proof is required before this government abandons its practice of following the course of least resistance?