Mr. Speaker, the question does not relate to the presentation I gave, but I am all too happy to respond to it.
What I would like to say is that the Reform Party for five years now has been proposing solutions to this problem. We are not going to solve the problem with more programs which may help to deal with the problem after it has developed. We are going to solve the problem by allowing aboriginal people to give themselves more control over their own destiny. Until that happens this problem will never be solved.
It starts with proper accountability, on the reserves in particular; proper accountability by chiefs and councils on the reserves, some of whom are abusing the trust given to them by people on the reserves. We have a list of well over 100 reserves across the country that have very serious problems with accountability. The money that goes to the aboriginal people is not going to the people who desperately need it. There is very little being done to help develop the economy, for example, so that these people can dig themselves out of this problem which has gotten worse and worse over the last 30 to 40 years.
Until we deal with the cause of the problem we are not going to be able to do anything in an effective way to deal with the problem of too many aboriginal people finding their way into our prisons.