Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today, on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, to the bill put forward by the hon. member for Wild Rose.
I should say from the outset, if we are to lay our cards on the table right away, that the Bloc Quebecois is going to oppose the hon. member's bill, for various reasons.
We feel that the bill is extremely paternalistic. I looked up the definition of ombudsman for my personal interest and I would like to share it with everyone. An ombudsman is someone responsible for defending the rights of citizens in their dealings with public authorities. The Reform Party sees an ombudsman as someone who will defend the rights of citizens in their dealings with their own elected representatives. I find this extremely paternalistic, and aboriginal peoples need no more of the paternalism that has always plagued them.
The Indian Act, which has been in force since 1876, is an extremely paternalistic statute that leaves people completely powerless. Every time they try to escape from the dependence in which they are trapped, they must seek the minister's permission. Whether it is a question of selling grain, buying livestock or trying to expand their band council office, they are always forced to ask for additional funds or seek the minister's permission. This bill is more of the same and, in my view, is very paternalistic. I think that we must trust aboriginals to resolve these issues.
The government may support them when they have specific needs, but that is a far cry from having the House of Commons establish the office of ombudsman to sort out all these issues. For one thing, I do not believe in it, and for another, I believe it is extremely paternalistic.
The Bloc Quebecois has always been proud to consult aboriginal people before taking a position. I am sure aboriginal people are not interested in having an ombudsman who will interfere in their lives and settle disputes. There are always disputes in society and we cannot always have someone like King Solomon to settle them. Discussion, consultation and mediation are the key to settling any dispute. We do not think that creating the office of ombudsman is the solution to all problems.
The proposal made by my colleague refers to two problems in particular that he would like to see solved by the ombudsman, namely improper financial administration and electoral irregularities. It is easy to say “we will appoint someone who will settle all this”, but I do not think this is a constructive solution.
As I was saying earlier, problems are solved through discussion, consultation, mediation and work in the field. It is not up to people in Ottawa to settle these issues once and for all. This is not a way out for first nations, nor is it the way of the future.
The Reform Party also has a strong tendency to generalize. No one denies that there are problems within aboriginal communities. The auditor general has documented that fact. However, the Reform Party has a tendency to generalize when it discovers short term or very specific problems. Fortunately, the situation is not the same everywhere.
I regularly visit aboriginal communities. They usually are under very good administration. Certainly there are some that are poorly administered, but it is not fair to the aboriginal people to say that this is generalized, that aboriginal people are not good administrators, that they commit election fraud. It is a dangerous trend, one that contributes to narrow-mindedness, to imply that the aboriginal people have always been catered to, hand and foot, and that everything has always been paid for.
I wish to point out that the social contract of the time, and yet they were here first, informed them “We are going to put you into some small areas. There are 600 such small areas throughout Canada, 600 small communities”.
We told them “We are going to settle you there, and we will pay your bills. Meanwhile, we will take over all the natural resources and everything that you had, because you were the first inhabitants, but now it is all ours”.
Generalizing in this way, saying that administration is bad on all reserves, is a disservice to aboriginal people, and to the white population as well.
What is needed is perspicacity and discernment. That is why we are going to vote against the bill.
As far as inappropriate financial administration is concerned, I have just said it was not generalized. Things are new. With the agreements on land claims and self-government, more and more money is returning to the native peoples, who are now being invited to administer it.
We have to put ourselves in the shoes of people who, for 325 years, have administered nothing. The Minister of Indian Affairs has administered everything for them. It is understandable that there are certain problems at times. These people must be given the benefit of the doubt. We must not condemn them out of hand, saying they are worthless, will never manage and will always have to be supervised. Earlier, it was said that the first criticism of this bill was its paternalism. Things have to be seen differently.
The auditor general has indicated a number of problems, and they have to be resolved other than through an ombudsman. One of the ways proposed, which we wholeheartedly support, involves some support from Canada's chartered accountants. They said they are prepared to lend a hand, to help those communities needing their expertise or to make it available to them at a reasonable price in order to set things up and try to reconcile rigid and responsible administration with the fact that nothing like this has happened for 125 years. This is another way out.
We also support everything that involves round tables. The native people discuss and settle their problems in a circle. This approach is totally in keeping with native tradition and culture. One way around things would be for the native peoples to meet with specialists in the matter and discuss things until solutions are reached. This should not be left up to someone in Ottawa, who will decide what is right. This is the wrong approach.
As for electoral irregularities, everyone knows that the Indian Act provides a mechanism. This statute has not always been very sensitive to native traditions. In addition, there have been amendments, with the result that aboriginals may now have their own electoral system, subject to the minister's approval of course. At least now aboriginals can benefit from electoral legislation more in tune with their traditions and culture.
We would like to see more trust placed in aboriginals. We trust them to sort out their own affairs. When we have bills that affect them, we should consult them. They too have a great desire to end their longstanding dependence on the federal government. When I say end, I do not mean to go their own way completely and do whatever they wish. They must be allowed to manage their future in a manner respecting their traditions and their culture, which are very different from ours.
For all these reasons, and particularly because we trust aboriginals to resolve their own problems, the Bloc Quebecois will oppose Bill C-222 put forward by the member for Wild Rose.