Mr. Speaker, the Kitkatla Indian band in my riding of Skeena currently owes School District 52 well over half a million dollars for educational services provided to its band members. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs provides funding to Indian bands to meet their education agreements. Yet the minister's officials refuse to force this band to pay its debt to the school district saying that it is not a matter in which INAC will be involving itself.
Why will the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development not step in and demand accountability for taxpayer dollars in this case?