Mr. Speaker, I noted with interest the member's comments. In fact, I found it very difficult to understand exactly what he was saying. In one breath he is saying let us make tripartite agreements with provinces and municipalities and on the other hand he is saying let us give the money directly to the municipalities.
In the province of Manitoba, for example, we see a very important tripartite agreement, but let us remember where that money came from. The federal government cut off all the funding for health care for first nations people who moved off reserve. It cut off that money. Hundreds of millions of dollars were simply cut off. Now it has a new pocket of money and it comes up with $25 million. It is the money the federal government used to spend for first nations people off reserve, having cut it off and dumped that responsibility onto the province.
I know of what I speak. I was a minister when this government did that to our first nations people and the provincial government of Manitoba. It cut $100 million and it is now putting back $25 million, so I say thanks a lot to a government that owes the people of Manitoba at least $75 million on that deal alone.