Mr. Speaker, we would not remodel our home if the foundation was rotten. That would be wasteful, foolish and illogical.
Yet that is exactly what the federal government is doing with Bill C-7, the $1 billion first nations governance act.
The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development said just a few days ago that all 634 Canadian chiefs were “self-serving bullies”. If he believes that assertion we would have to ask ourselves why he would then want to give those bullies much more power than they already have.
The bill would entrench the most expensive and least effective model of governance yet tried in first nations.
Meanwhile, the government is preoccupied with the dumb as a bag of hammers Bill C-24, the political financing act.
Rifts have developed. A legacy is at risk. However
the Liberals have resolved the issue by tapping the taxpayers for another $5 million, all because the bill would have an impact on just $1 million of Liberal fundraising.
Meanwhile, Canadian taxpayers are being charged a billion--