Mr. Speaker, I would only ask my colleague from a public policy point of view, viewing living costs for first nation students as income, would he not agree that this will have a detrimental effect on the number of students that will be able to access post-secondary education from first nations communities? Would he share my view that this is a shot across the bow on aboriginal and treaty rights, in that education is viewed as a treaty right and has always been viewed by the courts as meaning all education?
However, the government is looking at post-secondary education as taxable income. It is stating the case that it views K to grade 12 as an aboriginal and treaty right, but post-secondary education is viewed as simply the policy of the Government of Canada and subject to arbitrary and unilateral change. Would the hon. member agree that the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, by taxing post-secondary education grants to aboriginal students, is in fact eroding the interpretation of aboriginal and treaty rights?