Mr. Speaker, I listened intently to the comments by the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. Being a member from Saskatchewan, I felt the need to address some of his comments.
It seems odd to talk about concern for first nations people when that member is a member of the party which held government not long ago. In the waning months of the last government, a terrible tragedy unfolded at Kashechewan in Ontario. The then minister of Indian affairs went to Kashechewan and saw what was unfolding. There was E. coli in the water. He came back to Ottawa and apparently eight weeks passed without the then minister doing anything whatsoever about the problem. I remember in the last Parliament that many of my colleagues and I were in utter disbelief that one could see such a tragedy but come back and do absolutely nothing.
Could the member reflect upon what he thought about the Kashechewan tragedy? The current government has provided $450 million for improving the water supply and housing on reserve and I could go on. I would like to hear the member's comments on Kashechewan and that tragedy.
The choice in child care allowance is of real benefit to people in remote communities, in rural Saskatchewan, but definitely in northern communities which the member represents. It is not like we are going to have a lot of child care spaces at the YWCA in La Ronge. Does the member recognize that under the Liberal plan there would have been no spaces created, but under the Conservative government's plan we are going to see choice in child care?