Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to this debate on the Kelowna accord.
I have been a member of the Standing Committee on Indian and Northern Affairs. Immediately after I was elected, I was deputy critic for Indian affairs together with a former hon. member, to whom I wish to pay tribute today, and that is Bernard Cleary. He was the first aboriginal person from Quebec to be elected to the House of Commons. He was a negotiator for the aboriginal community for over 40 years. Today, he still works with aboriginal peoples. What went on in the first nations communities was always important to him. He worked very hard for the Inuit, the Métis and so on. He is an extraordinary man with whom I had the great pleasure of working. I would often tease him and call him a great sage because he was a little older and he had a white beard. He thought that was quite funny. I always felt that he taught me a lot about the vision of the first nations since he himself was an aboriginal person, as I indicated.
If I may, I will reread this important motion:
That the House recognize the urgent need to improve the quality of life of Canada’s Aboriginals, First Nations, Inuit and Métis, living both on and off reserve, which requires focused and immediate initiatives by the government in areas such as health, water, housing, education, and economic opportunities and, especially, immediately moving forward with the implementation of the Kelowna Accord with its full funding commitments.
It is important to put back on the table what we are talking about this evening. The first nations were keenly disappointed during the presentation of the first Conservative budget, which purely and simply annuls the Kelowna accord. The government chose to make piecemeal announcements. Take, for example, housing on reserves. The budget allocates only $30 million in reality. If we assume that the government is also distributing the $150 million that was promised for 2006-07, in the four priorities it established for reserves, this equals $30 million for housing. When we consider the needs, this $30 million is a drop in the bucket.
In Quebec alone, aboriginal people have an immediate need for 8,700 housing units, which would require an investment of $1 billion. The Conservative government has spent the day talking about the investments provided for in the budget. I know because I listened to most of the debates. The Bloc has nothing against these investments—far from it. But the first nations in Quebec and elsewhere are extremely disappointed, even devastated. They were expecting to receive $811.5 million for 2006-07. By turning its back on the Kelowna accord, the government is going back on the promise that was made. The fact that another government is in power does not alter the principle of the matter. Giving one's word—and, even more so, the signing of an accord by a government—is extremely important, especially to aboriginal peoples, who keep their word. As I mentioned previously when I spoke about my colleague, Bernard Cleary, these people place a high value on respect for individuals and on keeping promises. They are therefore convinced, and rightly so, that an agreement in due form was reached between their nation and Canada on November 25 in Kelowna, when the first ministers met. To the aboriginal peoples, seeing the government reject this agreement out of hand is another snub, another promise broken.
In Quebec, the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador and Quebec Native Women want the Kelowna accord, as ratified on November 25, 2005, to be implemented. The accord provides for investments of more than $5 billion over five years to “close the gap between Aboriginal peoples and other Canadians in education, health, housing and economic opportunities”.
Like any agreement, this one is not perfect. Earlier, I spoke about the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador and Quebec Native Women, which had set clear guidelines or expressed reservations about this accord. Today, because the accord was reached, they would like it to be implemented, in spite of everything. As I said, it is not perfect. We have found that it does contain some irritants—that frequently happens when the federal government sticks its nose into certain issues. For example, we have found intrusions into the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces over education, of course, where the agreement refers to off-reserve initiatives within the public school system
The federal government has no say in that, and even less in what happens off reserve.
The first nations have also identified some problems with it. The funds announced were not determined with the aboriginal peoples, nor were they equivalent to the required amounts estimated by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As everyone no doubt remembers, the commission estimated adequate funding to be $1 billion per year for 20 years. That is a lot more than the government was planning to give.
This report was submitted to the federal government ten years ago. This is its tenth anniversary, but I do not think there is much worth celebrating because this is yet another report that the federal government has relegated to a dusty shelf. Not only is the new government keeping it there, it has decided to simply cancel the accord signed last November 25.
This shows to what extent the federal government has abandoned first nations. The Kelowna accord was a step in the right direction—a small step. Unfortunately, the current government has taken a step backwards.
Before the agreement was finalized, the Bloc Québécois supported the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador's position and that of the Quebec Native Women, who, as I said earlier, were critical of the fact that the approach to narrowing the gap between quality of life for first nations and other groups did not address the root causes of the problems aboriginal peoples are experiencing, which causes include the lack of fair access to lands and resources and failure to respect their rights. Furthermore, the pan-aboriginal approach and the lack of community consultations to target certain issues was likely to maintain the first nations' cycle of dependency.
We have not changed our minds. Even though we support the Liberal Party's motion, we, the Bloc Québécois, feel that there must be concrete solutions adapted to the realities facing diverse aboriginal peoples so that the inequalities affecting their communities can really be fixed. As in all things, money alone will not solve all of the problems. The first nations must be part of the discussions so that we can break the vicious cycle of the federal government's paternalistic approach.
In spite of all this, and because we are committed to this issue, we have taken concrete action to ensure that the accord is implemented. At the beginning of May, my colleague for Abitibi—Témiscamingue, now the Bloc Québécois critic for native affairs, tabled a motion at the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, which was adopted. We also supported Bill C-292, a private members' bill pertaining to the implementation of the agreement between representatives of the federal government, the Quebec government, provincial governments and national native leaders.
I repeat, implementing the Kelowna accord is taking a step in the right direction. This is why we should support—and I am calling on all members of Parliament to do so—the motion before the House.
Do I need to remind the House that the unemployment rate for aboriginal people is 19% compared to the national average of 7.5%? The unemployment rate on reserves is far worse—29%. The average income in Canada is $25,000—not a substantial amount—but is only $16,000 for aboriginal peoples.
What about the serious shortage of housing, estimated to be between 20,000 and 35,000 units? Despite claims by the government, which has presented projects or money to help, this housing crisis is actually worsening, with a shortage of 2,200 units per year. Off-reserve, basic housing needs are 76% higher for native peoples. In the north, the figure rises to 130%.
And what about health? Infant mortality is 20% higher among aboriginals. The suicide rate is three to eleven times that of other Canadians. The Inuit are particularly afflicted by this absolutely terrible tragedy.
Will the Kelowna accord solve all these problems, deal will all these inequities? Unfortunately, no. However, native leaders, invited for the first time to the first ministers' table, signed this agreement. The provincial premiers and, of course, the Prime Minister of Canada also signed it.
Thus, it is a question of principle, a question of respect. What is at stake is the respect of aboriginal peoples, the first nations, the Inuit and the Métis for the promise made.
I encourage the House to adopt the motion.