Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to learn that Ghislain Picard, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec, is in discussion and dialogue with the government. The opposite would be truly insulting for Mr. Picard. I hope that the government will continue those discussions.
Incidentally, what I said earlier responds to the hon. member’s questions. I said, and I have not stopped saying, that this agreement was not perfect. He has just listed certain shortcomings of the agreement. The Kelowna accord can be improved. We have always said so, as have the aboriginal peoples. The accord posed some problems for a number of them. However, I repeat for the benefit of the hon. member who may have missed parts of my speech: there was a concrete agreement on the table, signed by the first nations, the premiers of Quebec and the provinces, and the Prime Minister of Canada.
There is money and there are elements which advance the cause of the aboriginal peoples in education, in health, and even economically. So why would this government not improve on the accord?
The hon. member is part of the Conservative government. If he has any observations to make, let him make them to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. I am not the one he should be addressing them to. He is in the government; he appears to be on the right side. Let him go tell this minister and his prime minister that there are certain problems to be resolved in the Kelowna accord: let them correct those problems, let them improve that accord, and we will support them.