Mr. Speaker, I am a bit puzzled because the hon. member's colleague, just a few minutes ago, talked about how we should be getting away from blaming each other and how we should move constructively forward in addressing the issues that are present in our aboriginal communities, and then all I heard was “blame, blame, blame”.
I would like to focus a little more on the agreement itself. I think the hon. member will agree that there are flaws within the Kelowna accord. In my mind, one of the most serious flaws is the relative omission of resources for off reserve aboriginals and non-status aboriginals.
As a preface to my question, I would like to quote Patrick Brasseau, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. He said that they “asked this current government to revisit the agreement because it excluded the majority of the aboriginal population in this country”. He said that “you have to target the entire aboriginal population”, not one specific group. He concluded by saying, “We are most encouraged by the Conservative government's recognition of the need” to accommodate off reserve aboriginals.
I have a question for the member. Given the fact that the accord does have these serious flaws, why is the member still insisting on supporting this motion to implement the Kelowna accord?