Madam Speaker, I have a couple of questions for the member for Churchill.
First , I know she has been very active with youth and with the aboriginal file. A project called CEDAR looked at the prevalence of HIV infections among young aboriginal people, specifically around Vancouver and Prince George. However, Canadian statistics around injection drug use is it is a primary risk factor for HIV among aboriginal people, accounting for 58.9% of all prevalent infections between 1998 and 2005. What does she think about other programs around prevention and treatment and the importance to young aboriginal Canadians?
Second, she raised the issue around incarceration. In the annual report of the Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2007-08, he says that aboriginal people are less than 3% of the Canadian population, but they comprise almost 20% of the total federal prison population. Why would we look at legislation that could potentially increase aboriginal incarceration rates? We know that Portugal looked at decriminalization. It used the four pillar approach of treatment, prevention, education and awareness. Could the member comment on the importance of that other approach?