Debates of May 9th, 2013

Indian Affairs and Northern Development—Main Estimates, 2013–14

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order. The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not trying to be rude here, but he did not answer my question. I wanted to know if he knew how many students who were eligible for post-secondary education were unable to receive it. He does not seem to know that either, so I will ask him another question.

Will he confirm that money that should have been used for students to go to post-secondary education under the first nation funding envelope was reallocated for internal use by INAC and Indian Affairs? Will he confirm that?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, the Government of Canada's commitment to post-secondary education is also reflected in a suite of programs that do exist and are available to both aboriginal and non-aboriginal students. When we talk about education at the post-secondary level, I would remind the hon. member that not only does this department invest about $320 million of our funding, but there are also other programs in place that they can access.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, the question was whether they have taken money that should have gone to students for post-secondary education and spent it on their bureaucracy. That was the question.

The minister will not answer it. I think that is a very important issue, given that we have so many first nations young people who struggle so hard and have such high dropout rates. For the minister to not take responsibility or even think it is an issue that they are taking money from post-secondary education and are spending it on their bureaucracy I find pretty shocking.

I would like to continue. Would the minister tell us how much the department spent fighting the equality in child welfare case at the Human Rights Tribunal and at the Federal Court? How much money have they spent?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, the Department of Justice could best answer the question, because it is the one carrying the case.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, I find it surprising that he would not know that either, because we are talking about first nations children. The number is in excess $3 million.

The federal government's departmental directive 20-1, which the government's own records describe as creating a dire situation, is driving children unnecessarily into foster care, when many could stay at home if there were proper family support services provided. Would he agree with the government assessment that its plan for dealing with children is leaving families and children in a dire situation?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, as a matter of policy, we are funding or reimbursing first nations or other service providers for administrative protection and prevention services. We also fund the direct cost of placing first nations children ordinarily resident on reserve in temporary or permanent care out of the parental home.

We have introduced an advance protection program such that we now have agreements with six provinces where the care is delivered in the best interests of those children.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, the question was on the government's own report that these children are being left in a dire situation under this minister's watch.

I would like to carry on, though. Many of our first nations children have to leave their reserves and end up in a provincial system. What standards does the minister have for the children under his watch who are under the provincial system? What methodologies and what accounting do they have to ensure that the provinces are providing the kind of support they need?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, the new enhanced prevention-focused approach provides funding for additional support for these children and provides tools that allow parents to better care for their children. When we talk about aboriginal children who are not on reserve, they are under provincial jurisdiction, and they are dealt with by the provincial systems.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, how much did the provincial jurisdictions bill for services for students who had to go off reserve?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, the fact of the matter is that in terms of funding, over the last 16 years the funding has grown from $193 million a year to $626 million in 2012-13. In 2012-13, $626 million was invested in child care services.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, I was actually talking about what the government is being billed by schools for education. The minister said that once they are off reserve, it is not his responsibility.

It is his responsibility. In terms of the standards they have for the children who have to leave their reserves to be educated, are they meeting the quality of education and meeting their needs? They are his responsibility.

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, I will ask the member to repeat his question.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Chair, when a student has to leave a reserve and go to the provincial system, there is a funding agreement in place. There is also the obligation to ensure that since they are reserve students, whoever is educating them has a standard. There has to be a protocol.

I am sorry I am hung up on this. As a former school board trustee, I would be shocked that there would be no standards in place to ensure that there was some level of accountability. What is the protocol?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Chair, we invest close to $394 million in provincial schools to ensure that these protocols are respected.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please.

The time for the member for Timmins—James Bay is expired.

Next is the member for Brampton West. How will he be splitting his time?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I will be 10 minutes and then will allow five minutes for questions for the minister.

I am proud to stand today and talk about what our government is doing for first nations with respect to providing improved water and waste water services to their residents. Our government engaged in the largest comprehensive study of water and waste water systems this country has ever seen, identifying and going through every water and waste water system so that we could prioritize how we could improve water and waste water.

The Government of Canada and first nations have shared the goal of ensuring that first nations have the same access to safe, clean drinking water in their communities as all other Canadians do. Access to safe drinking water, the effective treatment of water and the protection of sources of drinking water in first nations communities is critical to ensuring the health and safety of first nations. I want to assure all members in this House tonight that this is an area of great concern for our government.

We are targeting three key areas to ensure that residents of first nations communities can readily access clean and safe drinking water, like all Canadians. The three things we look at are enforceable standards and protocols; infrastructure investments in specific projects; and enhanced capacity-building, operations and training for those treatment systems.

In the area of enforceable standards and protocols, I have to say that we have made significant strides. On February 29, 2012, after significant consultation with first nations, Bill S-8, the safe drinking water for first nations act, was introduced in the Senate. This is enabling legislation. If passed, it would make it possible for our government to work with first nations, and not just first nations but also other stakeholders, to develop regulations comparable to those that safeguard drinking water in other places across Canada.

Currently, legally enforceable protections governing drinking water and waste water do not exist on most first nations lands. It is our government's view that anyone committed to better safeguarding water quality on first nations lands should see the importance of supporting this legislation. Of course, I urge my colleagues on the other side of the House to support this legislation when it comes back for a vote. It is now moving to the committee. This legislation would clearly lay out the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in drinking water in first nations communities.

I want to underscore that the proposed legislation is the product of engagement between the government and first nations on safe drinking water legislation and enforceable standards over the last seven years. That is how long this consultation has been going on. There have been numerous recommendations concerning federal water regulations, including reports by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, the Office of the Auditor General, the Expert Panel on Safe Drinking Water for First Nations, and the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples. There was also the “National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems”, which is the study I referred to at the beginning of my speech.

First nations have also supported the concept of water regulations. When the proposed legislation was first introduced, Chief Lawrence Paul of the Millbrook First Nation, who is also the co-chair of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nation Chiefs Secretariat, spoke to the potential of the bill for first nations communities. He said:

First Nations will be able to look forward to having the same protections that other Canadians have around the provision of drinking water, water quality standards and the disposal of wastewater in their communities. This is not only an important health and safety issue, but will help build confidence in our infrastructure and help create a better climate for investment.

Should the proposed legislation be passed, further engagement with first nations on the development of federal regulations would follow. This would support the development of federal regulations that would be tailored to the unique circumstances of first nations. However, the opposition has indicated yet again that they will not support this important legislation for first nations. I do not understand this opposition. The time for this legislation is now.

Creating federal regulations will take time, and they would be implemented over a number of years. This would allow the government and first nations to bring water and waste water infrastructure and capacity to the level required to meet those very regulations.

Our government's vision for supporting first nations to improve water and waste water services for the residents also includes capital investments. Between 2006 and 2014, the federal government will have invested approximately $3 billion in water and waste water infrastructure and related public health activities to support first nations communities in managing their water and waste water systems. That is a significant investment.

Economic action plan 2012 also included an additional $330 million over two years to help sustain progress made to build and renovate water infrastructure on reserve and to support the development of a long-term strategy to improve water quality for first nations. More specifically, this money is going towards training for operators of water and waste water systems on reserve, operating costs of water and waste water systems and capital investments for the highest-risk systems.

Because of the comprehensive study we did, the first of its kind, we were able to prioritize water and waste water systems that are in need of immediate help. That is what we are doing with those funds.

With the new funding last year, the government was able to prioritize investments to high and medium-risk systems in over 50 first nations communities, including Canoe Lake First Nation, Tallcree First Nation and Nazco First Nation. These estimates include $137.4 million for the first nations water and waste water action plan. Again, these are additional funds being invested in water and waste water.

This funding will be allocated in 2013 and 2014 in three areas of planned expenditures. Operations and maintenance will receive $46.1 million, $30.2 million will be for training for first nations and $50.8 million will go toward capital investments. However, that is not all. Health Canada is also supporting first nations with an investment of $54.8 million committed through economic action plan 2012, which is for water-related public health activities.

The federal government recognizes that in some first nations communities, there are issues regarding in-home access to water and waste water services. Manitoba's four Island Lake first nations are one such example. I am pleased to say that this government invested $5.5 million in 2011 to bring running water to 100 houses in that community.

I want to underscore the fact that our government is committed to ensuring that first nations have the same access to safe, clean drinking water in their communities as all other Canadians. This means not only setting our sights on reducing the number of medium and high risk systems, but also directing investments to capacity and training to operate and maintain those systems. The 2011 national assessment results underscore the critical importance of having trained and certified operators to reduce the risk and help ensure that the drinking water in first nations communities is safe. Operation and maintenance, operator qualification and record keeping account for 60% of the risk measured.

As I outlined earlier, the federal government's economic action plan 2012 year one investment includes more than $30 million for training first nations. Our government provides funding for operator training courses and for operator certificate training and registration costs in all regions. Training helps to ensure that operators have the level of training and skills required to operate and maintain the water and waste water systems.

I want to take a moment to highlight another important program. That is, of course, the government's circuit rider training program. The program, for those who do not know, is a specialized training program that provides first nations operators with ongoing on-site training and mentoring on how to operate their water and waste water systems. We invest approximately $10 million a year into the circuit rider training program across the country.

It is clear that this government has made working with first nations partners to improve on reserve water and waste water a priority. Through progress on enforceable standards and protocols, through sustainable capital investments and by supporting enhanced capacity building and operation training, we are delivering on those results.

I am confident we will continue to deliver results and make progress on this important issue.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. member have a question for the minister or the parliamentary secretary?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Chair, between 2006 and 2014, including the budget 2012 investment, the Government of Canada will have invested approximately $3 billion to support first nations communities in managing their water and waste water infrastructure and related public health activities. The government is prioritizing these investments to high- and medium-risk systems to address factors that are the greatest contributors to risks such as capacity and training in operations and maintenance.

In 2011-12, the government supported 402 major and minor first nations water and waste water infrastructure projects and 286 are currently planned for 2012-13. Could the parliamentary secretary please inform us how Bill S-8 will help protect Canada's substantial investments in first nations' water and waste water systems?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Brampton West for his pertinent question. Access to safe and effective drinking water, potable water and responsible waste water protection is a top priority for this government. Over the past seven years we have, through a very rigorous consultation process from coast to coast to coast, participated in that consultation. In fact, I was involved with the consultation in my previous life as a legal counsel on behalf of first nations members in some communities.

Born from that consultation were three principles. One, the capacity; reporting, monitoring and maintenance of these facilities which the member alludes to as being one of the factors with respect to the national assessment that finds the lifespan of these water treatment facilities to be much shorter, in addition, the harsher environments. Our focus with respect to the infrastructure and with respect to this legislation is to do these three things synchronously. They are not mutually exclusive of each other. We cannot build or rehabilitate these facilities without having properly certified workers to operate them.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Chair, in January, the former minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development announced the government's plan for new investments in first nations water and waste water systems. The government will invest $330.8 million over two years to sustain progress made to build and renovate water and waste water infrastructure and support the development of a long-term strategy to improve water quality in first nations communities. Funding is also provided to support the circuit rider training program, which I just mentioned. This is a long-term capacity building program that uses travelling trainers called “circuit rider trainers”.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development please tell us what else our government is doing to improve water quality in first nations communities across the country?

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, in 2009, the government had initiated the national assessment of first nations water and waste water systems. It was the most rigorous and comprehensive independent assessment of its kind, surveying 97% of drinking water and waste water systems in first nations communities and first nations reserves.

In 2008, our department completed a series of workshops with first nations across the country to obtain feedback from the department's water protocols and based on this in 2010, updated and replaced its previous protocol with the protocol for centralized drinking water systems in first nations communities.

Over the course more recently of 2011-12, we are working to address 47 water systems identified as both high design and high overall risk.

Again, with respect to the training programs the member is talking about, I would invite him to come out to the great Kenora riding where we have seen significant investments in certification. We thank Northern Waterworks and Confederation College for their important work in ensuring that the facilities themselves, the infrastructure, can be reported, monitored and maintained with appropriate certified workers in those respective isolated first nations communities, in particular.

[The Deputy Chair, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

That concludes the time for the hon. member for Brampton West.

Next, the hon. member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.

[Romeo Saganash, NDP, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC]

Mr. Chair, I will be taking my 15 minutes to ask questions and hopefully get answers from the other side. My theme for these questions is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in particular. I will not have any difficult or easy questions. I just want to ask some important questions on this file.

I know that the minister referred to the tango just a while ago and it takes two to tango, but I also know that to dance the tango, there is only one person who leads the dance. On that account I would like to say that I prefer the round dance because it is a more inclusive dance.

My first question for the minister is, have historical files pertinent to the Indian Residential School System been destroyed by the Government of Canada?

[Bernard Valcourt, Conservative, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

To my knowledge, no, Mr. Chair.