Mr. Speaker, improving the relationships and partnerships with the aboriginal people of Canada is an actual pre-condition to unlocking the natural resource and energy wealth in Canada. Instead, the government is actually gutting the capacity of indigenous people to engage in a meaningful way.
This week, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations was forced to lay off almost its entire workforce, 66 people, to cope with the $2 million cuts imposed by the current government. How can the government build the needed trust and partnerships with aboriginal peoples while systematically robbing them of their voice?