House of Commons Hansard #142 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was young.

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The House resumed consideration of the motion.

Standing Committee on FinanceCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion to concur in the sixth report of the Standing Committee on Finance.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #274

Committees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

I declare the motion carried.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

NDP

Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB

Mr. Speaker, on June 17 of this year, I put a question, through you, to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. The question was about what additional action we could expect from the government to address the huge deficit in safe drinking water for first nations, particularly in Alberta, where a number of first nations were in such extreme circumstances that they were forced to take the federal government to court.

I would like to take the opportunity today to raise this matter again. I am not going to address the court action, because I know that the response would be “we cannot discuss that matter as it is before the court”, and so it should be. That is where the matter should be resolved. However, there are much bigger issues.

We still have 17 boil water advisories for first nations in Alberta alone. Time after time, when these matters are raised, either by the first nations or by the opposition in this place, we get the same old tired refrain from the government, which is that the federal government has spent a lot of money on first nations, as if that should be some kind of appropriate response. I hate to remind the federal government that it has a constitutional responsibility to meet the needs of first nations. It also has obligations and commitments under treaties, so that is simply not an adequate response.

What the government did was move forward, proposing a law that would regulate safe drinking water for first nations communities. There were a lot of qualms in first nations communities about that, but eventually, when consultations were held, the Alberta first nations of Treaty No. 6, Treaty No. 7, and Treaty No. 8 said that under a number of conditions, they would agree to this law. I will get to that in a minute.

That law did pass in this place. Unfortunately, it is only a framework law, so specific standards to ensure safe drinking water for first nations are still not in place.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps you would like to intervene just for a moment. Across the way, they might have courtesy.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

Order, please. I would ask all hon. members who wish to carry on conversations to take them outside to the lobby. We are in the middle of the adjournment debate.

The hon. member for Edmonton—Strathcona.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

NDP

Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB

Mr. Speaker, I want to make sure that my colleague across the way also has an opportunity to hear what my issues are and what my eventual question will be.

The government is moving forward. The legislation was simply framework legislation. Essentially, it simply passed liability from the federal government to the first nations to begin delivering wastewater services and safe drinking water. Regrettably, it still does not have the regulations in place that will clearly say what the standards are that first nations have to live up to and deliver on. Second, there is still no new money.

First nations across the country, including Treaty 6, Treaty 7, and Treaty 8 first nations had agreed to support this law, but on condition that they received $162 million for water infrastructure to cover the deficit faced by Alberta first nations as identified by the independent national engineering assessment. They agreed that they would accept this legislation being imposed on them, even though constitutionally and under the UN declaration they are supposed to have responsibility for self-government in determining their own regime for regulation. They agreed to consent to that legislation on that condition.

The second condition was that Canada develop a satisfactory and adequately funded process for collaborative development of the implementing regulations. Thus far, I am told by the Treaty 6, 7 and 8 first nations in Alberta that they have come to the conclusion that they must withdraw from the process because the money has not been forthcoming and they have not been supported in the consultation on the regulations.

My question for the government is this. When can the first nations expect this money? The government has committed only $323 million for the whole country, and yet half of that is needed to meet the needs of the first nations in Alberta in order to enter the 21st century of basic minimum standards for their community.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

North Vancouver B.C.

Conservative

Andrew Saxton ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to the question of the hon. member for Edmonton—Strathcona. Let me begin by assuring the hon. member that the health and safety of first nation communities is a top priority of our government. We are committed to ensuring that first nation residents have access to emergency assistance services at the same level as those available to Canadians living off reserve.

In the case of the recent flooding in Alberta on the Siksika reserve, our government took swift action working with the Province of Alberta to ensure that the community's immediate health and safety needs were being met. We were in regular contact with regional first nation leadership, and officials also visited the community to ensure that it had the support it needed in that very difficult time.

Our government, through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, has an agreement with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency. This allows Canada and Alberta to work in partnership to support Alberta first nations in certain emergency situations, such as natural disasters. Under this agreement, our government provides the Alberta Emergency Management Agency with an annual funding base of $680,000 for the 2013-14 fiscal year, and the agency provides emergency management services for Alberta's 45 first nations, as it does for all other communities in the province.

In addition, the agency works closely with Alberta first nations to build emergency management capacity within their own communities. This is done through a variety of activities, including training and support for emergency planning and preparedness. In additional preparedness work, this fiscal year our government will provide funding to five first nations in Alberta to support them in the development of wildfire mitigation strategies. This is a further example of our government working closely with first nations to build capacity on reserve. Our government continues to partner with Alberta Emergency Management, first nation leaders, and other emergency partners to help support the emergency recovery needs of the affected communities.

Furthermore, I want to inform the House that our government has taken action to streamline the process of funding emergency management on reserve and to ensure that first nations, provinces, and territories have improved access to emergency funding when needed by putting in place a single window for securing funding for first nation emergency costs. This single window came into effect on April 1, 2014, with all eligible emergency management costs on first nation reserves now being reimbursed by one department, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

In order to help implement all that I have just described, our government is making significant investments to protect the health and safety of first nations on reserve. To that end, economic action plan 2014 provides $40 million over five years starting in 2015-16 for disaster mitigation programming in first nation communities. Our government believes that all Canadians deserve to feel safe and secure in their homes no matter where they live. That is why we are actively working with our partners to ensure that first nations on reserve in Alberta met this rigorous standard.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:20 p.m.

NDP

Linda Duncan NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB

Mr. Speaker, I am left very puzzled. My questions were clearly about providing safe drinking water to first nations.

Over the last couple of years, a good number of first nations in Alberta have suffered deeply because of flooding. It is also the responsibility of the government to step in and provide them with an emergency response, and to assist them in building new housing, which was destroyed during the flooding.

The government has absolutely failed to respond to my question. When will it step up and provide the funding needed to meet the millions of dollars deficit for safe drinking water? This is a completely separate issue and is occurring in tandem. I do not know if we call the lack of safe drinking water going on for decades an emergency, but it certainly is an emergency for first nations families that are trying to provide safe drinking water for their children or to bathe their babies. I remain puzzled.

Perhaps the government would like to respond to my initial question about when it will deliver the promised $162 million to deliver safe drinking water to Alberta first nations.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:20 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC

Mr. Speaker, to answer my colleague's question, our government has dedicated significant resources toward providing fresh water for on reserve first nations. We have made significant progress to date and we will continue to do so.

As I have said, the health and safety of first nation communities, including timely effective support in times of emergency, is a top priority of our government. We appreciate that this is a difficult situation for some first nations in Alberta and we continue to work closely with the province, first nations emergency management and public health system partners to support Alberta first nations emergency management activities.

We recognize that for those still out of their home communities as a result of flooding in 2013, this is a difficult time. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada is working with the affected first nations, Alberta Emergency Management Agency and other partners, and is making progress toward our mutual goal to help people return home safely as soon as possible.

Our government continues to work to ensure the health and safety of Alberta's first nations and all Canadians.

Aboriginal AffairsAdjournment Proceedings

7:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, this House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 7:22 p.m.)