Mike Scott

[Health, May 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, we will try one more time. Two years ago in the House I asked the minister if he could guarantee that the water supply for the Gull Bay First Nation would be corrected after an expenditure of $4 million. The minister said he would look into it and would get back to us.

We are two years down the road. If he cannot answer the questions about any of the other 171 reserve communities where they have deficient water systems, can he tell us if this one has been fixed? Has his commitment been lived up to? Are the residents of this community able to have purified drinking water at this time?

[Health, May 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I will go back to the Minister of Health to try to get a concrete answer. It was just reported a few days ago that members of the Norway House reserve are having to resort to bottled water to protect their health and safety.

Two years ago I asked the minister about the Gull Bay reserve where $4 million had been spent on that reserve and yet it still had contaminated water.

Of the 171 deficiencies in Health Canada's own report, could the minister tell us how many or can he tell us of even one that has been fixed as a result of that study?

[Health, May 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the residents of these communities do not want pablum. They want answers. We have seen what can happen when a contaminated water supply in one community is allowed to go forward.

Could the minister stand in his place and say that after five years they have managed to correct the problems in these 171 communities where the health and safety of those residents are at risk?

[Health, May 31st, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the tragedy in Walkerton, Ontario, caused by a contaminated water supply has devastated that community and touched all Canadians.

In 1995 Health Canada identified 171 aboriginal reserve communities in Canada where water systems were defective and, to quote from its own report “have the potential to affect the health and safety of the community if the problems are not resolved”.

Could the health minister verify that these defective water systems have been fixed and that the health and safety of these aboriginal residents on reserve communities are not at risk?

[Petitions, May 10th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of several hundred constituents in my riding of Skeena, from the communities of Smithers, Telkwa, Moricetown, Hazelton, Terrace, Kitimat and other communities, I have the honour to present two petitions today which speak to child poverty.

Specifically, the petitioners call on parliament to fulfil its obligations and to fulfil the 1998 promise of the House of Commons to end child poverty by the year 2000.

[Lobbyist Registration Act, May 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, that was a good non-answer.

It is really interesting to note that in the minister's riding alone, 18 companies and businessmen, who were the recipients of millions of dollars in HRDC grants, donated more than $16,000 to the minister's personal re-election campaign in 1997.

How much money will Mr. Smit donate to the minister's next election campaign? Does—

[Lobbyist Registration Act, May 8th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of Indian affairs.

It seems that a Liberal lobbyist has found the road to his own personal gold mine in the minister's riding. Rick Smit, the former president of the minister's riding association, has been lobbying outside the law to get the government to pay for a $3.5 million mining road in the minister's riding.

Mr. Smit has failed to register as a lobbyist as required by law. This is not the first time that laws have been bent or broken in the minister's riding.

Why do federal laws apply to all Canadians except friends and insiders of this Liberal government?

[Auditor General's Report, April 12th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general emphatically disagrees with the minister. The minister talks about the studies that have been done and about Gathering Strength as a response to the auditor general's report.

The auditor general says there have been over 22 studies done over 20 years and there has been no improvement. The auditor general says that Gathering Strength cannot demonstrate that it will result in any improvement for aboriginal children.

Why should anybody believe the minister? Why should aboriginal children believe him when he says that will be the answer to their problem, and why should they have to pay for the minister's mismanagement?

[Auditor General's Report, April 12th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of Indian affairs. Yesterday the minister admitted that he is failing aboriginal children.

His department mismanages the expenditure of a billion dollars a year. It is supposed to be for aboriginal education. As a result, aboriginal children are 20 years behind the rest of the country. The minister has had 24 hours to do his homework. What is his defence today?

[Auditor General's Report, April 11th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, the minister and the government are responsible for the education of aboriginal children. They have spent over $1 billion a year and yet this is the scathing indictment we have after that kind of expenditure.

In 20 years the government has had 22 separate studies done yet there is no progress made. Why should we believe that Gathering Strength will make any difference? The auditor general has said so himself. How can the minister possibly defend this kind of shameful record?