Jane Stewart

[Aboriginal Affairs, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this government believes that confidential information should be protected. That is why in my department we implemented a whole new strategy of managing work that comes from First Nations so we can control confidentiality.

What is confusing here is that the opposition does not understand that different departments of government have relationships with First Nations. In this particular case the letter which is being referred to was not sent to my department but indeed to the Department of Health.

[Aboriginal Affairs, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, let us see if we can clarify things a little more.

There was an article written in the Winnipeg Sun that talked about letters received by my department. I want to clarify to the House that the letter that was referred to was written in 1995 and that, indeed, it did find its way to the band council. But we have subsequently introduced a whole new regime of controls and management for confidentiality.

Now opposition members are getting confused. They do not really understand that all departments of the federal government have a role and a relationship with First Nations.

[Indian Affairs, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, let me carry on with the clarification.

The letter the member was referring to, dated August 24, was sent to the Ministry of Health. That is not the ministry of Indian affairs.

In my ministry we have taken action to deal with confidential information. We understand that as it is received by my department, so it should be managed effectively. It is my belief that the Minister of Health will also take such precautions because it is important that all constituents of this government feel that their information can be protected.

[Indian Affairs, September 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to be able to clarify the record here because indeed the Winnipeg Sun wrote an article that was misleading and incorrect. It would have us believe that the letter that Mrs. Freed was referring to was written recently and that in fact her confidentiality had been breached recently.

The initial letter was written in 1995. Indeed the letter did find its way to the band council and that is why we have changed our approach, why we have entered new requirements in the department to manage that information.

So we are making progress. We do respect the confidentiality of information and we will ensure in my department that it is protected.

[Questions On The Order Paper, September 21st, 1998]

The federal government has not provided any funding to the Nicola Band for it to undertake a feasibility study to purchase the Douglas Lake Ranch.

Question No. 103—

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, this government has taken concrete action with regard to the issue of the residential school strategy. On January 7th along with my colleague the interlocutor we announced Canada's response to the royal commission. In that we presented a statement of reconciliation to aboriginal people where we identified to those people who suffered physical and sexual abuse at residential schools that it was not their fault. In addition to that we identified $350 million of new money to help communities and assist them in beginning the healing process that is the legacy of the residential school system.

[Housing Construction In Nunavik, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, indeed implementing the James Bay-Northern Quebec agreement is a priority for this government and it has to be done in partnership with the province of Quebec.

The issue of housing is one that is great and is spread across this country. Making sure that aboriginal communities have good basic housing, water and sewers is fundamental to their capacity to participate in the Canadian society.

We are working in partnership with the First Nations and in most cases with the province of Quebec to proceed with continuing to alleviate this issue.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, as far as I am concerned the only thing creating uncertainty in British Columbia are the members of the Reform Party. They have yet to provide any kind of credible solutions to the issue of settling land claims. They have nothing that is workable. They have nothing sustainable. I would like to quote Chief Joe Mathias of the First Nations Summit who said “Reform's so-called solution is terribly misguided and will create a lot more chaos and economic uncertainty than presently exists in the system”.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, let us clarify another thing. If we want to talk about the B.C. business community, let us look at what Milton Wong, a prominent B.C. business person, said about the treaty process.

He said that through the treaty framework we can establish a social, political and economic certainty that will encourage investment in British Columbia and therefore be of enormous help to business communities across the province.

We have made progress. When we took office there was one table in action, now there are over 50. There are 30 that have frameworks of action in place and we are proceeding to agreements in principle.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 12th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, not only I think the right approach is to negotiate aboriginal rights, it is the people of British Columbia, 9 out of 10, who say that the appropriate thing to do is settle land claims at the negotiating table.

It is the business community in British Columbia that understands settling land claims will add to the GDP of the province.

It is the supreme court which directs us to find in these modern times an appropriate way to reconcile aboriginal rights and directs us to do it at the negotiating table.