Mr. Speaker, I promote the Liberal red book every time I get a chance to speak or write.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1993, with 53% of the vote.
The Minister Of Indian Affairs October 10th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, I promote the Liberal red book every time I get a chance to speak or write.
Questions On The Order Paper October 8th, 1996
The amount paid by Stone Ridge Estates Ltd. to the Minister/Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, in trust for the band, for the 20-year extension to the lease is simply the amount of ongoing rents during the extended term. Ongoing rents are determined by the minister, based on fair market rent, at the start of each four-year period during the term of the lease. The rent paid form 1992 to 1996 was $86,400 per year.
Mining October 7th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, there is more at issue than the desires of BHP. The meetings with BHP have been very positive. I met with them last week. There are governments, First Nations and people living there. There are at least six major agreements which have to be brought together. They are coming together. I have heard no one say that they are leaving the table or that it is a no go. As of today everybody seems to think that significant progress can be made and it is moving along.
Mining October 7th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report to the House that the parties are negotiating well. I met with Mr. Kakfwi from the government this morning. I met with the chief on treaty 8 last week. The Deh Cho negotiations are going on with the Dog Rib and the government.
There is a sense that it can be done. People are staying in the north rather than going to Vancouver or coming here to negotiate. It has a feel of closure. There have been some complications as the hon. member might know. The water board adjourned its hearing of two months back a few weeks ago. This has complicated the situation but I would advise the member that it is on track. Everybody feels if they work together with the governments and the First Nations that we will have an agreement the whole country will be proud of.
Supply September 30th, 1996
The Reform members laugh but they said that and that is a disgrace. If we want to talk about disgraceful conduct, I suggest the Reform members should look in the mirror. They should view what they have said on the record in this House over the last three years. To me that is the biggest disgrace that the taxpayers of this country are paying for.
Supply September 30th, 1996
Madam Speaker, I sat here quietly, but after listening to the Reform Party members, it is difficult not to stand up in this forum to respond and question.
What the Reform says is more a reflection on democracy, that they have the right to speak, than the substance of what they are saying. They are saying that we do not know B.C. The member for Nanaimo-Cowichan says that we do not know B.C. I just came back from spending four days in British Columbia. I was in his riding at a big event at which there were ministers, provincial politicians and to which he was invited. He did not even bother showing up or sending his regards. That is not ancient history; that was Friday.
The member for North Vancouver quotes from the paper and calls the conduct of a minister a disgrace. He talks about the misuse of public funds on flags going for unity which was done above board. Everybody knows the way it is done in a democratic forum.
I will give him a quote. The Reform Party has an expert called Thomas Flanagan. Maybe the member can give us reflection on Mr. Flanagan. He wrote last week on misuse of public moneys, that the leader of the Reform took tax money and used it to go to Hawaii, which he says-this is Reform's expert-breaches their democratic constitution.
The member talks about disgrace and how we treat aboriginal people. Yet it was a member from the Reform Party who said of ethnic minorities that in our society we can send them to the back of the shop.
I sat here one day and heard Reform members talk about native people living in a south seas environment, and they know. This is a member who has never been to a reserve but comes here full of the whatnot of the Reform Party and says that he knows native people: "I know these people. The men sit around and they burn the women".
Aboriginal Affairs June 13th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, we are trying in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta to go back and deal fairly with treaties because there were wrong counts. This is the party that said we should deal fairly with the aboriginal people and we have done that. The remaining issue is the tax issue.
The Reform Party which says that we have to be fiscally prudent is saying to the government that it wants an extra $50 million. This cannot be done just in Saskatchewan. It has to be done in downtown Vancouver and in Halifax as well. If the Reform Party is saying that, then rather than hiding behind this rhetoric, when we are doing the budget next year, stand up and say so.
Aboriginal Affairs June 13th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, just prior to the last government's demise, the minister sent to some a letter which had to be cancelled saying that the ministry would go 20 times taxes. If expanded across the country, this would cost approximately an extra $50 million. If the hon. member is prepared to put an
amendment to our next budget asking for an additional $50 million, I am sure we would support it.
First Ministers Conference June 11th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, as I understand the meeting, there will not be items dealt with specific to aboriginal people.
The Prime Minister sent out a letter yesterday or today inviting the First Nations leadership to a meeting preceding the conference with specific ministers and for a post-conference briefing after the meeting of June 21.
Indian Affairs June 5th, 1996
Mr. Speaker, when the hon. member talks about understanding, he is talking about relationships between people. At any given time 15 negotiations are taking place, from the Micmacs of Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territories, as well
as the B.C. treaty process. These negotiations tend to have a life of their own.
Within the last couple of months many encouraging things have happened. The municipalities will sign an agreement with First Nations in Calgary on Monday. This will be a first in Canada. Aboriginal recognition day is to be celebrated June 21. These are people.
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, which is composed of people, is entering into an agreement with the First Nations of New Brunswick, as is the Toronto-Dominion Bank in Saskatchewan. Business organizations from Montreal are meeting in Kahnawake with the Kahnawake Mohawks in two months. They had the biggest meeting they have ever had with the aboriginal people in Montreal just a couple of months ago.
I commend the member for Rimouski-Témiscouata who is reviving the bill to pardon Louis Riel, a great Canadian leader, half French, half aboriginal. That is the relation that I think is needed and the direction in which we are going and I am quite pleased.