Bob Nault

[Ethics, October 28th, 2003]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Question No. 256, October 28th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the breakdown is as follows:

The above amounts represent the funding categories used by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for funding agreements with the Assembly of First Nations.

[Aboriginal People, October 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is fair to say that we are not going to be negotiating with the Cree here in the House of Commons.

I can say that negotiating is ongoing. Our negotiator and the Cree negotiator have been meeting regularly for the last two years. We are making progress. This is a very complicated file. It is not going to happen overnight, but it is one on which I am very optimistic we can get a resolution.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 23rd, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know the particular details of Marten Falls and the member would have been well positioned to have given us a heads-up that he would be asking the question.

I can say that the process of ensuring that schools are in good condition is part of our capital plan. We go through the school process. We look at the situation. We monitor it. Health Canada monitors it. However I will look into this on behalf of the member because I have no idea to what he is referring.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know the specifics of the case in question. Obviously there is a byelection there, which is probably why he is asking the question. If I get the information I will make sure we do as we always do, which is prepare the young people for school in the fall.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know to which particular community he is referring but I can say that the first nation education system is the top priority of the government. We have moved financial resources and have increased the budgets year after year as long as this government has been here in power, and we will continue to do so because it is important for aboriginal kids.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 9th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, if people had been following the Lubicon file they would know that over the last year we have entered into the final stages of negotiation. We are at the point where the provincial government, the Canadian government and the Lubicon people are together at the negotiating table with the objective of completing this longstanding grievance of the Lubicon.

It is our view that we are within a matter of issues and days away from a final agreement. I hope, as the member and the rest of the members of Parliament would wish, that this will be completed some time very soon.

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I think the objective of a good governance structure for first nations is one that we all share. We are going to continue to work with that in mind. The objective of the exercise for all of us is to improve the lives of first nations citizens. This is a work in progress. If the member has any good amendments to suggest, we would like to hear them. So far we have not heard any.

[Question No. 196, May 9th, 2003]

Insofar as the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, DIAND, is concerned, the table below lists the names and addresses of third party managers for the following Indian bands:

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it would be helpful if the NDP would join with us in working toward improving the legislative structure and the institutional structure of first nations. That would be a good start.

Second, in the last budget of the Minister of Finance the government put almost half a billion dollars a year in new money into aboriginal communities and their issues. That will go a long way toward improving the lives of aboriginal people.