Mr. Speaker, listening to the Speech from the Throne last week reminded me of the reasons I initially decided to run for election as a member of Parliament. I entered public life believing that it was possible to change lives and change futures.
I share with my caucus colleagues the profound conviction that all Canadians should have an equal chance to participate fully in the economic, social and civic life of our nation and to benefit from its prosperity. We share a common vision of a society in which we provide every opportunity for every Canadian to fulfill his or her potential. We are convinced that, working with Canadians, we can help individuals and communities to overcome adversity.
I took the position as Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development confident that by working in partnership with aboriginal people we could help to improve their quality of life. We can foster social and economic development with first nations and Inuit, creating opportunities to build the Canada we all want.
The Speech from the Throne reaffirms our commitment as a country to supporting aboriginal people and northerners as they strive to realize their aspirations, a commitment made not simply on behalf of one department, but by the government as a whole.
The throne speech sends a clear signal that first nations must be enabled to assume greater control over their own affairs and participate more fully in the Canadian economy. This local control is the very essence of democracy. It gives power to the people to determine what needs to be done and address their own needs and priorities.
Experience has taught us that there is no magic wand to wave that will instantly finalize all the outstanding land claims, unresolved treaty issues, self-government agreements and address the social problems facing many aboriginal people.
Members know that change does not happen overnight. In the meantime, aboriginal people must be able to move forward now with confidence and with hope. They need to be able to get on with the business of building their communities and creating hope for their children.
We cannot continue to wait for change to just happen. We must take the steps to make it happen. We cannot afford to wait decades for agreements to be negotiated or new treaties to be worked out. We cannot wait, and the younger generation of first nations and Inuit will not wait.The status quo is not acceptable.
First nations working their way toward greater self-sufficiency need the tools today that will allow them to get on with the job of building a better tomorrow. That is precisely what the Speech from the Throne promises.
The Canada we want also includes a part of the country we too often forget, the north, but not in this Speech from the Throne: the issues of northern Canada affect us all.
The throne speech identifies key environmental goals for the north where aboriginal people will face new opportunities, new challenges and new possibilities. Northern gas pipelines have the potential to create significant job opportunities, provide training and skills development for first nations and Inuit and offer further opportunity for northern aboriginal people to participate and to prosper. Streamlined environmental assessment processes to evaluate large scale projects, such as the northern pipelines, will help ensure that such projects can proceed in a way that is consistent with our commitment to northern sustainable development.
The throne speech also calls for the conservation of wilderness areas, clean water sources and species and habitat protection. These are important initiatives to northerners to protect the fragile northern environment. We will also accelerate the cleanup of federal contaminated sites and continue to work with international partners to improve air quality and to respond to important northern priorities.
Our plan to improve the lives of aboriginal people is one of the most activist agendas a person could possibly imagine. The government-wide initiative led by a Prime Minister who has made it his life's mission to close the gap in life chances between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people represents a progressive step forward to a stronger Canada in the 21st century. The Government of Canada is taking action to ensure that aboriginal children do not grow up with less opportunity than their non-aboriginal peers.
I am excited about this agenda. It allows us to build on the progress already made by the government to improve the quality of life for aboriginal people. Investing in basic community infrastructure like clean water, supporting children and their parents, and helping first nations take advantage of economic development opportunities not only willmake a difference to individuals and families in the near term, but will provide a solid foundation for future growth, health and prosperity.
I want to reassure first nations that my department will continue to work with first nations, Health Canada and other partners to ensure a supply of clean and safe drinking water in first nation communities. Together we are currently finalizing a first nations water management strategy, based on a set of clear and enforceable standards. The strategy will provide the coherent and structural approach to managing water quality on reserve.
The Speech from the Throne makes this fundamental statement:
The most enduring contribution Canada can make to First Nations is to raise the standard of education on-reserve.
In this context we all know the tremendous potential offered by the young, growing aboriginal population. Aboriginal workers are key to our future prosperity. We must address the unacceptable gap in the education of aboriginal people as compared to other Canadians. To improve this situation we have established a working group on education to research and make recommendations on first nations education, where we should focus and how we should proceed.
It is these bread and butter issues, such as water, education, support for children and their parents, and economic and social development that will enhance and advance our agenda of building both stronger, healthier communities, and a better quality of life for aboriginal people.
Taking action in these priority areas will establish the foundations for a better future in first nations. The foundations do not stop there. Our plan is built on legislative foundations; foundations that contribute to the necessary framework for economic and social development. These legislative foundations include the proposed first nations governance act, the proposed specific claims resolution act, building on the existing first nation land management act, and the proposed first nations fiscal and statistical management act.
I would like to highlight for the House the benefits of each of these foundations. Let us start with the most fundamental, that is, sound governance.
Good governance practices are the foundation of any strong and stable government. Open and transparent decision making ensures fairness and equality, and it inspires confidence which encourages business investment.
There is increasing evidence, both academic and empirical, that the ability to pursue economic development, to create strong government with adequate infrastructure and to develop the skills and potential of people all depend on good governance.
That is why the first nations governance act would enable first nations to equip themselves with the modern tools and the power to make and enforce laws which would reflect their priorities; powers that would help first nations to prosper. It would put decision making powers the Indian Act took away 126 years ago back into the hands of first nations people, where they rightfully belong.
Despite widespread misinformation, the new governance act would not be intended to affect treaty rights, nor to infringe on the inherent right to self-government. Neither would it threaten reserve lands or turn band councils or band governments into municipal corporations. What it would be intended to do is act as the bridge to the future. It would explicitly aim to equip those first nations operating under the outdated Indian Act with the missing and necessary tools for fostering effective, responsive and accountable governance; a vital step along the road to self-government.
An equally important measure is the proposed specific claims resolution act, which would provide a firm foundation for settling specific claims more efficiently and fairly. The Canadian centre for the independent resolution of first nations specific claims would improve first nations access to land and resources so that they could get on with the business of developing their own economies by attracting investment and shaping their own destinies.
The Indian Specific Claims Commission, which would be replaced by this new independent centre, was created in 1991 as an interim measure while Canada and first nations examined the best way to proceed toward resolution of these claims.
While we are proud of our track record over the past decade in settling specific claims, there is still a long way to go. Under the present system, claims drag on far too long, depriving hundreds of first nations of opportunities for economic development and impeding partnerships with first nations in other areas.
Given first nations understandable frustration and cynicism about the process, we are determined to resolve more claims more efficiently and fairly. The new claims resolution centre we propose would operate at arm's length from government and would consist of both a commission to facilitate negotiations, as well as a tribunal to finally resolve disputes.
The commission and tribunal would have distinct divisions to prevent undue influence and bias. They would be overseen by a chief executive officer whose responsibility would be to manage the day-to-day administration of the centre and its two divisions.
The primary objective of the centre would be to approach negotiations in a cooperative rather than confrontational manner. It would provide modern dispute resolution techniques that would help both parties to reconcile their differences so they could more effectively reach agreements.
The centre would provide access to facilitation, mediation, non-binding arbitration and, with the consent of the parties, binding arbitration.
Members should consider the time and effort both sides put into developing and researching their cases when they go to court. Then consider that every dollar spent on researchers, witnesses, judges and courtrooms as one dollar less spent on housing, health and economic development. It is clear that the specific claims resolution act would represent a significant improvement over existing processes to deal with specific claims.
It would set the stage for economic development and much needed social and economic security for first nations. I look forward to debating this particular piece of legislation in the House of Commons in the weeks and months ahead.
For years first nations have said they need the flexibility and responsibility to manage their own reserve lands, natural resources and revenues, in a way that worked best for them. They pointed out that they cannot run a government if there are no means to plan how the community will use its land.
In today's competitive economy, investors will not wait around while bureaucrats and politicians wrangle over jurisdictional issues. They will move on, taking their money and jobs with them. In 1999 we passed the First Nations Land Management Act. The act enables first nations to develop land codes, pass and enforce laws with respect to issues like the environment and matrimonial real property, clarify the legal capacity of bands, and establish relationships with provincial and municipal governments. It re-establishes the tools first nations need to manage their own lands and their own revenues in their own ways.
One of the most direct benefits of this legislation is that it would shorten the distance to self-government. That is because first nations under the Indian Act must negotiate land use planning, but a first nation that manages its own land under the First Nations Land Management Act comes to the table with those issues already sorted out.
In the short time since the First Nations Land Management Act was introduced we have seen that when decisions about land are made by the community, it can attract investment. Where there is investment, there is opportunity. Opportunity in turn means a chance to break the cycle of poverty, to create hope and build better lives and stronger communities, the type of life that many of us here in the House take for granted.
This approach has proven so successful that we have opened up the First Nations Land Management Act so more first nation communities can take advantage of its progressive land management tools.
A further measure to promote economic development and to improve the quality of life on reserve is the suite of four institutions. The proposed institutions include a financial management board and a statistical institute, all run by first nations for first nations. The first nations fiscal and statistical management act would provide first nations with the needed fiscal tools to improve their quality of life, tools that every other level of government takes for granted, tools to help build basic infrastructure such as sewers, roads and water systems, the key ingredients to a higher quality of life, those bread and butter issues facing communities.
I can speak extensively about these four institutions, but it is safe to say that when we think about the realities of government, one of the most important is having the fiscal institutions to generate other source revenue, whether real property tax or other tax measures. Those are the institutions that are not available to first nations that this new legislation would provide.
I ask hon. members to think about it for a second. The first nations authority would allow first nations to raise long-term private capital at preferred rates for roads, water, sewer, et cetera. They would do so by securitizing a portion of their real property tax revenues or similar stable long-term revenues.
It is estimated that $125 million in debt financing would be raised over the first five years by securitizing real property tax revenues. Without these basic tools and institutions that other governments take for granted, now we know why first nations have not been successful in the past and why we have to change the agenda in the future.
In conclusion let me say that this will not go without a big debate in the country. When we change the relationship between aboriginal communities and the Government of Canada that of course necessitates a debate about governance and what governance will look like. I look forward to that debate in this place because it is high time that we moved away from the status quo, from the dependence we have created, which first nations children have to live with, to a more dynamic building of an economy for first nations people.
