Bob Nault

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the member would know that the answer to that question is yes, because I told him yesterday that I would.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that we confront on a daily basis is the fact that first nation communities have the fastest growing population in all of Canada. With that comes a lot of financial issues and a lot of stress on the department of Indian affairs to keep up the building of schools right across the country.

If the member would look, it is a well known fact that this department spends some $140 million a year in capital projects, many of them involving the building of new schools. We are looking at Sagkeeng to help them and we will continue to do that all across the country.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is the normal practice of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to work with first nation communities across the country in a situation where there is a deficit.

It is not new to any government in Canada to have a deficit. What we do is we work to build capacity in those communities in order to put the administrative finances in proper order. We are doing that in Sagkeeng. We do that in other communities. We are working very closely with them to build the capacity to run good, solid governments and to deliver services to their community members.

[Health, February 6th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome our new critic. The first thing he probably should do is get himself a full briefing by the department.

If he had bothered to take us up on our offer of a full briefing, he would already know that the department has put the Sayisi Dene under third party management. The department is looking after the books on behalf of the members of that band until their financial situation is rectified.

[Information Commissioner's Report, October 17th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I want to inform the member that we have been working very closely with community members of Davis Inlet.

We are in the process now of moving a whole community, which takes a significant amount of time, effort and planning. We are on track to move a community out of a very desperate situation into a brand new place to live with brand new housing, sewer and water, all the different amenities people in Canada take for granted.

I hope that will be what the member is expecting, because that is what the aboriginal people in Labrador and the Innu are expecting.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2000]

I withdraw that, Mr. Speaker.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows because he asked this question last year, I think, that is the total amount projected if every claim is looked after at its uppermost limit. Those are the raw numbers. Obviously those claims will not be dealt with in that fashion.

Our numbers are closer to $11 billion. The member was told that last year. He continues to flog the $200 billion. I think that kind of rhetoric is not helpful to negotiations with first nations. It is not helpful to our relationship with first nations, and he should desist from doing those stupid things.

[Division No. 1392, September 26th, 2000]

moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in.

[Aboriginal Affairs, September 26th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, as we sit here today the negotiations are ongoing with the Lubicon.

I also want the member to know that it takes other partners to come to the table to help solve issues that relate to the Lubicon and that in particular is the Alberta government. We are now negotiating with the Alberta government on land quantum.

If the member wants to be helpful, now that this will probably be his last question in the House since he lost his nomination, I would think that maybe he would want to help us with the issue of making sure Alberta deals with its land quantum.

[Fisheries, September 25th, 2000]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is well known that the government has made an offer to the Atlantic first nations not once, not twice, not three times, but four times to come to the negotiating table.

It really takes more than just our government. It takes the provincial government and it takes the first nations. We wait for them when they are ready to come to the table to talk about aboriginal and treaty rights.