Bob Rae

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 12th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, in three separate reports, the former auditor general, Sheila Fraser, made it very clear that in her view the third party management system was dysfunctional, it did not work, it did not produce additional capacity, it did not help solve long-term problems and it did not deal with the underlying conditions with respect to housing and water supply.

Why did the government ignore every single finding of the Auditor General of Canada with respect to the management of these questions when it came to dealing with the crisis in Attawapiskat?

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister of Canada had the unmitigated gall yesterday to refer to mismanagement on the reserve, when it is the government's own mismanagement that has been called to account on three separate occasions in three separate audits by the Auditor General of Canada.

When will the government take responsibility for its grotesque failure to apply the basic standards of accountability and responsibility to itself? That is where the responsibility lies. That is where the mismanagement lies. It always has and it always will, and the Conservatives will turn around and blame the victim every single time.

That is what they--

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the minister cannot deny a very clear fact, and that is that since 2003, the Auditor General has been frank about the need for change in the very program that the government has just imposed on the Attawapiskat reserve. They have refused to follow the recommendations of their own Auditor General and, in the meantime, they are talking about the council's responsibility when they are not prepared to accept their own responsibilities. There is a double standard here, and that will create even more problems between the government and Indians across the country.

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that at a press conference this morning the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development announced that he would be calling for yet another audit into the affairs at Attawapiskat.

I would like to point out to the government a simple fact, which is that it has not followed the recommendations of its own Auditor General with respect to its own activities, in particular having to do with the appointment of so-called third party managers.

There is no provision for a dispute resolution mechanism, there is no building of capacity for chiefs and councils, and there is no provision for any involvement by chiefs and councils in the selection of the third party manager

Why is there a double standard? Why not apply the standards of the Auditor General to the--

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, if we look at the report of the Auditor General, it is the government's own mismanagement that is at stake in this question. It is the government's own failure to provide appropriate housing and education, not only in Attawapiskat but right across the board.

How can the government continue to talk about the management problems in Attawapiskat and elsewhere when it is clear that the government is responsible for the mismanagement resulting in the human and moral condition on these reserves? That is entirely the responsibility of the Government of Canada.

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the government has the right to change the law, but the government does not have the right to break the law. That seems to be the critical question that the Prime Minister has lost.

Let me ask the Prime Minister a question with respect to Attawapiskat. Without consultation with the band council, the government itself decided to set up a third party management; does the government think it is reasonable and fair that the band itself now has to pay the $1,300-a-day fee being charged by that individual, which could cost up to $300,000? Does the government not realize what kind of a burden that places on the band council itself?

[Canadian Wheat Board, December 8th, 2011]

To the Prime Minister through you, Mr. Speaker, could I ask how it is that the government's intention is to proceed with the Wheat Board law and to ask the Governor General to give royal assent to the law when the court in question has said that the minister's conduct is an affront to the rule of law? Would the Prime Minister not agree that the government should at the very least wait royal assent until such time as all appeals have been exhausted with respect to the ruling of Mr. Justice Campbell?

[Points of Order, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I might be able to suggest a solution to the problem.

Frankly, I was disappointed to hear what the hon. member for Lethbridge had to say. Every hon. member has been in a situation where he was not pleased with how people interpreted some event or something he did. However, it is clear that many people were shocked by the gestures made by the hon. member during the vote.

There is a simple solution to the problem. Mr. Speaker, you made a ruling yesterday, a ruling that all of us in the House accept. You clearly said that any demonstration made by hon. members during a vote is unacceptable.

The hon. member could simply acknowledge that he did not recognize the importance of the solemnity of the vote, that he regrets his actions and he fully accepts the Speaker's ruling. That is the choice that is before the hon. member. He cannot say that he has nothing to say when he clearly did things that go against the ruling made yesterday by the Speaker of the House. That is the solution I propose.

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I did not receive an answer to the question, but I would like to ask another question of the government with respect to the events in Attawapiskat.

The Indian Act is a colonial relic. It has been in place for decades. It gives extraordinary powers to the minister and to the crown with respect to people who are described in the act as “Indians”. It stretches all the way from wills to the care of children to defining this and that. It is an absolutely anachronistic piece of legislation.

I would like to ask the government, is it or is it not going to have the courage to put the question of the future of the Indian Act firmly in discussions and negotiations that are supposed to take place in January?

[Canadian Wheat Board, December 7th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am not quite sure. We will have to see what that means.

The legislation is now in front of Parliament. I want to have a categorical assurance from the minister that she will simply say that the legislation will not be proceeded with as long as this matter is in front of the courts and as long as we have a judgment that says that the Minister of Agriculture, who is now chatting with the minister, has had a disregard for the rule of law in the way in which he has tried to implement this legislation.

Could we at least have that assurance from the minister?