House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2011, with 31% of the vote.
Indian Affairs November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, one wonders whether the minister saw my question beforehand, because he used exactly the same example I will give you now.
How can the minister accept the fact that an Inuit has to pay up to $12 for 3 litres of milk in the far north, while his department is still looking into the matter instead of coming up with some answers?
Indian Affairs November 24th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is directed to the Minister of Indian Affairs. The price of food in remote areas of Northern Quebec and the Northwest Territories is so high that it is practically impossible for residents, most of whom are Inuit, to eat properly. Today, an Inuit in the far north pays twice as much for the same basket of groceries as we do here in the south, while his average income is much lower.
Could the Minister of Indian Affairs explain why, despite the fact that $14 million is spent annually on subsidizing the distribution of food in the far north, a person who lives in that area always has to pay twice as much for his food as people in the south?
First Nations Housing November 23rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I, also, would like to congratulate the hon. member for The Battlefords-Meadow Lake for his excellent motion. As a fellow member of the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, I must say that he is known for his social commitment. This motion is entirely in keeping with the social positions he has taken at the committee's hearings.
I will start by referring to the report of the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs submitted in the previous Parliament and entitled "A Time for Action, Aboriginal and Northern Housing". A few years have passed and, although things had to be done at the time, we realize that nothing has really changed and that it is still time do something. On the government side they consult, they show goodwill, but action is not forthcoming. Meanwhile, we witness life conditions which are probably among the worst in North America.
These conditions have to be seen. I belong to the category of people who believe in seeing for themselves, and I have visited a number of people from the First Nations. No later than today, I called upon my colleagues on the finance committee to fly or drive to some aboriginal communities to find out, first hand, how these people live today. I do not think I would offend anyone by saying that they live in a Third World economy.
As we can see in the Auditor General's report, tabled yesterday, aboriginal people have very high rates of poverty. In some communities, the unemployment rate is 80 per cent; the suicide rate is sometimes five times higher than the Canadian average. Despair permeates these communities; the education level is much lower than the Canadian average. They are the victims of a paternalistic attitude they have been subject to for a long time. And yes, housing is unfortunately totally inadequate.
I saw with my own eyes four generations living under the same roof. Imagine the promiscuity, the total lack of intimacy. Imagine having to eat every day with twenty people, representing four generations, around the table. These are things you do not see in the Third World; even in Latin America people are better off.
There is a lack of infrastructure and adequate housing. How many communities do not even have sewers? How many communities do not even have running water?
In a modern society, in a country like ours which boasts of a very high standard of living, tolerating Third World living conditions such as these is totally unacceptable.
On top of that, some houses are of a style totally foreign to native culture. In some communities, all the houses are the same, tiny little bungalows. There is no concern for native culture, history or tradition. Across Canada, houses built the same way and often-I will come back to that later-by people who do not even live on the reserve. You can see that the Department of Indian Affairs is not really concerned about native culture and maintaining it but rather is driven by economic factors. So, let us build the cheapest houses possible.
Financing on reserve is difficult. It is a real mess.
There is the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and then the Department of Indian Affairs. It is a mess. People do not know who to turn to. For housing construction as well as renovations, waiting lists are a mile long and, in many cases, the agencies pass the buck back and forth.
Also of note is the limited involvement of native people in policy development. My colleague opposite mentioned earlier the significant contribution of native people. Again, as I said earlier, I just left a finance committee meeting, and the First Nations' leader was telling us that he deplored the lack of consultation of First Nations on housing policy. This policy has been in the making since 1984. And let me remind you that I started my remarks by saying that it was time to act. My hon. colleague says that it is time to act, time to consult but, for all practical purposes, the First Nations' leader told us no later than this afternoon that it was not happening.
The reserves derive very little in the way of economic benefits from the various government programs. I do not want to embark on a discussion on the whole thrust and the whole gamut of government programs for native people, but the fact is that very little benefit accrues to the reserves per se from housing-related activities as well as other ones. Services are often provided by outside contractors who, on leaving the reserve, keep Natives in some degree of dependency.
I will translate almost word for word what my hon. colleague said earlier, when he quoted the 1991 report of the Auditor General. I will repeat what he said in French because we are using the same reference. In his 1991 report, the Auditor General said this: "Inadequate and overcrowded housing, among other things, can contribute to social and health problems, such as sickness, marriage breakdown, alcoholism and child abuse. The financial results can be measured in terms of
higher cost of health care, social assistance benefits, policing and penitentiary services".
May I remind you, Mr. Speaker, that the Auditor General said yesterday that all these problems are relevant to society. But they are amplified and emphasized in these communities. It is even worse. Solving the housing problems on reserves could reduce the cost of health services and social assistance by improving social and health standards. What the Auditor General said yesterday about society in general is that the problem is worse on reserves and must be solved soon.
I would also like to extract a few facts from the 1993 report of the Department of Indian Affairs. I still remember the first presentation made by officials from the Department of Indian Affairs to the Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. They told us candidly that the native population was growing by nearly 5 per cent a year, double the Canadian growth rate. They also told us that they knew that there were housing shortages, but unfortunately, funds were lacking and, as I just said, people had to live with three or four generations under one roof in some cases.
In their presentation, they told us that the First Nations had nearly 72,000 housing units, of which 42 per cent did not meet Canadian housing standards and 16 per cent lacked plumbing and sewage facilities. In our society today, not having a sewage system is almost unacceptable. Twenty-nine per cent do not have running water. Who here in this august chamber would imagine that such things could happen? Certainly not in our homes, where we have running water. But 29 per cent of homes on reserves lack running water and 26 per cent have no sewer service. I even meet band councils who tell me: "Mr. Bachand, can you intervene with the minister and try to make him aware of our cause? We have no sewers on our reserve and no running water." I have to do that quite regularly.
Subsidies have not increased since 1984, while the native population has increased 5 per cent a year, creating a big need for housing. So you understand that we now have to tell native people to continue to live with 10, 15 or 20 people under one roof, because the funding is not there and unfortunately their population is growing. So conditions continue to deteriorate and we can come right out and say that living conditions on the reserves are the worst in Canada; as I just said, it is Canada's Third World.
There are solutions. Native lending institutions can be set up, for example; things like that would help. But before that is done, of course, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation would finally have to decide with the Department of Indian Affairs who has jurisdiction, because CMHC comes under Public Works.
As I was saying earlier, this was a mess. There should be tighter management control and a single body or department should be in charge.
Mr. Speaker, I will hurry because I realize that I only have one minute left. I would have liked to say more, because these people do not often have the opportunity to make themselves heard through us and they are showing signs of distress.
We mentioned earlier, as did the leader of the First Nations, that the red book has a lot of implications and that it includes a number of commitments. However, no progress was made regarding the housing issue. In fact, the housing policy is still at the conceptual stage. There is not enough discussion with native people.
I simply ask the government to implement as quickly as possible the promises made in the red book. The time has come to take action.
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean November 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, if I interpret correctly what the minister said, additional facilities will indeed be built next year. That is what I understood.
Does the minister recognize that, in spite of the major outlay of capital forecast by the government to increase the accommodation capacity of the college in Kingston, existing facilities will definitely not meet the needs during the transition period, while the officer cadets population is brought down from 1,200 to 900, this being the opinion of the commanding officer of the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean himself, Colonel Parisien?
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean November 21st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
Last week, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs stated that, with only minor modifications, the facilities at Kingston would be able to accommodate all Canadian Forces officer cadets as early as next year. For this reason, he dismissed the proposal for a gradual transition that the mayor of Saint-Jean had made and that was perfectly acceptable to the Quebec government.
Can the minister tell us if there is any truth to the rumour that the government plans to build additional facilities next year to accommodate some 700 officer cadets to meet the requirements resulting from the closing of the military college in Saint-Jean?
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean November 17th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the minister said several times that the transition would occur without problems. How can the minister continue to claim that transferring the operations of the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean to Kingston will occur without problems, when only 20 of the 250 employees of the college in Saint-Jean have agreed to move to Kingston?
Collège Militaire Royal De Saint-Jean November 17th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
The mayor of Saint-Jean has made public the elements of his proposal to allow a gradual transition for the military college in Saint-Jean, which would become a university-level civilian institution. He thinks that there should be a gradual transfer of all officer cadets to Kingston and that the closure should not be brutal but civilized.
Now that he has in his possession the proposal made by the mayor of Saint-Jean, which is supported by the Quebec government, does the minister still intend to reopen the discussions on the closure of the college in Saint-Jean, especially since the Kingston barracks cannot accommodate the officer cadets from Saint-Jean?
Royal Military College Of Kingston November 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, how can the Minister of Defence explain the fact that the dean of the college in Kingston, Mr. John Plant, is sitting on this bilingualization committee, when he is the very person who refused francophone teachers access to services in their primary language?
Royal Military College Of Kingston November 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Defence.
The Minister of Defence has stated on many occasions that the Military College of Kingston would be a model of bilingualism. Last week, he set up a special committee, over which he chairs personally, to make the college bilingual.
How can the minister explain the college authorities' refusal to grant the request of Canadian Military College teachers who are asking that francophone teachers have equal access and access in their own language to cultural, professional, financial and material resources useful for their career progression?
Yukon Surface Rights Board Act November 1st, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I must admit that James Bay is indeed a model, but self-government cannot be applied everywhere from Halifax to Vancouver. We can see that a form of self-government respecting their past and their traditions is working for the Sechelt Band. Another formula was applied to the James Bay Crees and we can come up with yet another formula for Northern Quebec.
So, when we negotiate with the Northern Inuit, we will see how to apply self-government to their case by listening to what they have to say and what proposals they put forward during negotiations. Thus we will be in a position to react. I simply want to say to my colleague that there is no single way to implement self-government, there is no predetermined framework. Self-government is function of the tradition of the First Nations to whom it applies as well as of the climate that prevails in their negotiations with the governments.