Jim Prentice

[Aboriginal Affairs, November 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, in 12 years in power, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has done a terrible job for aboriginal communities in Canada.

Expenditures over the past 12 years have been astronomical, but with what results? The policies are not working. A number of reserves still have no drinking water, and residential school victims have yet to receive any compensation. In many ways, aboriginal communities live in third world conditions.

How can the Liberal government justify such waste to Canadians?

The first ministers are scheduled to meet next week in Kelowna. The Conservative Party hopes that the Prime Minister will not cancel this important meeting.

Canadians hope that he will not abandon aboriginal Canadians. Canadians have had their fill of the errors of this corrupt and incompetent government. They want real change.

[Keeseekoose First Nation, November 15th, 2005]

The issue is, Mr. Speaker, what does this government take seriously? Three years after this matter was brought to the attention of the department, there has been no audit and there has been no prosecution, just more stolen money and this minister once again missing in action.

Is this not just one more big cover-up to protect someone, to protect the former chief, the defeated Liberal candidate?

[Keeseekoose First Nation, November 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development said that the Keeseekoose First Nation was the subject of routine audits. I have a copy of the band's educational bank account records and there is nothing routine that I can see.

There was $600,000 stolen from the children's education fund and money spent in Santa Monica, California and in Hollywood at an exclusive jewellery store. Stealing money from school children seems perhaps routine to the minister, all in a day's work for a Liberal. Where is the forensic audit?

[Aboriginal Affairs, November 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, all we hear from the minister is excuses and obfuscation. The current chief and council want to find out who stole their education money. The minister will not help them.

Will the minister admit today that he is trying to protect the former chief because he was the chief when the money was stolen and because he was the Prime Minister's Liberal candidate in the last federal election? Is this why the minister will not produce a forensic audit?

[Aboriginal Affairs, November 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Keeseekoose is a small first nation in Saskatchewan. In the time between 1995 and 2001, over $600,000 was systematically looted from its education fund. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has known about this since 2002 and this minister has known since he was appointed, but the minister refuses to help the new chief and council get to the bottom of this.

What is the minister hiding? Why will he not produce a forensic audit that shows who stole the Keeseekoose children's trust fund?

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein confirmed that the Liberal government has been aware since at least 2001 of the extent of unsafe drinking water on aboriginal communities.

Four years later, there is still no policy in place, there are still no regulations and there are still no water standards. All we have are Liberal promises, Liberal rhetoric and a minister who is prepared with knowledge to allow the elderly and children to drink contaminated water for eight weeks.

Could the Prime Minister tell us what the problem is? Are the Liberal promises misleading or does he have a minister--

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 31st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on September 30, during question period, in words that will forever haunt him, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development described his first nation water management program as a great success.

Last week Canadians learned the truth. It is not a great success; it is a national embarrassment. Over 12 years, $2.5 billion was spent. Seventy-five per cent of aboriginal communities are having problems with their water and 100 communities are living under boiled water advisories.

The minister cannot distinguish between great successes and great national embarrassments. Why has the Prime Minister not asked for his resignation?

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, these Canadians begged the minister for help and he did nothing.

During the August 19 meeting, the chief of Kashechewan presented the minister with a binder describing the squalor, the sewage-contaminated water and the condemned houses. The minister did nothing for eight weeks. He did not write to them. He did not call them. He did not fix the water system. He did not evacuate the community. It was left to Ontario to take care of this problem.

Will the minister resign?

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, these Canadians begged the minister for help. He did nothing--

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 27th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, on August 19 the people of Kashechewan met with the Minister of Indian Affairs and they begged for his help. He did nothing. For eight desperate, squalid weeks, these Canadians were poisoned by E. coli and hepatitis. This minister knew and he slept.

This minister cannot be trusted with the lives of those who cannot defend themselves, so on behalf of aboriginal Canadians in our society, who are the poorest of the poor, I ask this minister to resign.