John Duncan

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps. We are working together with first nations and we are starting to see improved student outcomes. We have comprehensive first nations education agreements in Nova Scotia and British Columbia demonstrating improved student outcomes.

The NDP should stop spreading misinformation and start standing with us as we support first nations students in reaching their goals.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we have made many commitments on first nations education.

We made commitments in the economic action plan 2012. I made announcements yesterday that included many more schools than the three that were mentioned by my colleague across the way.

We have completed construction on 33 new schools since 2006. We have done over 240 upgrades of and additions to schools since 2006. We are continuing with those kinds of investments.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 4th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have been doing.

I met with the national chief last week, and I will meet with him again today, to reaffirm our commitment to develop legislation through intensive consultations with first nations across the country.

We already have existing comprehensive first nations education agreements in Nova Scotia and British Columbia, which demonstrate improved student outcomes. We are committed to improving educational outcomes for first nations students across the country.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 3rd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we are intending to achieve. We want the same outcome for first nation students as we have for other students.

Every year we invest $1.7 billion in education for over 117,000 first nation students on reserve. Yesterday, I announced $275 million that will further the education outcomes of first nation students.

I would add that since 2006, we have completed 263 school projects, including 33 new schools.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, funding for child and family services has doubled in recent years. I am pleased to report that a new prevention model is now being implemented to protect thousands of first nation children on reserve. We will continue to partner with first nations to ensure that children and families have the support they need.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Palliser for his great question. I know he spent 18 years as a high school principal and knows what he is talking about.

One hundred and seventy-five million dollars of new money will build and renovate additional schools on reserve, including new schools in Fort Severn, Pikangikum and Shamattawa first nations. One hundred million dollars will be used for early literacy and other programming to prepare schools for the first nations education act.

These new investments are above and beyond the $1.7 billion invested annually for over 117,000 first nation students.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we made some changes to the funding allocations for the aboriginal regional organizations and tribal councils. We made sure there was no impact on community-level services. This is consistent with the efficiencies we created within our own department. We reduced our workforce in our own department. We expect that the same results will accrue at the political level within those other organizations.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always stated that welfare rates should be consistent for all Canadians in all provinces. As outlined in economic action plan 2012, our government is committed to aligning its on-reserve welfare program with provincial systems. In many cases, this will make more money available for health and education.

This is consistent with our commitment to fairness and transparency across the country.

[Aboriginal Affairs, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the changes that are being made on October 1 are for products that are stable, non-perishable products that can go by sealift instead of by air. That is the reason we are making these changes. That allows for the subsidy to go to perishable products. Those are products like milk, for example. We have a drop of as much as 37% in the price of milk, based on the nutrition north program. The program is working.

[Aboriginal Affairs, September 27th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, we have put in place arrangements whereby the nutrition north program will deal with traditional foods. Yes, there is a break-in period, but there are some good things happening.

We now have a local market that has been set up in Iqaluit through local initiatives. We have some of the retailers now very interested in trying to make some arrangements for traditional foods.

This is going to take a while, but it is something that we have very much promoted.