Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask for unanimous consent to return to tabling of documents. I missed that part of the order.
House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 28% of the vote.
Petitions March 5th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I would ask for unanimous consent to return to tabling of documents. I missed that part of the order.
Post-Secondary Education March 5th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the department has been working since 2005 with the university to address longstanding and systematic problems. There have been allegations of mismanagement of funds, audit information handed to the RCMP commercial crimes unit, and politicization of the board on all issues. Meanwhile attendance has been falling. That is why the university was censured by the major teacher's union and it is why the province withdrew its funds as well. We need to be accountable to Canadians as well as first nations.
Post-Secondary Education March 5th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, we continue to work on options to ensure the affected students complete their academic year. That is our primary concern. As previously stated, we will not be renewing the funding agreement with First Nations University. In terms of discussions with the province the department continues to look at a wide range of options for the funding.
Aboriginal Affairs December 8th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, our government is making progress on multiple fronts to improve the lives of aboriginal people. These include economic development, education, safe drinking water, land claims, and the extension of human rights protection.
Canada's economic action plan invests $1.4 billion in strengthening partnerships with aboriginal Canadians and is yielding tangible results.
With respect to child and family services, we are implementing a prevention-based approach for long-term benefits for first nations children and their families. Five tripartite agreements with provincial governments and first nations have already been signed.
We are proud of our investment in education, the key investment in the future of aboriginal communities. We have committed $268 million over five years in new and necessary investments for education.
We know there is still much work to be done. We look forward to building on the successes we have made to date.
Labrador-Inuit Land Claims Agreement December 4th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2007-08 Annual Report of the Labrador-Inuit Land Claims Agreement Implementation Coordinating Committees.
Volunteerism December 4th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, to mark International Volunteer Day today, the government honours two recipients of the 2009 Thérèse Casgrain Volunteer Award.
Wendy Cecil is the recipient of the award in the lifelong commitment category. She has provided vital leadership in strategic planning and fundraising for St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto. She also spearheaded the urban angel campaign.
Gerjon Kalaci is the recipient of the award in the youth participation category. He has been actively involved with the United Way in Windsor-Essex county. He has organized events to assist community members with financial fitness, held networking events for volunteers, and led a community-wide event to support not-for-profit organizations.
I am honoured to extend our appreciation to Ms. Cecil and Mr. Kalaci, and to all Canadian volunteers who strive to make our communities stronger.
Madam Speaker, the government has also actively supported the National Aboriginal Women's summits, NAWS I and II, where the areas identified for action were leadership, health and safety, empowerment and honour. Through a number of government departments and agencies, including Status of Women Canada, the government has been working with aboriginal organizations. There are many challenges and this is a subject that has been looked at by many people across the spectrum, so we will make progress on this file.
Madam Speaker, the Government of Canada makes it a key priority to address violence against all women, and in particular aboriginal women who experience both a higher rate and more serious forms of violence than non-aboriginal women.
As to the question of when, we are working right now to address the complex web of societal issues related to the disappearance and murder of so many aboriginal girls and women in Canada. My friend talked about the Native Women's Association of Canada's Sisters In Spirit initiative which is collaborative and multi-departmental. We are continuing to work with the Native Women's Association of Canada beyond that.
This initiative is now in its fifth year and it has really laid the foundation to address the roots of violence against aboriginal girls and women. This is the responsibility of all of us, all levels of governments, the police, the justice system, civil society, and other stakeholders. There are currently ongoing investigations at the provincial level and the RCMP is taking part in them as well.
Since 2007 our government has supported 117 projects to address violence against women in all of its forms, including violence against aboriginal women. A federal-provincial-territorial working group of senior criminal justice officials is currently reviewing criminal justice system responses to cases involving serial killers who target vulnerable women.
I know Justice Canada is playing an active role in this working group, while Status of Women Canada is actively involved with the subcommittees of this federal-provincial-territorial group on healing and on missing and murdered aboriginal women. Together with the partners, Justice Canada is working hard to improve the criminal justice system in response to missing and murdered aboriginal women.
The Government of Canada recognizes that the solution to the problem of missing and murdered aboriginal women, and to the more generalized problem of violence against women lies in the achievement of equality for women. We today recommit ourselves to that goal.
Nelson Leeson November 30th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, last Thursday we learned of the passing of Nelson Leeson, president of the Nisga'a Lisims government.
Mr. Leeson was a strong leader and visionary who distinguished himself serving his people. He worked tirelessly to close the social and economic gaps between aboriginal people and other Canadians. He was at the forefront of treaty making in British Columbia and he was instrumental in negotiating the Nisga'a final agreement, the first modern treaty in B.C.
Earlier this month, the Nisga'a membership ratified a national precedent-setting private land initiative on Nisga'a settlement lands, which Mr. Leeson promoted. His contributions to the implementation of modern treaties in Canada will be missed.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I extend my deepest sympathies at this difficult time to the family, friends and colleagues of Mr. Leeson. Our thoughts are with Mr. Leeson's family and the people of the Nisga'a Nation.
The Environment November 6th, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the minister has been clear. The purpose of the Copenhagen negotiations is to achieve a new global framework to replace Kyoto. There are 192 countries at the table. We have tough negotiators to ensure an agreement makes sense for Canada's economic, geographic and industrial realities.
We will not sign a deal that is bad for Canada. That was the Liberal way at Kyoto. It is not the Conservative way at Copenhagen.