Rod Bruinooge

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the people of Kashechewan have faced considerable hardship. After we came into government, we took immediate action. Since the spring, there has been considerable progress. As of August, all the residents have returned to Kashechewan, and the water now meets the Ontario provincial standards.

It should be said that the previous Liberal government left the people of Kashechewan without a dime or a plan.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada does support band elections.

This amount is something that previously was under a different budget umbrella. Now it is being folded into the entire budget for the Ontario region. This move is seen by the community as important.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Andre is a very well known Canadian with a wealth of experience. In fact, he is working until the end of this year for $50,000. I know this might be hard for members opposite to believe, as it does seem like a very conservative amount, but it is the truth. Again, this is something of which we are very proud.

[Aboriginal Affairs, October 5th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Andre is a very well known Canadian with considerable experience. He is also a former parliamentarian. Above that, he is working on behalf of the Government of Canada for only $50,000. This is dramatically less than what was paid to the previous negotiator, who unfortunately did not accomplish his task. This amounts to 100% of the value at 5% of the cost.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, matrimonial real property is an important issue. It forms the basis of so many situations where individuals are left in a poor economic situation. Sometimes families have to leave their homes because they do not have any rights to that piece of real estate. This cannot happen any longer in Canada.

That is why the minister has taken the initiative on this very important issue. I look forward to assisting him on this structural change which will impact on the lives of so many female aboriginal Canadians.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, action really is the key to many of these issues. That is one of the biggest reasons I decided to run for government. We need to see action. I know that the members on this side are interested in action. In fact, there could not be a more right party than our party. I am very proud of that.

We are a government of action. We are a government that is going to take on the difficult challenges, the challenges that are a terrible Liberal legacy. The Indian Act was neglected completely. Everyone knows that major structural reform is needed. I am very proud that the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development will be taking on this task. I look forward to assisting him in this important area.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, many communities throughout Canada, especially aboriginal northern communities, have numerous housing needs. Having visited many of these northern communities, I know it can become quite difficult to ship building supplies into some of them because they do not have access year round. It makes for a very difficult process. However, we are moving forward with important budget additions.

I agree with my colleague's point. We do need structural reform that will ensure that these communities are able to achieve economic success on their own and get out from under the awful Indian Act.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, being an entrepreneur from Manitoba, I am very proud of First Canadian Health. It has done remarkable work in its technology, especially in the area of health. I am quite certain that its success will continue into the future.

In relation to the member's question on procurement for aboriginal businesses, the Government of Canada has clearly stated on many occasions that this is a key plank of our department. We are always looking for ways to strengthen and improve our policies. We will continue to consult with aboriginal firms to find out ways that we can improve this strategy.

As an entrepreneur, I can say that there are countless Canadian businesses being managed by aboriginal entrepreneurs like myself which have done very well in all areas of the private sector and in areas of government as well. Aboriginals seem to have an excellent approach within business. I think it is, in part, because they have the ability to see through all the bureaucracy. Unfortunately, my colleague across the way likes to grow bureaucracy, which is something we on this side of the House choose not to do.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I always take it as an honour to speak on behalf of aboriginal issues and our new Canadian government.

This is a great day for the new government, as the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has announced a process for which we will be consulting with Canadians throughout the country, aboriginal Canadians, first nation Canadians, on the important issue of matrimonial real property. This has been a long outstanding issue, an issue that has unfortunately been in place for well over a century. There is no question that the government is taking action. The minister, within a very short period of becoming the minister, has engaged this very important file.

Today I am very proud to say that we will be moving forward, we will be finding developing legislation after the consultative process, and very soon we will have this issue resolved.

Today my hon. colleague, with whom I have the pleasure of sitting on the aboriginal affairs committee, is raising the issue, which he seems to often do, about what our government is doing in relation to the so-called Kelowna accord. As was already mentioned by my colleague from the government's side, who also sits on the committee, “accord” is really the wrong word to use. The word “accord” has an element to it which one would think requires signatures. When I asked the former prime minister this very question, he was unable to state that there were signatures associated with this so-called accord. Unfortunately, it was a promissory press release, and the former government did not follow through on many of its promises.

We can look back to the early parts of its administration in relation to cutting the GST, one of the most infamous promises of the former government. In fact, one of its ministers had to resign over that. It also wanted to kill the free trade agreement. Obviously that government enjoyed having the free trade agreement and all the benefits it brought to our great nation. There is no question that we had record surpluses throughout the nineties. The Liberals would say that it was due to them, but as an entrepreneur, it was due to the hard-working business people and all the employees who paid those taxes.

Today I will talk a bit though about what our government is doing for aboriginal people. I spoke already about the great announcement we made today on matrimonial real property. However, I would like to look back to the spring when we spoke of major increases in our budget for aboriginal affairs. We are spending considerable dollars in the areas of housing. We have the long outstanding residential schools settlement of $2.2 billion. Our government is moving forward.

Structural reform, unfortunately, is something that was completely left out of the first ministers meeting of last year. In my travels throughout the country, I met with many aboriginal people, first nations, Inuit and Métis, but first nations specifically, because they are under the thumb of the terrible Indian Act, this pre-Confederation document.

First nation citizens have called for structural reform. They want to see a new system through which benefits actually flow to the people who need it most. Unfortunately, this was not addressed by the first ministers meeting. It was not addressed by the former government. The new minister has said that structural change and reform is one of his key pillars, and I am very much looking forward to being a part of those discussions.

As we look at the first ministers meeting last fall, we do have a deeper and shared understanding of the challenges and needs faced by aboriginal people in areas such as health, water, housing, education and economic opportunities.

The first ministers meeting brought the parties together, federal-provincial-territorial and aboriginals, for discussions to clarify priorities and shared responsibilities. The process and discussions actually began much earlier, but, as several aboriginal groups have pointed out, they were not perfect. In fact, some groups found out about the meeting literally the week before. Nevertheless, they were a significant step forward in terms of consultation and consensus building, one of the three elements that the Auditor General identified as essential to improving the lives of aboriginal people.

Last fall's meeting, however, did not go so far as to culminate in an actual accord, outlining focused and immediate initiatives. Nor did it adequately address two other elements that the Auditor General had highlighted as key to further progress: structural change and capacity building, which I have already mentioned. After 13 years of Liberal governments, little or nothing has been done on this front, and I am not surprised.

As was noted earlier, structural changes are difficult. What has not been emphasized is that they are nonetheless very necessary. In many cases they are needed simultaneous, if not prior, to further investment. This will ensure that current and future investments have measurable results, which someone is accountable for and producing.

Our new Conservative government is committed not only to conserving and building on the good consultation and consensus work done at the first ministers meeting. We are not only committed to investing additional funds when they will be most effectively expended. We are not only committed to increasing capacity. We are also committed to making the difficult structural changes that the Liberals so long neglected at significant cost to all Canadians, especially aboriginal Canadians. We are committed to accountability, another area in relation to which the Liberals have had to scramble to prepare statements of defence.

Given that we fully support the objectives and targets identified last fall, there is little the Liberals can do except try to pass off a press release, with a Liberal pre-election spending promise attached to it, as a legally binding Government of Canada commitment. The Liberals may publicly attack five months of Conservative action, now eight, because it does not fulfill one day of pre-election Liberal promises. Will they ever publicly admit, however, that today's debate is all about deflecting attention from the fact that five months, now eight months, of Conservative action has brought more new funding and initiatives on key aboriginal issues than 13 years of Liberal inaction? These 13 years have given the Liberals a record that even their potential future leader, Gerard Kennedy, has recently called “devastating”.

As another hon. colleague from Winnipeg Centre pointed out earlier this year, the Liberals, after 13 years of power, had become skilled in announcing program funding spread over so many years, which it had little significant impact, and re-announcing the programs year after year. This did nothing to aid in the plight of aboriginal people. This will not be the new Conservative government's approach.

What is required now is a plan of action, a means to move forward, a plan that will evolve, as needed, specific consultations, as we have done today. We announced a major consultation with aboriginal women's groups across Canada. I am speaking about our plans for matrimonial property. However, we need structural change, capacity building and additional funding, a plan that will prove and produce tangible, measurable results and one that will have details of the concrete steps we need to take in order to implement the plan. Furthermore, the plan must be prioritized, focused and resourced, with clear responsibilities and accountabilities. We are taking that swift action.

In March of this year, one of this government's first acts was to launch a plan to address drinking water concerns in first nations communities. This was a terrible blight that was left upon the Government of Canada, a situation that was left at our feet by the previous administration, but we set this as a priority. The minister wanted to personally deal with the situation so he immediately put together a plan to remediate the situation.

This government understands the critical importance water is to improving the quality of life for aboriginal women, children and families. We recognize that providing opportunities for these women and their families builds economic strength and capacity from inside their communities, which means that aboriginal people will become more prosperous in their own right with their own source revenues, which they are so desperately striving for. We as a country want to assist them on that front. We feel that providing matrimonial real property to on reserve women who hold families together will be an excellent foundation from which economic development and economic prosperity will grow.

Looking back at our budget earlier this year, we allocated $3.7 billion for aboriginal and northern programs. This amount of money dwarfs the previous budgets of the entire 13 years in this area. This also includes the $2.2 billion that was put in place to address the legacy of Indian residential schools, a dark chapter in our history but we have moved forward. We put that money in the budget and we are very proud of the fact that cheques are now being sent out to some of the claimants in advance of the process being fully in place. We took that action because we knew that some of these claimants were rather older in their term of being involved in this process and, thankfully, our government has streamlined this process.

The budget targeted investments for aboriginal Canadians in other key areas. These investments included $300 million for affordable housing programs in the territories, benefiting both aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples. Being a northerner myself, originally from the north, I can tell members that these housing dollars will be greatly appreciated as the cost of living in the north is considerably higher than here in the south, as is the cost of building a house.

Nunavut is where the problem is most pressing. I had the pleasure of travelling to Nunavut on my first trip in my capacity as parliamentary secretary. I enjoyed visiting the people of Nunavut and I saw firsthand that the need there is most pressing. That government will be receiving $200 million in order to deal with this major issue. The other territories, as well, are receiving a considerable amount for the important issue of housing.

However, many aboriginals in Canada live off reserve so we put $300 million into housing in those areas, as we see more aboriginal people moving from the reserve to urban centres. Sometimes they feel that is the right approach to find the economic means to look after their families. We have seen that and we are taking action.

We have also set aside $450 million for key initiatives, such as education, something that the minister is very serious about. In fact, he feels that education is the key to children's future and the futures of aboriginal youth. Part of the money has been set aside for children and families to make a better community on reserve, as well as for on reserve water, which we dealt with immediately upon taking office. In fact, the minister had barely dusted off the desk in his new office when he had already begun working on that issue.

Of the $3.7 billion earmarked for aboriginal and northern Canadians, we have a $500 million socio-economic fund that will be essential to community development in the north in areas that will be potentially impacted by the Mackenzie Valley pipeline project. This will be an incredible fund to bring about own source revenues for so many communities that are interested in finding business opportunities in the north and to operate on funds that they generate themselves.

Many aboriginal communities are not interested in seeing the government be the sole funder of life within their communities. They are looking for economic opportunities. This is a message that all too often was not heard by the previous government. However, as someone who comes from the private sector and who is an aboriginal Canadian, I know many aboriginal entrepreneurs who are proud of the fact that they are very successful within the business sector. I know this same type of entrepreneurialism will be found in the north, especially in the Mackenzie Valley delta.

This government has pledged to make progress toward its goal of working with first nations, Inuit and Métis partners and with the provinces and territories to establish priorities and develop effective sustainable approaches to the social and economic challenges they face in their communities.

We are delivering real results, not just empty rhetoric. Canadians voted for change and we are delivering to them positive change. We are committed to bettering the lives of aboriginal people in Canada through a practical and decisive approach and the steps we have taken so far clearly show this.

[Committees of the House, September 29th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, our government has moved forward with some of the largest increases in spending by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development that we have seen in years. We have only heard empty promises in the past from the old, tired Liberal Party.

I would like to ask my colleague a question in relation to some of the points he made with respect to matrimonial real property. He claimed that it was an important issue and I was glad to hear him say that. However, he was quoted yesterday as saying he did not know why the Minister of Indian Affairs would choose to tackle it now. When should we tackle it? That is always the problem with the Liberal Party. Those members always want to put off problems into the future. When should we tackle it if not now?