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Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, we are not playing politics when we are talking about the fundamental rights of Canada's first peoples.
The issue arose when the minister went to the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. He left in a hurry, probably because he was afraid to answer any more questions.
My question is quite simple. The government is not apologizing to aboriginal peoples for what they went through in the residential schools, and it keeps fighting against aboriginal rights. Is the minister okay with that?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, since he did not seem to understand the question, I will repeat it.
The minister is aware that there are many cases before the courts and that taxpayers' money is being used to fight against recognizing aboriginal rights before the courts.
My question is simple: does the minister feel it is a good use of taxpayers' money to fight the country's first nations?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I know that the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs is fully aware of the fact that there are many cases before the courts. I am not asking him to talk about those cases, since they are in court, as I guess he would say. I was wondering about his opinion on whether or not he thinks it is a good use of taxpayers' money to continue to fight against survivors in the courts and aboriginal rights in general before the courts.
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I know that these issues are important. I would like to know how much the government has budgeted for this fiscal year, since we are discussing the budget here, to continue to fight against the recognition and compensation of survivors in the courts.
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, my question was whether or not the department is open to these other cases that are as dramatic and as tragic as the other ones? Will the department now give further funding to compensate other survivors in other social experiments, like experimental Eskimos for instance, the children of the sixties who have been fighting for recognition and compensation?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, you and I know, and all members in the House should know, that other survivors, first nations, Metis and Inuit, attended provincial or privately run residential or day schools in sanatoriums. Will there be further funding to compensate other survivors like those?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, if that is the case, is there a common understanding with the TRC about timeframes in this case with respect to what documents would cover and what format would be used?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, does he not think that it is important for the minister of Indian affairs to know how much it costs to fight aboriginal rights in the country?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I know that this case was heartily disputed by the Government of Canada. I know that the minister responded to my colleague from St. Paul's just a while ago about this, but how much has the department spent fighting the TRC in court on this issue?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, one of the issues, of course, was what constituted relevant documents in this case. After three years, can the minister confirm to us today that there is a common understanding or agreement on what constitutes relevant documents?