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?
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 37% of the vote.
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?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, has the department estimated the financial and human resources that will be required in order to hand over to the TRC all of the relevant documents requested?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, in an Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision, the court said, at paragraph 29, “While its scope is disputed, the legacy mandate of the TRC is clearly an important part of its work”.
Following the analysis of the Auditor General of Canada's recent report, can the minister tell me what the current timeframe is to transfer all of the requested Indian residential school records to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I have the analysis here that was requested and I would like to know from the minister who asked for this internal analysis to be done. Were senior staff or legal counsel involved in this analysis?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I would like to know if the department has commissioned an internal analysis outlining the potential consequences of the destruction of documents.
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, does the minister deny that documents were destroyed over concerns about lawsuits?
Business of Supply May 9th, 2013
Mr. Chair, I will be taking my 15 minutes to ask questions and hopefully get answers from the other side. My theme for these questions is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in particular. I will not have any difficult or easy questions. I just want to ask some important questions on this file.
I know that the minister referred to the tango just a while ago and it takes two to tango, but I also know that to dance the tango, there is only one person who leads the dance. On that account I would like to say that I prefer the round dance because it is a more inclusive dance.
My first question for the minister is, have historical files pertinent to the Indian Residential School System been destroyed by the Government of Canada?
Aboriginal Affairs May 1st, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development needs to stop getting so worked up every time I ask him questions. I will give him another chance today.
The Auditor General was very critical of the minister's failure to work with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Yet the minister knows that we all need to travel the path of reconciliation together.
The commission has 15 months left to finish its work.
I will ask the minister again today if he will stop stonewalling and give the commission the documents it needs.
Aboriginal Affairs April 30th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I think the commission's mandate is too important to be ignored by the Conservatives.
Yet that is what the Auditor General says in his report. Thousands of children lost their lives in those residential schools. My brother was one of them.
To work on reconciliation together, we must stop politicizing such a delicate process. We have 15 months left.
Can the minister rise today and make a solemn commitment to hand over all the documents the commission requires?
Business of Supply April 18th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his very pertinent question.
It is interesting to see that this government, the one that labels the NDP and progressives as extremists, is signing treaties in secret with a totalitarian government that violates human rights. In my speech I talked about the importance of our consultation obligation. Aboriginals have a long tradition of negotiations that in most cases ended in agreements that benefit everyone. This government has a mandate to negotiate agreements that benefit all Canadians, not just its friends.