Todd Russell

[Aboriginal Affairs, June 21st, 2006]

Mr. Speaker--

[Business of Supply, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member raises a very good and valid point. I do know that under the previous Liberal government there were investments in culture and language programs and in the aboriginal languages and culture centre. I believe that a 10 year commitment to the aboriginal languages centre was made previous to that. There is no doubt that more needs to be done, because we are losing the battle. Even though we have made some interventions and have some programs in place, the speed at which aboriginal languages are being lost certainly exceeds any gains we are making.

I know of language nesting programs in Labrador involving preschool kids, which seem to work quite well in that particular context. That is something we should be looking at. Headstart programs also are very important for the preservation of the language and culture of aboriginal peoples.

I believe Kelowna also addressed this in some part, because it contained an element that talked about capacity building. When we talk about capacity building in aboriginal communities, we have to understand that it means the preservation of one's language and one's culture as well.

There is one thing about language that I would like to say. The tone that I sometimes hear from the opposite side is so different from what I hear from my Liberal colleagues. Our tone is one that shows we have listened to aboriginal people about where they are at. I believe the Conservatives also will have to overcome this language issue in the weeks and months ahead.

I urge them to listen very closely to what aboriginal people have to say. I urge them to change their minds on Kelowna. There is no harm in changing one's mind when a mistake has been made. That is an honourable thing to do. I would urge the Conservatives to change their minds on Kelowna and move in the right direction, the direction that is good for aboriginal people and good for the rest of Canadians.

[Business of Supply, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I was not blaming. In fact, the opposition often talks about accountability and responsibility. Those members talk about it in the context of aboriginal people. If they make a decision, they have to be accountable for the decision they make. They have to be responsible for the decision they make.

Interestingly enough, I was sitting at the board table of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples for 10 years. It is quite interesting that the chief and president of Congress of Aboriginal Peoples at the time was at Kelowna. The president and chief of that organization signed on to Kelowna. I cannot speak to why the leadership of that particular organization would have a change of mind in just a few short months.

It seems rather speculative. Even the Minister of Indian Affairs was supporting Kelowna during the election, but could not find the money, the will and the determination to bring it over, so he changed his mind in a few months. Other leadership sometimes change its mind in a few months, but I cannot speak to the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. All I know is that Kelowna was moving forward and we were building and making progress.

[Business of Supply, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to the motion brought forward by my colleague from Winnipeg South Centre. I thank her for raising this matter and bringing it before the House for a full day's debate.

It is an issue that is very close to my heart, having served aboriginal people for 10 years in Labrador. Labrador is very much like Canada, in a smaller geographical context, in the sense that we have Métis, first nations and Inuit people. We have land claims that are resolved and unresolved. We have on reserve and off reserve people still looking for resolution of the outstanding, what we call Métis question in Canada, which is before us today as well as others.

The motion speaks to the need to be urgent, the need to move now on issues that are important to aboriginal people such as housing, education, water, sewer systems and health care.

To begin, I want to raise a particular issue which is urgent and it may apply more to the Minister of Health than it does to the minister of education. It is about an HIV-AIDS Labrador project that has been going now for some six years. We have learned in the last couple of months that the funding for this project has been cut.

I do not believe I have to give a lecture on how important health promotion and prevention of these types of sexually transmitted diseases are, not only in our country and in aboriginal communities, but world-wide. It is amazing to see the government cutting the funding. I have raised this with the minister three times and there still has been no action on this file. If I could be so bold, I would appeal, through this forum, to the Minister of Health or the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to deal with the issue now. I would hope this is not indicative of the government's plans or attitude toward aboriginal health programs. If it is, it is a sorry state of how we will go forward.

I do not believe Canadians will stand for a government which ignores the most social and needy people in our society. I do not say that in the sense of them being inferior. I say that because it is a reality that exists in Canada, and we have to deal with that reality.

Many aboriginal people in Labrador and elsewhere in the country see ourselves as contributors. Sometimes during debate there is a sense of minimizing aboriginal people, that somehow aboriginal people are a problem that needs to be dealt with. We are Canadians. There are issues that need to be addressed and the Kelowna accord was one of those interventions that would have helped aboriginal people.

It is also interesting that the Kelowna accord invested money over and above the other initiatives that had already been announced by the Liberal government. It had $1.3 billion to address health care issues among Canada's aboriginal communities. That was on top of the $700 million we were investing. That was on top of the $1.3 billion for the first nations and Inuit health program in 2003.

I and my colleagues on the Liberal side are concerned and certainly Canadians are concerned about the short-sighted decision of the Conservatives to turn their backs on Kelowna. I believe that means we are turning our back on progress and setting back the clock. It is one thing to claim to support the objectives of the Kelowna accord, but it is another thing if that support does not come with any meaningful financial commitment.

The Kelowna accord had the support of provincial and territorial leaders and aboriginal leadership across Canada. The Kelowna accord was going to work for people in Labrador and for people throughout our great country. We were not only looking forward to the elements of Kelowna to help in terms of health care funding, but in all the other areas that were mentioned.

For instance, Kelowna had budgeted $1.6 billion for housing and infrastructure. It is depressing to think that this commitment will not be honoured by the current government.

I think about the Métis community of Black Tickle, which still needs water and sewer systems. I would challenge the ministers on the opposite side of the House, the Conservative ministers, to go to a place like Black Tickle and say that Kelowna was just a press release, that it did not mean anything.

There was hope in that accord. It meant something tangible for aboriginal people, not only in Black Tickle, because there are many Black Tickles in this country, but for all aboriginal people in all their communities.

As well, we made some advancements in terms of housing and infrastructure under the Liberal government, but more was needed. Kelowna offered that to people, such as those in Nain and in Hopedale on the north coast of Labrador.

Truly, I do worry about aboriginal policy under the government. Not only did we have the unfortunate episode earlier in this session with the statements made by the member that the Prime Minister appointed to the chair of the aboriginal affairs committee, we also had the comments from another government caucus member who described first nations reserves as “Marxist paradises”. This is a disturbing symptom of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Reserves, or Marxist paradises, as the hon. member described them, are so bad that the Innu First Nation of Sheshatshiu wants to expedite its process of establishing a reserve for its community. These Marxist paradises are so bad that the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, during the election, called on the federal parties to expedite that process as well. Indeed, even the Prime Minister, to some credit, promised to proceed in a timely fashion on establishing the Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation. Unfortunately, this process has not been expedited in any way. It would put the Innu on the same legal footing as other first nations in Canada.

Friday before last, I attended the high school graduation in Sheshatshiu. It was a very special occasion. Too often we hear only negative news about aboriginal communities, but this was a good news story. It was one of the largest graduating classes in recent memory. Nearly the whole community joined in the celebration. There is a new emphasis on education in aboriginal communities like Sheshatshiu and it is paying dividends. Labrador Innu, Inuit and Métis youth are graduating from high school and going on to post-secondary education in growing numbers.

The Kelowna accord would have provided a further $1.8 billion in funding for education programs for aboriginal peoples in Canada. This was a commitment from the government and the people of Canada, not just a Liberal commitment. This is a commitment that the Conservatives have reneged on.

I worry as well about what this might mean for future graduating classes in the Innu communities of Sheshatshiu and Natuashish, in Inuit communities such as Rigolet or Makkovik, and in Métis communities like Cartwright, North West River or St. Lewis. We have to ask the question: will aboriginal students have the resources they need in the years to come under the Conservative government?

Last year, my first major speech in the House of Commons was on the bill to implement the Labrador Inuit land claim and self-government agreement. This agreement was over three decades in the making. Some people might think there is no progress, but I have seen progress and certainly have been a party to some of the progress made under the Liberal government. I am proud to stand here, I might add, as a Liberal and an aboriginal person. Not everything was right and not everything was perfect, but I am proud to stand here as a Liberal and an aboriginal person.

Three decades ago, it would have been unthinkable that aboriginal peoples would have had such a direct hand in resource development such as Voisey's Bay. It would have been unthinkable. We have been making some progress. It is foolish to think that all the hard work we have all put in has been for naught. It has not. We have made progress, we make to make more, and Kelowna offered that.

That is why it is so important that we move forward with this historic agreement. It is so important because the honour of the Crown, the honour of the Government of Canada and, I believe, the honour of the people of Canada is at stake.

It is almost like an intangible. Real progress comes when there is honour of the Crown and when the fiduciary obligation of the federal government and other levels of government is lived up to. Kelowna is important because of what was real and tangible to people at the community level, but this intangible of the honour of the Crown is also important.

I believe the honour of the Crown was breached by the Conservative government. Not only is it going to take some money for housing or water and sewers, it is going to take relationship building in order to achieve the real progress we need to make in aboriginal communities.

[Petitions, June 19th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to introduce a petition on behalf of my constituents in Forteau and L'Anse au Clair on the south coast of Labrador concerning the fishing industry which is going through a very difficult time and many people are facing an uncertain future.

The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to immediately institute fisheries adjustment measures, including early retirement benefits, economic diversification and other appropriate measures to help coastal communities and fisheries workers through this adjustment period.

[Petitions, June 16th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I also would like to present a petition on the aboriginal affairs file from my constituents. They are residents of Black Tickle, Cartwright, Sheshatshiu, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Mary's Harbour, Williams Harbour, Port Hope Simpson, Red Bay, Charlottetown, St. Lewis, North West River, Forteau and Lodge Bay. They call upon the Conservative government to honour the November 2005 Kelowna accord. I fully endorse their stance on this matter.

[Petitions, June 16th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to present a petition concerning the crisis in the fishing industry in Labrador. It is signed by numerous constituents in West St. Modeste, Capstan Island, Red Bay and L'Anse au Loup, which are fishing communities in the Labrador Straits. They petition the federal government to immediately bring in adjusted measures to deal with the crisis in the fishery, including retraining, early retirement and economic diversification. I fully support their position.

[Trans-Labrador Highway, June 16th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the member that the Liberals put $360 million into the Trans-Labrador Highway. We are building the highway there.

Premier Williams was also quoted as saying that the Prime Minister has committed to a fifty-fifty cost share for the Trans-Labrador Highway. Some commitment. It did not make it into the budget and the Minister of Transport says in writing that it does not even qualify for his measly infrastructure program.

The Labrador construction season will soon be over. Can the transport minister confirm that the Conservatives promised to cost share the Trans-Labrador Highway fifty-fifty? Will he keep his broken promise or are we just naive to think this in the first place?

[Trans-Labrador Highway, June 16th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, in an election letter to Premier Williams, the Prime Minister supposedly promised, “Yes, a Conservative government would support a cost-shared agreement to complete the Trans-Labrador Highway”.

The Trans-Labrador Highway was defined by the council of ministers responsible for transportation as the entire length from Labrador City to L'Anse au Clair, including phase III between Happy Valley-Goose Bay and Cartwright.

Can the transport minister confirm that by “complete” he means the construction of phase III and paving the entire Trans-Labrador Highway?

[Business of Supply, June 8th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are clear and they were again reiterated by National Chief Phil Fontaine yesterday. There was a deal.

One of the hon. members from the Conservatives asked if there was a signature page. The comment was also made that there was no signature page on the health accord, where we transferred $42 billion, but we transferred that money. For a Liberal, a handshake is as good as a signature on a page and that is what was done in Kelowna. The National Chief said so himself. When we make a deal with aboriginal people, we uphold our deal with aboriginal people and other Canadians.

The Kelowna accord offered so much for national organizations. We heard in the aboriginal affairs committee from groups like ITK, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Assembly of First Nations, and we are going to hear from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Métis National Council next week. These organizations already consulted with their members at the local community level, and drafted plans to implement and put into force what was in the Kelowna accord, to meet the objectives and targets that were set out in Kelowna.

The Conservative government, with the help of the NDP and the Bloc, just pulled the carpet out from under aboriginal people. We were left with nothing but our plans, with no fuel to invigorate them or make them meaningful for our aboriginal people at the community level.

There are numerous opportunities for aboriginal people in all parts of this country and in all sectors of this country, but we cannot do it without the resources. Aboriginal people know what is best for themselves and that is what the Kelowna accord offered, an opportunity for aboriginal people to implement and construct the plans necessary, stemming from their own priorities, and implementing them in a way that was culturally sensitive so that we could meet those targets.

This is an opportunity lost. It was an opportunity where we could have bridged that gap, particularly in the labour force and marketplace. It is a sad reflection of the Conservative government's vision for aboriginal people and other Canadians who need it.