Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act  Madam Speaker, my question for a fellow committee member, and a very enlightened representative on the committee, also deals with the mandate that the Cree government will have under the bill, which is much of its legislation will be allowed to meet or exceed provincial or federal standards.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to appeal to you regarding being cut off after two sentences of my S.O. 31, otherwise known as statements by members. Mr. Speaker, I believe you said that personal attacks were not allowed during our S.O. 31 statements. I think that if you examine my words, you will find that what I said were statements of fact, not as you described.

Aboriginal Healing Foundation  Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I am pleased to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2008 Annual Report of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation .

Yukon Land Claims and Self-Government Agreements  Madam Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2003-04 annual report of the Yukon Land Claims and Self-Government Agreements.

House debate  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the question from the hon. member for Labrador. I am quite surprised by this question. Our government is deeply engaged in a relationship with the Métis, and we are committed to concrete actions. Last year our government signed the historic Métis nation protocol, an important partnership agreement with the Métis National Council to improve the lives of Métis.

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply  Mr. Speaker, I am back. I was here for the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th Parliaments and now I am back for the 40th. I missed the last Parliament. It feels very good to be back. I had a long apprenticeship on the opposition benches and now I am back with the government. I want to thank the people of Vancouver Island North, my campaign team, my family and everyone back home who had so much to do with keeping the Conservative Party label and my campaign in full mode for a long period of time.

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, the member opposite should know that those estimates include some deferrals. The main reason for that difference is some movement and transfer of moneys from this fiscal year to next the fiscal year to deal with the issue of the mid-shore patrol vessels. I would like to add that as of yesterday the industry was notified that we would be continuing with the procurement of the mid-shore patrol vessels.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I actually thought we were in adjournment proceedings and that I would be responding to a question that had been asked days earlier, not today, and not new questions. Therefore, I will comment very briefly. I was at the same committee meeting today and based on the interpretations I just heard from the hon. member opposite, it would seem that we heard two different things.

House debate  Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to the question from the member for Winnipeg South Centre. I would like to add my regards to Mr. David Matas, a man I have met and respect greatly. Our government has a strong record of supporting and advancing aboriginal rights at home and abroad.

Budget Implementation Act, 2009  Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member for Burnaby—Douglas quite closely. He was talking about the same province I am from, British Columbia. I live in a riding that has had a lot of job loss. There is a very significant forestry community there. Our job losses do not make headlines in the same way as some of the job losses in other parts of the country.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's nice to see everybody here again. Thank you very much for your testimony. First of all, I would really like to thank the members, particularly of the APC, for the hard work you've done on behalf of all the first nations in Canada. When I was briefly aboriginal affairs critic, we heard from AFN about the hard work you're doing, and you're to be commended—especially for bending over backwards in your consultation, which doesn't always happen.

Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement  Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2005-2007 annual report of the implementation committee on the Gwich'in comprehensive land claim agreement.

Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement  Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2004-05 annual report of the implementation committee on the Sahtu Dene and Métis comprehensive land claim agreement. Under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2005-2007 annual report of the implementation committee on the Sahtu Dene and Métis comprehensive land claim agreement.

Inuvialuit Final Agreement  Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2005-2007 annual report of the Inuvialuit final agreement implementation coordinating committee. Under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2004-05 annual report of the Inuvialuit final agreement implementation coordinating committee.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We first became interested in election reform in October of 2008, when we passed a resolution asking the minister to amend the term of office under the Indian Act election system from two years to four years. As we continued to discuss this change, both amongst ourselves and with what was then the Department of Indian Affairs, we realized that the Indian Act election system had other fundamental weaknesses that needed to be addressed.