Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the government’s closure to the public of the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada office in Winnipeg without an appointment: (a) what is the government’s rationale for no longer allowing access to general public without a prior appointment; (b) how many clients

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to the 10-year grant funding mechanism announced by the Minister of Indigenous Services on December 6, 2017: (a) how many First Nations provided a written expression of interest by the July 13, 2018, deadline; (b) how many First Nations have met the eligibility criter

Questions on the Order Paper  With regard to funding for the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework: (a) for what will funding be utilized, broken down by item; and (b) what is the percentage and total of the funding that will be utilized for administrative costs?

Poverty Reduction Act  Mr. Speaker, the minister talked about senior poverty rates. As I understand the data, it is actually identical to when we took office. The one thing that I have not seen is a reduction in the poverty rates for seniors. I also find it absolutely stunning that the government has

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech with great interest. I am going to focus on part 1 of the bill, which is with respect to the land and water boards. The devolution agreement allowed for them to be collapsed into one. The land agreements with the different commun

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-88, an act to amend the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the Canada Petroleum Resources Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts. Before I get into the details of the bill, it is important to look at the cont

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the Liberals did actually support Bill C-15, which is what they are now backtracking on, so I want to make that important note. The Liberals love to say that the economy and the environment go together and they are going a great job on both.

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to note that the NDP also voted for Bill C-15, so it was a pretty straightforward Northwest Territories devolution bill. The NDP members love to say that we did not care about the environment and that our environmental bills created undue

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, as I understand it, and I could be corrected on this, both within the devolution agreement and the agreements, the opportunity to allow for the creation of one board was well within the structure of those agreements. I could stand to be corrected on that particular a

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, that brings up a really great point. First of all, it is absolute insult to northerners when the Prime Minister is down in the United States making a significant decision, and not only had they not been consulted, but they basically had maybe 20 minutes to get their

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, I cannot imagine Christmas holidays at the house of my colleague from Northwest Territories. When the moratorium was imposed on offshore drilling, his brother, who is the premier, was absolutely outraged. The member talks about the importance of having that conversa

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, at the end of his speech, he said the Liberals would be creating a more efficient system. The reason Bill C-15 amalgamated the boards was based out the McCrank report, which had indicated some significant issues in efficiency, capacity and ability to do things. There

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Madam Speaker, I am going to go to part A of the bill. I am not sure if the member is aware, but the report done by McCrank says, “the current regulatory processes in the Northwest Territories are complex, costly, unpredictable and time consuming.” To amalgamate while respecting

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Madam Speaker, frequently the Liberals in their speeches have talked about the importance of consultation and engagement and working together in partnership. I wonder how my colleague would describe the Prime Minister, while he was in Washington, making a grand statement about a

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act  Mr. Speaker, the member for Chilliwack—Hope brought up a very important observation. The government talks about having consultation after consultation, but when it considers a project that is going to actually help first nations and indigenous peoples, it does not seem to ask the