Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, in addition to those capital funds we talked about, each year our government provides operation and maintenance funding to ensure first nations systems continue to run safely and in optimal condition throughout their lifespan. In order to help communities build capacit

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, on October 14, 2014, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and the Minister of Health launched engagement with first nations and other stakeholders to develop regulations under the act. Phase one is under way in the Atlantic, Northwest Territories and Yukon regions. ANSI

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, first, I would like to thank the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, a strong member of our aboriginal affairs committee, a proud member of the Plains Cree Nation and former member of the RCMP who has great experience working in first nation communities. I

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, not only will CHARS benefit the scientific community in Canada, and indeed internationally, it will support the local economy and generate service contracts and employment in that region. It is estimated that the construction phase alone will generate up to 150 jobs a

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I appreciate the member's interest in CHARS, as he mentioned, as an educator. Obviously, this sort of science and technology infrastructure will benefit students like his former students for generations to come. The CHARS Act will repeal the Canadian Polar Commission

Business of Supply  First, Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the member for Red Deer, a strong supporter of our sovereignty, certainly a strong member of our aboriginal affairs committee, and a strong advocate for economic opportunity for aboriginal people. To get back to his question, the Canadian

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, it is an important study of which the member has been a key part. We have heard from aboriginal stakeholders from across the country and from aboriginal financial institutions, who are all talking about some of the challenges in accessing capital on reserve and some of

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I would first like to thank the member for Brampton West for his work on the aboriginal affairs committee. He has certainly been a key member of the study on access to capital, using his vast experience in law to get to the heart of the issues and really lead the way f

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the member is quite correct. Building on a previous investment of $9 million from economic action plan 2013, economic action plan 2015 invests a further $30.3 million over five years to encourage additional first nations to join the regime. It is anticipated that t

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, 14 first nations across Canada participated in the first nations finance authority inaugural bond of $90 million, as the member referenced. The proceeds of the bond are financing much needed infrastructure on reserve and refinancing existing costly bank loans. The c

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, our economic action plan 2013 invested $241 million over four years in new funding to help first nations youth obtain personalized skills training and a job, because, unlike the opposition parties, our government knows that the greatest assistance we can provide as a g

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the chair of the aboriginal affairs committee. He has recently been appointed to that role and has certainly excelled at it. We are happy to have him as a member of the committee. Certainly this government has implemented a number of programs tha

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the strategic partnerships initiative makes investments to address key priorities, such as encouraging engagement between first nations, industry and the government, as well as providing jobs and skills training to prepare first nations for the labour market. The progr

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, from various self-government to comprehensive land claims agreements, to the First Nations Land Management Act, our government has taken strides to provide first nations with greater autonomy. This work has yielded great success through the first nations land managem

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act included in the Northwest Territories Devolution Act implements obligations under land claim agreements between Canada and the Gwich'in, the Sahtu Dene and Métis, and the Tlicho respectively. It creates a single co-manage re