Public Accounts committee  Thank you for that. You're right: The word “co-development” is a challenging space because this has never been tried before. Never in the history of this country has a law been developed with indigenous peoples, and I would imagine that there will be lots of different perspective

Public Accounts committee  —I look forward to the—

Public Accounts committee  My response is that I have worked very closely with first nations through this process, and I will continue to endeavour to consult with indigenous leaders who wish to be part of this process.

Public Accounts committee  What I can say is that the communities that still remain with long-term drinking water advisories all have either construction on the go or projects that are complete, and a very few are working on what is an appropriate solution for them. What I can also say is that the fiscal c

Public Accounts committee  We are there with those tools, and that commitment is a long-term commitment.

Public Accounts committee  No. I said nothing of the sort. In fact, what I have said is that what has been a failure of this government—the Canadian government is what I mean—is ongoing imposition of colonial approaches to community functioning. This country was formed.... Listen, in my opening statement—

Public Accounts committee  —I acknowledged the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin people. This means that land was taken from indigenous people. Children were taken from indigenous people. Power was taken from indigenous people, and resources were taken from indigenous people. This Libe

Public Accounts committee  First of all, I want to thank the Treaty 8 chiefs myself. I have met with them a number of times on water and on many other issues. In fact, I would agree that the Treaty 8 chiefs have often given me the history lessons that I need to understand not just Treaty 8 issues and histo

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much for the question. I think your list of Auditor General's reports that speak to the ongoing challenge of indigenous people in a systemically oppressive colonizing system is a fair question. What I would say is that, under our federal government, we have put re

Public Accounts committee  Thank you very much, MP Bradford, for that question. I would say, yes, the progress needs to be maintained. I would say that I have confidence, with a government that understands the importance of equity for first nations community functioning, in maintaining that progress. I wo

Public Accounts committee  In most cases, I would say that first nations are in control of their water systems, with various degrees of support and external resources to provide that support. In some communities that are very small, one of the challenges is having water operators who can provide the ongoin

Public Accounts committee  That target is developed with first nations people. Let me tell you what José-Tomás Arriola, the clinical supervisor at Kiuna College, said about targets: ...Kiuna College looks beyond numbers and statistics to measure success.... Our students tell us that after studying at K

Public Accounts committee  —I'm very proud of the work the department has done to listen to first nations people on how to do this properly, respectfully and in a way that lifts people up.

Public Accounts committee  What I would say is that I would go back to the statements of first nations people, because again, and with due respect, this government believes that we don't do things to first nations, as has been done through many iterations of the federal government, but rather we do things

Public Accounts committee  Then maybe you will accept, MP Vidal, the statement of Denis Gros-Louis, the director general of the First Nations Education Council, who said: It's a source of pride, and it leads young people to grow alongside their cousins from other first nations. All the culturally appropr