Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee   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

Ethics  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's Office did absolutely the right thing by turning these allegations over to the Commissioner of Lobbying, the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner and the RCMP. I have never met with Mr. Carson regarding the H20 Global Group. My staff me

Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to Bill C-3, Gender Equity in Indian Registration Act and explain why I encourage all members of the House to join me in supporting it. Bill C-3 proposes to accomplish two objectives. First, this legislation would

Privilege  Mr. Speaker, I rise today on a question of privilege in regard to a disturbing event that took place yesterday in my office at the Confederation Building. The stunt was orchestrated by the NDP member for Churchill. It was what I would call a very serious breach of trust among t

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to achieving a fair and lasting resolution to the legacy of Indian residential schools. The Indian residential school settlement agreement is court directed and agreed to by multiple parties, including legal counsel for former students

Natural Resources  Mr. Speaker, there is a normal process involved in getting to the order in council. It is in process. The member can expect an announcement in the coming weeks.

Aboriginal Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the Indian Act is a barrier to the success of many first nations, which is why we support in principle the private member's bill that proposes concrete, incremental steps to create the conditions for healthier, more self-sufficient first nations communities

Business of Supply   as the Gwich'in and Sahtu land claims agreements, and respond to calls for measures to streamline and improve regulatory processes in the north. The bill is currently being studied by the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. Amendments to the land designation

Indian Oil and Gas Act   manage their own affairs. The oil and gas sector represents a source of promising economic development opportunities for first nations. The Government of Canada, through its special operating agency Indian Oil and Gas Canada, currently manages over 1,000 oil and gas producing wells

Indian Affairs  . government ads which led to complaints. This resulted in the provincial aboriginal affairs minister's withdrawing the ads because they were inaccurate and misleading. Will the minister follow the lead of his provincial counterpart and do the honourable thing by rescinding and withdrawing

The Environment  Mr. Speaker, the member is quite correct. Where is the issue? Any plans for exploration or development would have to include measures to mitigate environmental impacts in a way that would protect the conservation values of the proposed national wildlife area. Everything is as it

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I do agree with one thing the member said. It would be nice if we had some intelligent debate in this place because we are certainly not getting it from the NDP. I would like to remind people that, in its policy manual, the NDP said that it would like to improve th

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you very much. I realize how much Monsieur Lemay likes my presence—

First Nations  Mr. Speaker, we recognize the bill tabled by the Bloc member today. We have no idea when or if it will be debated in this place. The government does understand the importance of education for first nations. We are committed to improving it in partnership with first nations, the

First Nations  Mr. Speaker, we have done more than our share on first nations education. We are working in tripartite arrangements. We are working to improve K to 12. We are working on post-secondary education. We came to an agreement on First Nations University of Canada. We are doing everyth