Statement made on 21 June 2007 by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette
Hon. Céline Hervieux-Payette (Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, my question is
for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Growing poverty, deterioration
of infrastructure, contamination of drinking water sources, isolation and high
dropout rates are only some of the problems faced by the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.
A recent United Nations report
ranked Canada
48th out of 174 countries for its treatment of Aboriginal peoples. The UN
special rapporteur Rodolfo Stavenhagen views this situation as the most
pressing human rights issue faced by Canada.
The previous Liberal government had
taken action in this regard. An agreement was signed by the federal government,
the provincial and territorial governments and the Assembly of First Nations.
The agreement provided stable funding, which would have tackled these urgent
problems immediately and effectively.
On this National Aboriginal Day,
can the government assure us that the terms of the agreement entered into by
the various parties, and set out in writing in the Kelowna Accord, will form
part of the government's agenda and that very soon we will see a comprehensive
policy to alleviate the problems faced by Aboriginal peoples in this country?
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