Discussion · Government Orders
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Québécois
“This bill is a step backward and ignores work we already did. The government's funding promises are unrealistic. We lost a year that could have been spent fixing First Nations water systems and training workers. It took decades of reports to show the government failed to deliver clean drinking water. I want to hear the member's thoughts on this.”
“Mr. Speaker, meegwetch to the member for Edmonton Northwest. It was refreshing to have him here and at the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, where I had the chance to sit with him for a little while. Let us talk about Bill C-37. Obviously, a great deal of work had been done on Bill C-61, yet what we are seeing now is a step backward on the part of the government. All things considered, I find there is something naive about the government telling us it is going to provide funding. How does my colleague view this naivety? Does he feel that we have lost a year, a year during which those funds could have been invested in concrete solutions for first nations and in building the expertise and workforce needed to properly manage drinking water systems? Should it also not have taken years and years of reports from the Auditor General, over the course of virtually decades, before this government’s failure to fulfill its responsibilities regarding safe drinking water for first nations was finally called into question? I would like to hear my colleague’s thoughts on that.”
Mr. Speaker, meegwetch to the member for Edmonton Northwest. It was refreshing to have him here and at the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, where I had the chance to sit with him for a little while. Let us talk about Bill C-37. Obviously, a great deal of work had been done on Bill C-61, yet what we are seeing now is a step backward on the part of the government. All things considered, I find there is something naive about the government telling us it is going to provide funding. How does my colleague view this naivety? Does he feel that we have lost a year, a year during which those funds could have been invested in concrete solutions for first nations and in building the expertise and workforce needed to properly manage drinking water systems? Should it also not have taken years and years of reports from the Auditor General, over the course of virtually decades, before this government’s failure to fulfill its responsibilities regarding safe drinking water for first nations was finally called into question? I would like to hear my colleague’s thoughts on that.