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House Hansard - 197

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 15, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 197 - May/15/23
Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)
  • May/15/23 3:55:02 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-45 
Uqaqtittiji, I do enjoy working with the hon. member at the indigenous and northern affairs committee. Regarding Bill C-45, as first nations begin to move toward financial independence, it does not mean that governments are alleviated from their obligations to meet the needs of first nations communities. I wonder if the member agrees with me that while we move toward that, governments will always have obligations to meet the needs of first nations communities.
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Context: House Hansard - 197 - May/15/23
Mr. Jaime Battiste
  • May/15/23 3:55:39 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-45 
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Nunavut sits with me on the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs and is a very important member of that committee. I agree with her fully that this does not release the government in terms of its fiduciary obligations to first nations communities. What this gives to communities are tools to get outside of the Indian Act. One of the shirts that I often see when I go to powwows with my son is a shirt that says “Burn sage, sweetgrass and the Indian Act”. What our government is doing is pivoting from the Indian Act to giving communities options they can opt out of, fully with their own systems, fully with their own autonomy. Our eventual goal is to make sure that we focus on the valuable work that we need to do and the UNDRIP Act, and to make sure that all government departments are consistent with that. I would like to thank the member for her hard work in making sure that we got Bill C-45 where it is today.
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