April 18, 2008

Former PM still plugs for Kelowna deal

NUNATSIAQ NEWS

Paul Martin, the former prime minister, is finding surprising success in his one-man crusade to revive the defunct political commitment known as the Kelowna accord.

His private members' bill to reinstate the Kelowna accord passed the House of Commons last month and received second reading in the Senate earlier this month.

Martin, who still sits as member for the west-end Montreal riding of LaSalle- Émard, introduced the bill in 2006.

Because the upper chamber is dominate by Martin's fellow Liberals, it's expected to receive easy passage there, after which it will become law.

Martin appeared before the Senate standing committee on aboriginal peoples last week to explain his bill. This week, a long list of aboriginal representatives appeared before the same committee.

His bill would compel the government to implement the terms of the Kelowna accord and require the minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to issue a progress report on it for the next four years.

There's just one problem. Under the rules of Parliament, private members' bills may not be used to authorize the spending of public money.

But in an interview on CBC Newsworld last week, Martin lambasted Stephen Harper's Conservative government for ignoring the health and education needs that the Kelowna arrangements would have addressed.

"I don't understand how aboriginal people are not entitled to the same level of health care and education as other Canadians," Martin said.

The agreement known as the Kelowna accord arose out of a first minister's meeting held Nov. 24-25, 2005, at Kelowna, B.C. with the leaders of Canada's national aboriginal organizations.

After Martin's Liberal government went down to defeat in the 2006 federal election, the victorious Tories shelved most of the Kelowna commitments that Martin made on behalf of the federal government.

However, a deal between Ottawa and the three territorial government's to build $300 million worth of social housing was implemented by the Harper government.