Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the new Conservative leader on his first speech in this role in the chamber. I also want to say, on behalf of all New Democrats and hopefully everyone in the House, how pleased we are to see him in good health and that we wish the very best for his family.
Today I am wearing orange because we are recognizing the residential school survivors of Canada. I want to take this opportunity to recognize my husband, who spent a large part of his childhood in two different residential schools and has many very sad stories to share, and a lot of that are realities in our lives together that we face as a family.
I have a concern and I would love to hear from the member on this. When Stephen Harper was in government, and I would remind everyone that the member was a minister of that government, the former aboriginal affairs department, which was there at the time to deliver all the services to indigenous communities, held back about $1 billion of social spending between 2010 and 2015. When I look at the history of this country and the realities today, the Liberals can take a fair share with their challenges and lack of action. However, I wonder how any indigenous community can trust the member in a role in this country when that money was taken. I think about what that $1 billion could have done over that five years to help alleviate the desperate concerns in those communities.