Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, as the entire country knows it, is budget day for the liberals in Ottawa. There has been speculation that our federal government will have a balanced budget, with a possible surplus. This is, indeed, good news for us all. I would like to congratulate the Honourable Paul Martin for his guidance in achieving this. Over the past number of years, Canadians have suffered from budget cuts and belt tightening that most jurisdictions across our country have experienced and hopefully, this budget will give us all the rewards we expected.
During Sunday's brunch where Mrs. Blondin-Andrew and Andrew Mitchell spoke, both stressed that the north would get its fair share. I hope this will happen. We have heard over and over the need for more housing, better housing and lower rents for staff in remote communities and many other issues, hopefully, this budget will address.
I hope this budget addresses the recommendations put forward in the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples Report as suggested. The federal government has recognized the needs and the despair that our native people across the country live under.
Previous budgets have taken their toll on our people. Many areas of Canada have unsuitable housing, higher than average unemployment, lower than average education levels and very high incidents of social problems. In most cases, these are our native aboriginal Canadians. Our people need many things to live a normal life as the rest of Canada and I hope that Mr. Martin will address these very important issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause.