Friday, March 15, 2002 Mr. Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the consultation process on the first nations governance has been a failure since day one. The leadership of the AFN boycotted the process and hardly anybody came to the first rounds of hearings. Now we hear that, in an effort to get some bodies out, individuals have been offered financial incentives to attend these hearings. Worse yet, groups have been threatened with having their funding cut if they refuse to co-operate. Just how much money has the government spent on this sham of a consultation process and is it true that individuals and groups are being bribed and/or blackmailed to take part in the consultations? Mr. John Finlay (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as my colleague was present at the committee meeting yesterday, he knows we dealt with the matter regarding a couple aboriginal women's groups that came before us and indicated that there were problems on the reserves. I think my hon. member would do well to study some of these rather than cast aspersions.
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