I rise to inform the House about the meeting of federal-provincial/territorial ministers responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and the leaders of the five national Aboriginal organizations held in Ottawa on December 6 and 7.

At the conclusion of this conference, ministers and leaders directed officials to:

• establish a Working Group on the National Aboriginal Youth Strategy;

• explore measures to increase the participation of Aboriginal women in the economy;

• implement the recommendations of the Strengthening Aboriginal Participation in the Economy Report; and

• plan for a national business summit of government, Aboriginal and private sector representatives aimed at strengthening Aboriginal participation in the economy.

Leaders and ministers reaffirmed the importance of continued dialogue between Aboriginal organizations and governments to further improve the quality of life of Aboriginal peoples. We agreed to reconvene in May or June 2002 to pursue our common objectives.

The issues discussed at this conference mainly related to community capacity building, which was also an underlying theme of the Northern Ministers Development Conference I attended in La Ronge, Saskatchewan in late September. Clearly, educated, healthy, productive communities are better able to achieve their economic development goals.

Aboriginal participation in the economy, is in the national interest. It makes good financial sense and provides long-term value to the Canadian economy. Governments, Aboriginal people and the private sector must all work together to achieve this goal.

2001 12 12                  2:15 p.m.