Hon. Sandra Lovelace Nicholas:

Honourable senators, on Tuesday, a colleague stood up to speak about the almost tearful Phil Fontaine, Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, when he spoke on the budget and the lack of funding for Aboriginals. To my dismay, some senators laughed. This is no laughing matter. Let me tell you why, honourable senators. It is called empathy in your language. In my language, there is no word for empathy because it is understood.

 Honourable senators, my people opened up their hearts in welcome to the newcomers of this country. My ancestors taught them to hunt, to fish and how to survive the brutal winters. In return, they were, and still are, treated with disdain.

We have come a long way, and yet governments show once again how they feel about First Nations. The wonderful budget so many people are talking about did not even mention First Nations, or the poorest of the poor — Aboriginal women.

Honourable senators, my people ask: "What can I do?" I tell them to write letters. They cannot write letters because literacy programs have been cut, and many of my people still do not write.

The poorest of the poor, Aboriginal women, ask: "What can we do?" Many cannot write letters, let alone afford to buy the paper or the stamp.

First Nations were not even given a bone in this budget. They could not even chew on the bones, since the health of First Nations has been affected because of health and dental programs that have been cut.

Honourable senators, my people feel they are invisible to this government. In this great country of ours, the government does not know what empathy means when it comes to First Nations people.

Honourable senators, I ask that you bring back dignity to my people by honouring the Kelowna accord.

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