Thread by @SeamusORegan

Opposition parties have a duty to hold the government to account.

But be honest about it. And base it on the facts.

Niki Ashton does neither in this piece: thestar.com/opinion/contri…

Since we formed government, we have fundamentally transformed the relationship between Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Don’t get me wrong — we’ve got a lot more work to do.

But we’ve come a long, long way since 2015.

So, let’s go through this:

$21.4 billion of new funding for Indigenous peoples — the most ever by any government in Canadian history.

aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1553716166…

86 long-term drinking water advisories lifted on reserve, with 57 still to go.

We’re on track to eliminate all of them by March 2021 — just as we said we would — so that every community has access to safe, clean drinking water.

sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1506514143…

We also *prevented* 126 short-term drinking water advisories from becoming long-term advisories by acting quickly and working with communities.

canada.ca/en/indigenous-…

We finally started funding Indigenous children’s education at the same level as non-Indigenous children — that’s 107,000 First Nations kids on-reserve.

Plus, we’re funding language and cultural programs, full-time kindergarten and special education.

canada.ca/en/indigenous-…

We’re putting control of Indigenous child and family services back where it belongs — in the hands of each community. We passed a law to make sure of it, a law we co- developed with Indigenous groups. And we’ve doubled the funding for it.

canada.ca/en/indigenous-…

We approved 240,000 requests under Jordan's Principle for health, social, and educational services for First Nations children.

Before 2015, that number was 0.

canada.ca/en/indigenous-…

And to help Inuit children have access to better health, social and educational supports, we created and funded the new Inuit-specific Child First Initiative.

canada.ca/en/indigenous-…

16,000 housing units are either being built or being renovated on-reserve, right now.

At the same time, we’re developing specific housing strategies for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

canada.ca/en/office-infr…

We’re building on the success of Métis small and medium-sized businesses by giving increased support to the Métis Capital Corporations.

In fact, we’re supporting Indigenous economic development across the board.

aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1553716166…

52 new Mental Wellness Teams serving 344 First Nations communities, and support for the Inuit-led National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy.

sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1553090854…

This isn’t a one-off. In fact, these investments in Indigenous communities will continue to grow to more than $17 billion in 2021-22 - an increase of nearly 50% from 2015-2016 when we formed government.

budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan…

Reconciliation will not happen overnight.

But we are focused on it. We are committed to it.

And, we will press on.

Because this is too important.

Because when Indigenous peoples succeed, Canada succeeds.

Because we’re all in this together. 🇨🇦