Quotable Quotes: 

(The Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada)

"The fact is 52% of aboriginal Canadians now live in cities and the federal government under its guise has no jurisdictional responsibility. I think we have to set that aside. Look, I don't want to get involved in the question of jurisdiction. I don't think that because 52% of aboriginals live in cities that the federal government should wash their hands. We want to make sure young aboriginals are getting education, the health care is there, we want to make sure when they make the transition to the cities that, in fact, it can happen. Well, I've talked to too many young aboriginals who come from northern Saskatchewan or British Columbia all of a sudden to Regina or to Winnipeg or Vancouver, and they talk about that transition and say there's nobody there to help us and get us settled. So I'm going to make sure that happens. (Prime Minister Paul Martin, CBC News, February 4, 2004)

"There is one aspect of Canadian society, one aspect of our history, that casts a shadow over all that we have achieved. The continuing gap in life conditions between aboriginal and other Canadians is intolerable. It offends our values and we cannot remain on our current path. With our partners, we will tackle head-on the particular problems faced by the increasing number of urban aboriginals and Métis. We will not allow ourselves to be caught up in jurisdictional wrangling, passing the buck and bypassing their needs (Hon. Paul Martin, Hansard, February 4, 2004)"

"Does the federal government have jurisdiction when Aboriginals move to larger cities? Well let me tell you something. I don't know who has jurisdiction but I know that we have a massive moral responsibility to help the people who have moved and we have a massive moral responsibility to help [them stay]. (The Hon. Paul Martin, Edmonton, AB, May 3, 2003)"