The new chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples says he is looking forward to the challenge.
Yesterday, Ottawa resident and long-time police officer Vernon White was elected to take over from outgoing chair Gerry St. Germaine.
The Conservative was appointed to the Senate in January and came on board the Senate committee in September.
White says he is aware of northern Saskatchewan MP Rob Clarke’s recent bill to amend the Indian Act and knows his Senate committee may be called to look at it.
While he doesn’t want to presume the bill’s arrival, he says it must be treated carefully:
“Some would suggest the Indian Act should be gone. In fact, I’ve heard people say that to me since I’ve been in the Senate. But, realistically, I think we just have to have discussions around what changes we need to make to the Indian Act and make it more relevant to those that it is supposed to be relevant to, first and foremost, which are Aboriginal people in Canada — in particular, First Nations. So, I’m always looking forward to opportunities to change something for the better, so we’ll have to wait and see what that looks like.”
White adds he spent many years working with Aboriginal people in the Arctic, and he feels that experience will help him immensely on the job.