Fontaine 'hopeful' after pre-budget meeting with PM, premiers

The head of the Assembly of First Nations emerged from a meeting Thursday night with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's premiers saying he was "hopeful" the Jan. 27 federal budget will include a substantial stimulus package for aboriginal communities.

"I'm leaving here this evening quite hopeful that there will be fairness in the budget," AFN national chief Phil Fontaine said after the two-hour dinner meeting in Ottawa, where he joined Harper, the premiers and other aboriginal leaders to discuss a national economic stimulus plan.

He said Harper discussed the importance of the landmark apology he offered last June to former students of the federally financed, church-run Indian residential schools, which were designed to force aboriginal people to assimilate into the country's dominant culture.

"He talked about the apology and what [it] meant to many Canadians, including himself," Fontaine said. 

Earlier in the day, Fontaine called for the federal government to provide a $3-billion stimulus package over the next two years to finance a range of projects in aboriginal communities, including in critical areas such as housing, education and safe drinking water.

He noted his organization and other aboriginal groups have not forgotten the Conservative government's scrapping of the $5-billion Kelowna Accord drafted in 2005 by the former Liberal government of Paul Martin.

"The First Nations stimulus plan is certainly affordable, it's practical and it would be good for Canada," Fontaine told CBC News earlier in the day. "It's also about fixing some serious problems in our communities."

Fontaine also called for a $1-billion repayable loan fund to support private sector partnerships.

"This is repayable and Canada would see some significant returns," he said.

Aboriginal leaders a 'key part' of pre-budget talks: Strahl

The AFN says First Nations across the country are in need of 87,000 new housing units, and another 44,000 need repairs. Some 40 communities have no schools, and many more need their schools updated. More than 80 communities have no access to safe drinking water.

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl has said native housing, new schools and skills training are targets for a job-creation package to be included in the budget.

He wouldn't provide an estimate of how much aboriginal communities are to receive, but said there will be money specifically set aside for aboriginal projects.

Strahl said the government has done an "unprecedented" amount of consultation with all communities and industries, noting that both he and the prime minister have held numerous individual meetings with aboriginal leaders.

"Certainly, any time that you can develop a plan that's good for Canada is good for aboriginal people as well," Strahl told CBC News.

"I think they'll be a key part of it, and certainly we've solicited their input and it's been very good."

Fontaine's appeal came hours after provincial and territorial leaders presented the prime minister with a lengthy wish list of new infrastructure projects to stimulate their economies during two days of pre-budget consultations.

In 2007, the Harper government announced money for infrastructure projects under the Building Canada Fund, but nothing was built because projects got bogged down in red tape.