Former prime minister Paul Martin is demanding that the Conservative government make a clear commitment to the aboriginal community by living up to the agreements made in the Kelowna accord.
INDEPTH: Undoing Kelowna
The Liberal MP tabled a private members bill in the House of Commons Friday to implement the plan.
Shortly before the campaign leading up to the Jan. 23 election, Martin, the premiers and aboriginal leaders met in Kelowna, B.C., for the first ministers conference on aboriginal affairs.
The meeting resulted in a five-year, $5-billion plan to improve the lives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.
'We have consulted long enough. We have studied enough. The time has come for the government to act.'-Liberal MP Paul Martin
But the first Tory budget made no mention of the accord. Martin criticized the Stephen Harper government for not confirming funds necessary to meet the goals for the accord.
He asked why the government, which says it agrees with the objectives of the accord, won't take advantage of a plan that was developed over 18 months by a number of experts.
"We have consulted long enough. We have studied enough. The time has come for the government to act," Martin said.
Martin called on the Harper government to "rise above partisanship" and support the bill.
But Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice questioned whether an actual agreement was reached. He said there was no signed document by the premiers and territorial leaders titled the Kelowna accord.
Prentice said no consensus was reached on how the money would be spent or how it would be divided.