Editing Jim Prentice (section)

==Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development==
Prentice had been assigned the [[Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development]] in the [[39th Canadian Parliament|Conservative government]], and was sworn into this role on February 6, 2006, until August 13, 2007. One of his main challenges as Minister was to implement "The Nunavut Project," a 2006 report authored by [[Thomas R. Berger|Thomas Berger]], to show tangible, measurable results to increase [[Inuit]] representation in the Nunavut public services.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Jim |last1=Bell |url=http://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/berger_urges_big_bold_fix_for_inuit_educatio/ |title=Berger urges big, bold fix for Inuit education |work=[[The Nunatsiaq News]] |date=31 March 2006 |access-date=11 May 2018}}</ref>

===Kelowna Accord and residential schools===
In the fall of 2006, [[Phil Fontaine]], National chief of the [[Assembly of First Nations]], expressed disappointment over the Conservative government's refusal to honour the [[Kelowna Accord]], endorsed by 14 jurisdictions (the federal government, 10 provinces, and three territories). Fontaine previously described the federal government's point person on Kelowna, Jim Prentice, as an "honourable" person sensitive to native concerns. Prior to January 2006 election, Fontaine and two vice-chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations had a meeting with Prentice. "[Prentice] acknowledged all the hard work that went into Kelowna and (said) that the Conservative party would not put this aside," says Fontaine. "We took him at his word."<ref name="kelowna"/> Prentice did not recall saying that: "I've always been very, very careful about what I've said about Kelowna,"<ref name="kelowna"/> According to Fontaine, in their first meeting after the 2006 election, "(Prentice) wanted to apply a very focused approach to his responsibilities." In the federal budget of May 2006, Fontaine and other native leaders got a glimpse of what "focused" meant: just $450 million (over two years) was committed to implementing Kelowna, not the $1.64 billion for the first two years that [[Paul Martin]] had agreed to.<ref name="kelowna">
{{cite news
 |url=https://www.thestar.com/printArticle/154309
 |title=Just another empty white man's promise
 |publisher=The Toronto Star
 |access-date=2008-06-15
 |last=Urquhart
 |date=November 25, 2006
 |first=Ian
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008001515/http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/154309
 |archive-date=2012-10-08
}}
</ref>

Prentice argued that there was actually $3.7 billion in spending on native peoples in the May 2006 budget, "more than the previous four budgets in total." That figure includes $2.2 billion in compensation for victims of abuse in residential schools (another deal that was worked out with the previous government) and $300 million for off-reserve housing.<ref name="kelowna"/>

On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] thanked Jim Prentice for his work on addressing the matter of the [[Canadian residential school system|Indian residential schools]] and providing a government apology for the residential school system.  Stephen Harper's thanks to Prentice came before he made the apology to former students of the schools.<ref>Harper, Stephen J., "Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools" House of Commons Debates, Official Reports (Hansard) 39th Parl., 2nd Sess. (June 11, 2008) (Online) [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=hansard&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2#T1515]</ref>