Justin Trudeau takes pointed questions from Indigenous youth

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took some pointed questions from students at Oskayak High School in Saskatoon today about his government's commitmentto improve the living conditionsof Indigenous people in Canada.

"How do you, Justin, with all your politicians and representatives plan to right the wrongs ofthe past 22 elected prime ministers?" asked a young woman who wanted to know why the prime minister would allow Indigenous people to live in "Third Worldconditions."

Her question was met with loud applause fromfellow students gathered in the school gymnasium to hear Trudeau speak.

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TheFirst Nations community ofAttawapiskatdeclared a state of emergency earlier this month after several people, including many youth,tried to commit suicide. OtherFirst Nations communities in Ontario and across the country have also declared health emergencies sincethe beginning of the year.

"What we have to start doing is recognizing, first and foremost, that the federalgovernment can't fix this," Trudeau said on Wednesday. "We can't fix it on our own."

Trudeausaid thatactions taken by successive Canadian governments went "horribly wrong in its consequences," despite some "very well meaning" intentions.

"Quite frankly, as you point out,"Trudeausaid to the young woman, "this is a stain and a scaruponnot just on our sense of who we are and our morality as Canadians, but onthe kind of country we need to be building wherein everyone has a real andfair chance of success."

Trudeaureiterated his government's commitment to renewing the "nation-to-nation" relationship with Indigenous people in a spirit of "respect, openness and collaboration."

"Yes, the federal government has a lot of work to do but Indigenous Canadians have a lot of work to do as well, and doing it together in the same direction is going to be how we get through it," Trudeau said.

The new Liberalgovernment committed in its first budgetto invest $8.4 billion over five years to improve the lives of Indigenous people.

Trudeau told the students that investment is "just a start."

"It's a good start, but this is going to take many more years and many more billions of dollars to fix a relationship that has been broken for centuriesas you point out," Trudeau said before taking a few more questions about the deplorable living difficult conditions facing many Indigenous communities across the country.

The prime ministerarrived in Saskatchewan following a three-day federal cabinet retreat in Kananaskis, Alta., where news of Canadian John Ridsdel's death at the handsAbuSayyafmilitants in the Philippines dominated the agenda.

Earlier in the week, Trudeau gave a shout-out to entrepreneur Kendal Netmaker, the Aboriginal founder and CEO of Neechie Gear Inc. athletic clothing company in Saskatchewan.

NeechieGear was created five years ago as a University of Saskatchewan project and it blossomed into a brand and a businessNetmakerhas managed ever since graduation.

Trudeau is scheduled to meet with SaskatchewanPremier Brad Wall latertoday.