the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. He was the only Aboriginal member of the Government benches until Rob Clarke was elected on the byelections of March 17, 2008. In January 2007, he represented his government in signing a deal with Siemens that was designed to increase aboriginal employment. At the Assembly of First Nations General Assembly in Nova Scotia in July 2007, Bruinooge described the Paul Martin government's Kelowna Accord on aboriginal investment as nothing more than an "expensive press release". This statement was strongly criticized by Assembly of First Nations leader Phil Fontaine. In the same month, Bruinooge vocally supported the Harper government's efforts to place Canada's Indian Act under the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some native groups have argued that the Human Rights Act's focus on individual rights will undermine the communal rights of aboriginal communities. In January 2008, Bruinooge said that the Harper government was considering adapting provincial funding models in British Columbia and Alberta to address education and child-welfare programs in Manitoba. In the minutes after it was announced that the Order of Canada was being presented to abortion provider and pro-choice advocate Henry Morgentaler on Canada Day 2008, Rod Bruinooge called the award "Reprehensible". He was re-elected over Liberal candidate John Loewen in the 2008 federal election. Immediately after the election, Bruinooge turned down an offer to become Parliamentary Secretary for INAC, citing a desire to focus his attention on the riding and spend more time with his family. In December 2008, Rod Bruinooge was elected Chair of the Parliamentary Pro Life Caucus and was reported by the Canadian Press as stating that unborn children had less legal value in Canada than a human kidney. In a letter he submitted to National Post, he made this statement: "I have no choice but to advocate for the unborn and seek to have their value restored in my Canada. Our collective future depends on it." In February 2009, Bruinooge founded the Conservative Post-Secondary Education Caucus to which he was elected chair. In April 2013, Bruinooge led a Post-Secondary Education Caucus Delegation to Washington D.C., to meet with American leaders in Post-Secondary Education, including a visit to Georgetown University. Bruinooge is also vice-chair of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group and the Canada-Holland Friendship Group. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. In May 2011 Bruinooge defeated his Liberal opponent