44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 19, 2022 07:00AM
- Feb/19/22 9:51:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people are frustrated with this pandemic. People in Edmonton Griesbach and every single Canadian, including each of us here, has been impacted by this deadly and once-in-a-lifetime disease, whether because we have lost loved ones, as I have, or whether because of restrictions due to the public health measures enacted upon the advice of medical professionals. I know how hard and truly challenging these divisive times can be and continue to be.
At the beginning of all of this, Canadians showed the world what community looks like. Everyone mobilized to take care of each other and to keep each other safe. Neighbours were helping neighbours, friends were dropping off care packages, and teachers and community organizers were going above and beyond to keep children learning and to keep them safe.
Throughout this pandemic, we have endured much pain. Many have lost loved ones. Many have lost critical time with those important to them, but we are surviving it. I want to thank every single Canadian for their continued resilience. This is what Canada is. This is the story we must tell, because it is true. Let us not forgo the sacrifices of the many for the benefit of the few.
Canada is not perfect. As an indigenous person, I know this really well. However, Canada is a place where forces of good can thrive, so long as we continue to see the liberty of others as the liberty as oneself, do not use our freedom to put our neighbours in harm's way, and certainly do not use it to destroy our democratic institutions by way of force. Other people's freedom ends at the end of my nose.
Today and over the next few days, we will hear from Conservatives about the need to listen, about the sacrifices and the hardship, but let me speak directly to those members about some of the people in my community of Edmonton Griesbach who have truly sacrificed. These are not the individuals who had the opportunity to play in bouncy castles. These are not the individuals who had the opportunity to sit in a hot tub for two weeks. These are not the people who have spent the last three weeks outside on Wellington Street. They are not those who wish to use force to bring about policy change. They are not those seeking to intimidate and harm others.
They are, as a matter of fact, the people who put their masks on every day so that their neighbour who is immunocompromised does not die. These are the nurses, the doctors and the medical personnel in my community who have endured the worst of this medical emergency and continue to do so as we speak. These are the essential workers, including police right now, who have come in day after day to keep our services going and to keep Canadians going. These are the parents who have been struggling at home to do their work but to also teach when children could not go to school. These are the people who have had to choose between rent and food because the costs of groceries, bills, housing and unemployment have gone unaddressed by this failed Liberal government.
Colleagues, this is why we are in this circumstance. It is because of the Liberal government's failure to help people and to assist folks in these unprecedented and uncertain times. While the Conservatives and Liberals bicker amongst themselves, and the Bloc sits idle, protecting its narrow provincial objectives at the cost of Canadians and Quebeckers, it is New Democrats who are forced to be the responsible ones, tasked with fixing this crisis outside because of the government's delay, and holding this lacklustre and—
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- Feb/19/22 9:56:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley.
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- Feb/19/22 9:56:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government could have avoided this whole circumstance had it helped Canadians through this difficult time. Instead, it let inaction and partisanship guide it, and let those who sought to hurt our economy and our international reputation as Canadians by not acting sooner. All of this was done by the government, while Conservatives emboldened the occupiers, meeting with them as they stood shoulder to shoulder displaying Nazi and Confederate flags. The emergency we are facing was not a surprise.
Organizers such as Pat King, who was first listed as the Alberta organizer for Canada Unity, has a known history of white supremacy and has previously been seen on videos saying white people have the strongest bloodlines. When talking about COVID restrictions in December, just one month before the protest, he said, “The only way that this is going to be solved is with bullets.” As much as I disagree, and as much as I condemn the statements of Mr. King and believe them to be hate-motivated, I respect every group's right to peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, but what we have witnessed here and across the country is certainly not that.
As a matter of fact, I have been in many protests over the past decade, and I am a proud indigenous land defender myself. I am a true believer in public demonstration and community solidarity. It is absolutely fundamental and necessary to ensuring democracy, accountability and diversity of opinion in Canada.
That being said, it is clear that the situation across the country, in particular in my home province of Alberta, at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, and in Ottawa, should have never gotten to this point. There is a combination of ill forces that have contributed to this current crisis, such as the lack of proper leadership to combat disinformation in our country. Hate, racism and terrorism funding are undeniable facts of the situation and are some things anti-racism groups across our country have warned us against for years.
When we saw how fragile democracy was in the United States when the Capitol was attacked, we all thought it could not happen here. Here we are, three weeks into this, with hopes of finally restoring public order, which should have taken place a long time ago. We knew this was coming.
I am sure those who have engaged in peaceful assembly, such as myself, have noticed the extreme difference in the standard of policing for indigenous land defenders and for organizations such as the ones we are seeing right now. It has never taken the use of the Emergencies Act to have police forcefully remove land defenders, often with violence. It is an unfortunate precedent that already exists in our country. I mean to say that regardless of the Emergencies Act, indigenous people have been subject to state violence since the inception of Canada and its laws, and we need to tackle that issue. From the evidence today and yesterday, I am pleased to see that police can, in fact, enforce public order without the use of bullets, tear gas, chainsaws or axes. To the police, I know many others will be watching.
Over the past three weeks, Canadians have witnessed local and municipal police fail to uphold the most basic of bylaws and ordinances made to protect our economy, residents and transport corridors. Just last week, some members of the southern Alberta Coutts blockade were charged with conspiracy to murder RCMP officers after a weapons cache was found. It should never have gotten to that point. Armed violence and intimidation are not conducive to a free democracy, and instances such as this are likely in other parts of our country. I have heard from many Black, indigenous and other people-of-colour communities who are feeling scared right now. They are feeling intimidated for their immediate safety.
I have spoken to health care professionals in Edmonton Griesbach. Nurses, doctors and health care aides are feeling the same way. Hate toward frontline health care workers over the past few weeks has resulted in hospitals telling their own employees not to wear any identifiable health care clothes due to the rise in attacks. This is Canada, my friends. This is right now. This is today. A truly free democracy is one that does not allow discourse to take a back seat to intimidation and violence. This is not freedom. This is not Canada. It is clearly hate.
Lastly, without getting into the nuanced and complicated differences between Canadian civil rights guarantees and the rights of sovereign indigenous nations, please know that the use of the Emergencies Act does not in any way negate or dismiss indigenous people's rights and/or laws to access and occupy their own lands.
The reasons I have outlined here are why my NDP colleagues and I have decided to support these very limited measures under the Emergencies Act. They largely include the coordination of local enforcement, as noted by the interim Ottawa police chief, and powers to investigate foreign and domestic financial influences that are fuelling this hate-motivated occupation. My entire caucus and I believe in reasonable limits, which include the barring of any use of the Canadian Armed Forces, and the upholding and non-suspension of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It is with the utmost reluctance we do this for the betterment of our safety, for our country and for the survival of our democracy. We will be steadfast in monitoring these powers and have a clear path to revoke or, at any time, not support these powers that infringe on our civil rights and our democracy. The tool can never become the problem. Kinana'skomitina'wa'w.
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- Feb/19/22 10:04:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to extend my best wishes and support from Edmonton Griesbach to the members of his community for what they have endured. I know, from listening to constituents of mine, how difficult this has been with the disruptions in services, the issues at hospitals, the harassment, and just the overall safety and well-being of community members.
What we are facing is truly serious. I would hope that members of this chamber would see how serious it is, particularly for members of Black, indigenous and people-of-colour communities. What we are witnessing right now is truly different from how we interact with police. We understand it is different, and I know for a fact, from being on those front lines, how different it is. I think we have a lot more work to go, and I think there should be more accountability for police in this.
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- Feb/19/22 10:06:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have never in my entire life been a member of, or a participant in, or included myself in the advocacy toward overthrowing the country. I have never said that. I have never wanted to see Canada's democratic institutions overthrown with the use of violence to the point where they collapse altogether. That is uniquely different from what we are seeing here.
What we are seeing is the very explicit and stated purpose of overthrowing a democratically elected government, and having the force and means to do it. They have those means by way of financing around the globe, millions of dollars, and they have that by way of rifles. We saw that. These are two unique factors that I have never participated in.
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- Feb/19/22 10:07:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will try to be quick. There was a lot in there.
I have been involved in nation protection for the Métis people for a long time. Never in my life have I, in that role, protected through that nationalism defence the right to overthrow a democratically elected government. That is first and foremost.
The second part of the member's question related to what members should be doing right now. We have to take this issue very seriously, and we should be thinking of the state of our country as a whole.
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