44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2022 02:00PM
- May/4/22 8:37:48 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I will be honest: this debate can be extremely intimidating, especially as I am a girl from Sparta, Ontario. I have not been part of the communities where people are seeing this violence. However, I can thank my friend, the member for Winnipeg Centre, for teaching me and for sharing the story about her mom, because those are things that, each and every day, make me say I can do a lot better. I thank her very much for that.
I think, as we are looking at this, we need to be honest. We know there is so much intersectionality on what we are looking at. What would this member like to share with all members of Parliament, including me? What is the one piece of information I can take home today that will mean I can start making that change right now?
145 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/4/22 9:07:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, it is truly an honour to be standing in this House speaking on this. I have heard, especially when I speak of the member for Winnipeg Centre, passionate voices, and I am learning about these things. I would like to thank all of the members who have so far participated in tonight's debate because they are bringing so much genuine thought and care to this discussion. That is why tonight I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Calgary Nose Hill, to discuss the things we need to have genuine discussion about, such as murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. This is something we must focus on.
Throughout this pandemic, we have seen an absolute increase in violence against women. If we want to look at the statistics and want to be embarrassed, we should look at what those statistics are for indigenous women. The statistics are truly undeniable for people to disagree with or to not take into consideration. Indigenous women do face the highest levels of violence of any other women in this country. We need to recognize that. We need to say, “How can we do better?”
As the member mentioned earlier, we are doing a very important study at this time. It is a study where we can talk about what is happening in the resource sector. What can we do to make sure the lives of families and the lives of women and girls in those communities are better? What can we do to ensure that, when we are talking about human trafficking and sexual exploitation, when we are talking about the lack of resources and lack of supports for indigenous people in their communities and when we are talking about the intergenerational trauma, what is it that we can do to help? What can we do?
We know that indigenous-led and indigenous solutions are where we need to start. We have heard that from all of the members in here. It cannot be a top-down approach. It needs to be a time when we are looking at women who are facing extreme circumstances in their own homes. Sometimes, it is because of addictions. Sometimes it is abuse. We know from the past that so much healing needs to be done.
That is why I really am enjoying listening to this debate and listening to the members. I can feel that we are in a room where people actually care. People actually want to do something. I am hoping that the tone of this debate stays there. We can sit here and try to divide. We can try to wedge people. We can try to put in a question that might get a lot of likes on Twitter, but it is not going to help one single women or girl who needs that help in indigenous communities.
That is why I am speaking about this tonight. What can we do when we are talking about this? We need to talk about the intersectionality. We need to talk about things like the gender-based analysis, which we do talk about, and the gender, sex, age, citizenship and immigration status, income, and education, but, most of all, we need to talk about the location in Canada. The location in Canada is so important because, when we are talking about resources, we recognize that in rural and remote communities these resources may not be available. We are looking for shelters. We are talking about women having to get in a plane to fly to another community because they may not have any health care within their own communities. We are talking about an issue where we know that when they want to speak to the authorities, there is no trust. That is something that I have heard time and time again.
We need to work to rebuild that trust. That is why, as I am listening to this, I am hoping for a non-partisan approach where we are actually trying to do what is right for the women and girls who are indigenous. We are trying to improve, so I am very excited to participate in this debate today, and I am looking forward to the rest of it.
712 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/4/22 9:12:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I think those are some of the hardest questions I have been asked in the House of Commons in the last seven years. How do we do something that is so overwhelming?
We talk about elephants, and we talk about one bite at a time. However, I think we have to take direction from indigenous leaders and indigenous communities to say what that first bite is that we need to take.
We know that the government has stated that it is moving forward on things. I know that it is moving slowly, because we hear that. The member for Winnipeg Centre asked about where the money was, because we are not seeing it allocated.
We need to sit down and be accountable, transparent and do what is right with indigenous leaders.
133 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/4/22 9:14:08 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, the member is going to think that this is a very odd answer, but the other day when I was sitting in the status of women committee watching her speak about some of these things, I thought, “That girl and I need to go out and take charge.” That is how I feel on some of these things. I do not know exactly how we do it, but I do know that we need to work together, and we need to be there. We need to ensure that everybody is being listened to.
The trust issue, I think, is the number one issue that we have deal with because for years and for generations people have been told that things are going to be done, and they are still waiting. We need to see more movement on this, and I will do everything I can to be part of that movement.
155 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/4/22 9:15:35 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I believe that if one wants to learn how to cook, one goes into the kitchen. This is the same thing, and that is the way I want to approach it.
If I want to learn, I have to speak to the people who are living these lives each and every day. I need to be able see it, and then I will be able to ask, “What can I do?” That is just the way I work, and that is the way I will be moving forward.
92 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/4/22 9:16:53 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, when I look at the member's question along with the question prior from the NDP, I wonder what we should do with resource extraction. We need to make sure that everyone is held accountable, from the person working elsewhere to the people working within the community, so that social infrastructure is there. We know that populations increase and we need to make sure supports are there as well.
There are lots of things we need to do, but I think the most important thing is to drop the idea that dropping resource development is the solution. It is going to continue. Let us look at other things. I have asked people if they have walked into a frat house or a place with many people, and sometimes we see this mob mentality. We need to do more on that.
142 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
