44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2022 02:00PM
- May/4/22 3:38:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, John William Bosley passed away last Thursday. He was the 31st Speaker of the House of Commons.
On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I would like to offer my condolences to his wife Mary and daughter Yanette, his family and friends, and members of his political party.
Mr. Bosley was elected in 1979 as a member of the opposition, and he was re-elected in 1984 and 1988 as a member of the Progressive Conservative government of the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney. In 1984, Brian Mulroney placed his trust in him by appointing him Speaker at the age of 37. At the time, he was the second-youngest person to hold that position.
He presided over the House for two tumultuous years before resigning. I remember the speech he gave on that occasion, lamenting the indiscipline in the House. He feared that this indiscipline would erode public respect for the institution. Looking back, it may be worth asking if his message should be heeded today.
It is interesting to note that Mr. Bosley was the very last Speaker to be appointed by a prime minister. He presided over the very first election of a Speaker, his successor. This responsibility is now assigned to the dean of the House, and I have had the honour of taking on this task for the past five years.
I am the only sitting member of Parliament to have had the privilege of serving alongside him in 1984 when he was Speaker of the House. I remember him as an intelligent, cultured and compassionate person. He was passionate about finance and about order and discipline. He was personally disciplined but also disciplined in his interactions with his colleagues and in his role as Speaker.
I thank John for the many years he devoted to public life. May he rest in peace.
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- May/4/22 6:52:03 p.m.
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I want to remind members that, if they want to have conversations or if they have questions and comments, then they will have to wait until the appropriate time. Unfortunately, during PMB, it is only the first speaker who gets questions and comments. If members have questions and comments, they might want to go to the member who did the speech after the fact. That would work better to ensure that we can all hear what is being said in the House.
Resuming debate, the hon. member for Calgary Shepard has the floor.
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- May/4/22 8:22:55 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that impactful speech.
I am aware of what is happening because indigenous women in my riding, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, are experiencing the same thing. Women are still disappearing in Val-d'Or. Sometimes they are found, sometimes not. How can this still be going on? I cannot understand it.
We know the government is not doing anything. It is not walking the talk, as they say, nor is it listening to what indigenous women and communities want. I would like my colleague to tell me what she thinks of this government's response to everything that happened with the national inquiry into indigenous women and girls.
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- May/4/22 9:44:07 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the member for her passion and thoughtful speech.
I wonder if she would like to identify some specific policy changes that she would suggest that the government could consider in terms of addressing this problem, given the ongoing nature of the problem. Could she could propose any specific ideas that the government should be doing differently to respond to it?
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- May/4/22 9:46:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I respect my hon. colleague's work in this House.
I specifically joined the Liberal Party of Canada to have these conversations, to be a voice and empower those voices, not only from my local community here but from coast to coast to coast, as well as critical organizations such as the Native Women's Association of Canada. There are many times when those voices are shut out of these processes, which is part of that systemic racism we continue to see. It is ongoing.
I certainly did not use my time in my speech to sing the praises of the work that has been done; we have that commitment now. I see that with the members in the House speaking together. We are united in this. I want them to know that the government I am a part of, in the conversations that we have, is absolutely committed to righting the wrongs. I would not be here if I did not believe that.
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- May/4/22 10:14:45 p.m.
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The hon. member may be able to complete some of her speech during questions and comments.
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake.
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- May/4/22 10:56:46 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I think the hon. member's speech was great. It has been interesting to sit here during this debate and hear all the empathy and understanding that apparently seems to be quite common about the realities and experiences of first nations, Métis and Inuit.
Unfortunately, we are not hearing a lot of calls for accountability.
I wonder this. Can the hon. member, with her long experience as a member of Parliament, share some examples of how accountability could be ensured, and to make sure we are seeing, with regard to the crisis of the murdered and missing indigenous women and diverse gendered people too, accountability from that perspective? Qujannamiik.
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- May/4/22 10:57:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her speech.
We are nearing the end of the take-note debate. I agree with my colleague from Manicouagan. I too have a problem with the term “take-note”.
There are 231 calls for justice, 231 ways to take action so that no more women or girls are murdered or go missing.
I wonder if my colleague could comment on the fact that we are having a take-note debate when there are 231 calls for justice, for action.
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