44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 30, 2022 02:00PM
- Nov/30/22 2:14:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week the entire Outaouais region was preparing for the United Nations COP15, to be held soon in Montreal.
As part of our For a Green and Prosperous Outaouais initiative, which I launched a year ago with my partners at the Conseil régional de l'environnement et du développement durable de l'Outaouais, or CREDDO, we brought together more than 70 biodiversity experts and elected officials from the region, including our indigenous communities on the Kitigan Zibi reserve, to bring our voice, the voice of the Outaouais, to COP15 in Montreal.
I would like to thank everyone who made this event a great success. It is with communities as committed as the Outaouais that we will achieve our global targets for protecting nature and biodiversity.
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- Nov/30/22 2:54:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General recently sounded the alarm that the Liberal government is not assessing whether its steps to reduce homelessness are actually working or not. It is an indictment and a failure of its approach to homelessness. The reality is that indigenous communities are bearing the brunt of this failure, as indigenous community members are 11 times more likely to experience homelessness.
After years of broken promises, will the Prime Minister finally commit to a timeline for a fully funded, indigenous-led urban, rural and northern housing strategy?
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- Nov/30/22 2:55:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every Canadian has a right to a safe and affordable place to call home, and it is unacceptable that anyone in this country experience homelessness. That is why we are moving forward, in partnership with indigenous peoples, on an urban indigenous strategy that will support and fight against homelessness by giving the supports to people. These supports will be culturally appropriate and anchored in language and traditional knowledge. They will also ensure that the healing that needs to go hand in hand with addictions and mental health care, and so many other things, is addressed in a comprehensive way. We will be getting it right.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his work on the committee. I have reviewed the calls to action myself and I recognize what is in call to action 56. I could simply say, without having in-depth understanding of the genesis of the bill, that I presume it was probably deemed appropriate at that time for the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who led off debate yesterday at third reading, to be leading the response. That is the key ministry that was involved in generating the legislation.
However, I take at full value what is listed in call to action 56 and also the fact that the government has supported that very useful amendment.
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Repentigny asked a very good question.
This is my personal opinion, but I believe it is everyone's responsibility to fight discrimination against indigenous peoples, including federally regulated private corporations. I think this is a challenge that all companies, even private ones, should take up. However, I cannot provide a specific answer. I will follow up, and we can talk about it later.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that question, and I obviously note his advocacy on behalf of indigenous communities in his riding and generally in Canada. It is an important question.
With respect to the litigation, what I would simply say is that obviously any discrimination, whether it is in the child welfare system or not, is something that needs to be rooted out in this country. I think the litigation had various aspects to it. It went through various permutations and combinations, so to speak. What I am very pleased about is the final settlement reached. It is a historic settlement in Canada of $40 billion, $20 billion of which went to the litigants and $20 billion to communities for the entrenchment of programs that would seek to avoid ever having repetition of that kind of discrimination within the child welfare system.
As to his specific question about the timing of resolving the payment allocation, I do not have that information at hand, but as I mentioned to the Bloc MP, I am more than happy to follow up on that going forward.
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to be able to enter into debate in this place and address some of the most pressing issues facing our nation.
First, I would like to start off by saying how important it is to ensure that, as we have discussions in this place, we do so under the pretext and with the understanding that meaningful reconciliation is so absolutely essential to the conversation we must have within this place and the work we all do as parliamentarians.
I find so often we see its importance when it comes to indigenous concerns and the issues faced, whether it be the tragedies that quite often make headlines, the host of other concerns we deal with through our offices with Indigenous and Northern Affairs or Crown-Indigenous Relations, or simply the concerns that come across our desks and come up in conversation as regular Canadians.
Indigenous people in this country deserve more than photo ops. They deserve more than just words. They deserve that meaningful reconciliation. As we have talked about Bill C-29, and specifically addressing calls to action 53 through 56, we see how absolutely essential that conversation around meaningful reconciliation is.
I am going to repeat a statement shared with me when I addressed this bill at second reading, which is that indigenous peoples in this country deserve to not simply be stakeholders, but shareholders. Whether it is with respect to the specifics around this conversation, and I will get into some examples of that here in a moment, they deserve to be shareholders in the future prosperity of everything that Canada is.
I think that meaningfulness in everything we do is so absolutely essential, and I have been concerned as I have watched since being elected first in 2019, but also since the Trudeau Liberals took office with grand platitudes to address so many of the concerns that—
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister was at James Smith Cree Nation a few days ago. We saw a failure of the justice system. We saw somebody who had, I think, close to 100 charges with outstanding warrants. There was a call to law enforcement the day before with an explicit request for intervention because of fear. I find it absolutely tragic that the Liberals would be so blinded by ideological activism that they would ignore those victims, like the many we see associated with those tragic events in Saskatchewan.
Victims, including indigenous victims of crime, deserve to have justice served in this country, because they do not see it. We have a clear example where the Prime Minister was this week that justice was not served. Indigenous people deserve better.
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Mr. Speaker, I think my remarks will come across more like a request or a wish or maybe even a demand. We know that indigenous affairs are under federal jurisdiction. However, certain things, such as health care and education, fall under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. Quebec had its own commission, the Viens commission, which made hundreds of recommendations. Quebec has already invested $125 million in upgrading, enhancing and ensuring the long-term viability of public services and establishing cultural safety.
We already have a committee with first nations and the Inuit. We have another committee with university researchers. The point is, we want to see this council tackle federal issues in Quebec, not issues that are under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the utmost respect for the way our country was created. There was the separation of powers between federal and provincial, and then the provinces designating powers to municipalities.
However, let us be very clear. There has to be an all-of-government approach. There has to be real collaboration between different levels of government to ensure there is meaningful reconciliation. That will require tough conversations and real collaborations.
One of the problems that we see with the way the government approaches things is that it likes to talk about collaboration, but then it tells stakeholders how they should feel. When it comes to ensuring that indigenous peoples are included in conversations, it is time that indigenous peoples in this country are not simply stakeholders but that they are truly shareholders.
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Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be here for this debate and to speak in support of an overdue action plan to establish a national council for reconciliation.
We know that the lack of action by the government has resulted in many different outcomes. One, for example, is the overrepresentation of indigenous children and youth in care. We can all agree that the current government has broken several promises it made to indigenous people.
Can the member clarify which sections of law or government policy he believes should be a priority for the national council for reconciliation to review to ensure the voices of indigenous peoples are heard and acted upon?
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Mr. Speaker, I agree that the government has not fulfilled many of the promises it made, including promises that were key parts of its previous election platforms. However, that does not seem to stop the government from pursuing a path forward regardless.
When it comes to indigenous voices being heard at the table, I find it very concerning that the member and her party voted for an amendment that specifically excludes many indigenous peoples in this country through the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. They voted for an amendment, which the government brought forward, to exclude many indigenous peoples who are traditionally under-represented in the conversations that are very important to have in this place. That is a very serious question that the NDP and Liberals have to answer.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to participate in this debate, especially after my colleague's eloquent speech. There was one line that will stay with me for a long time.
He said that they do not want to see the first nations stakeholders as real, true partners. I love that line.
We are here today for the final stage of the bill that will establish the national council for reconciliation. I am always filled with pride and emotion when I rise to speak on an issue that affects first nations. I have the great honour and privilege of being the member of Parliament for Louis-Saint-Laurent thanks to the support and assistance of the people of this riding. I represent the people of Wendake, an indigenous community in the Quebec City area that is well known and well established. We know that the Wendat have been here since the dawn of time, but they are more permanently settled in the northern part of Quebec City. They have been there for more than 300 years. As a result, ours is a fruitful, extraordinary, exemplary and, I would say, very inspiring relationship for all Canadians and all first nations. I will have the opportunity to come back to this later.
Obviously, we agree that this national council for reconciliation needs to be created. We believe that it is a step forward in order to improve the way indigenous and non-indigenous people work, grow and live together.
I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work done by my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. I am glad I got that right. If there is one thing I do not like about my job at the federal level, it is the interminable riding names. I will never run for Speaker of the House, because I will never be able to remember even two names. The current Chair occupants can rest assured that they do not have a potential opponent in me.
I think that my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River did an excellent job of properly examining this bill. In the beginning, he spoke out about the shortcomings in the original version. It is important to point out that it took a long time for this bill to be introduced, debated and passed in the House of Commons. In fact, the government first talked about it back in December 2017. We know that there was an election, and then another one. We know that Parliament was prorogued because the Prime Minister did not want us to get to the bottom of the WE Charity scandal, so the government kept putting the bill off. Now here we are five years after the first draft. It has taken way too long to get here.
My colleague also mentioned problems related to transparency and independence when it comes to the appointment of members of this national council. We are also wondering about the soundness of the results. How can we determine whether this council is achieving real, concrete, relevant and successful results when we believe there were shortcomings at that point?
It is the same thing when it comes to accountability. The definition was far too vague, in our opinion. We wanted this council to report directly not to the minister responsible for indigenous-government relations, but to the Prime Minister himself. In fact, it was one of the recommendations of the 2015 report.
My colleague led the clause-by-clause study and went about it in a positive and constructive way to improve this bill. No fewer than 19 amendments were introduced by my colleague. The fact that 16 of those 19 amendments were accepted is proof that the work was taken seriously and completed diligently. A 17th amendment was almost adopted, but unfortunately, a partner walked away at the last second.
I congratulate and thank the colleagues from the other parties, but a special honour goes to the colleague who proposed these amendments for the good of the bill and to properly advance this bill. We owe a debt of gratitude to my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. When I say “we”, I mean us parliamentarians, but especially us Canadians and the first nations, for the ability to work well with this national council for reconciliation.
Therefore, we will be voting in favour of this bill, which had 16 amendments that were proposed by my colleague from the official opposition and that improved the bill.
I think it is quite important to remind everybody we are not talking about a brand new start. It is part of our Canadian history. When we talk about first nations, we all have to recognize, as proud Canadians, as we should be, if there was something wrong in our past. There is the fact that the relations we had with our first nations were not very good, for century after century.
We could talk about the fact that, all around the world, the big countries have to address that kind of issue. Yes, that is for sure. However, it is not because the rest of the world was not good that we have to be okay with the fact that we were not good. This is why I think this is a step forward and a way to address it correctly.
I would like to remind members that I was not in the House to witness that great moment on June 11, 2008. Many people currently sitting in this House were there. For the first time in history, the Government of Canada, through its prime minister the Right Hon. Stephen J. Harper, formally apologized to first nations for the horrors committed at residential schools.
For the first time, the only time in our parliamentary Canadian history, we saw a first nation leader here in the House, listening to the formal apology and the national excuses from a Prime Minister and answering to that.
The only time a first nation leader has spoken directly to Canadians in the House of Commons was in 2008 under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Whatever we can say, whatever happens, whatever party we are, we have to be proud of this great Canadian moment in our history.
What happened after the apology? The Prime Minister made sure that it was not the last step. Rather, it was the beginning of what was to be reconciliation. He created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For five years, this commission travelled from coast to coast, and it was both studious and thorough in its work. I remember because I was a provincial MNA, and I attended one of the hearings in Wendake.
Thousands of citizens and thousands of first nations people testified to the horrors of a shameful stain on Canadian history, our history: residential schools that were designed to kill the Indian in the heart of each child. It is terrifying to think about, to think that it happened for generations, for over 100 years. Thousands of people still bear the scars today.
Yes, what happened is serious and it must be recognized. Yes, there was an apology. Yes, the commission was created. It tabled reports and over 90 recommendations in 2015. Some will remember the reactions we had at that time: Yes, this needed to be acknowledged.
I would like to remind members that six specific recommendations, calls to action 71 through 76, directly addressed the issue of burial sites and cemeteries. When graves were discovered two years ago, everyone suddenly grasped the horror of what had happened, but where were those people when the public apology was delivered in 2008? Where were they during the six years when the commission was investigating what happened to first nations? Where were they in 2015 when the report was tabled with specific actions for addressing this problem?
That is what happens when a relationship that is unequal, disrespectful and unproductive persists for centuries. Today we are passing a law that will create a national council for reconciliation. It will never be enough, but it is a step in the right direction that we applaud.
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague's approach of us working collectively together.
We have seen the government fail. It has delivered on 13 of the 94 calls to action. We see the disproportionate overrepresentation of indigenous people when it comes to the justice system and the prison system, and the overcrowding of people in precarious housing situations.
Could my colleague speak to some of the changes he would like to see the government, as well as the new national council for reconciliation, address immediately regarding the social determinants on health and government policies? What would he like to see the council advance to help support the betterment of the lives of indigenous people in Canada?
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fact that the Conservatives are supporting the legislation. We have even seen some amendments brought forward, which shows the openness of the government to recognizing that we can improve upon the legislation. If the member was not here, although I suspect he might have been, when the minister gave the detailed explanation of how we got to this point, I think the member might benefit from looking over exactly what the minister said.
However, again I would emphasize that from day one to where we are today, given the number of legislative actions and legislative pieces that have passed through the House, the numerous budgetary measures and the obligations to consult with indigenous partners not only on the calls to action but other pieces of legislation we have brought through the House, we have done exceptionally well. That is not to mention the fact that we have just finished going through a worldwide pandemic.
There are all sorts of things at play here. If the only criticism is that we are not quite moving fast enough, I will compare our government in the last seven years to any other government in the history of our nation when it comes to dealing with indigenous issues.
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Mr. Speaker, I absolutely totally disagree with what the member is saying.
I understand the calls to action and the truth and reconciliation report. When it was tabled back in 2015, it was the leader of the Liberal Party who stood up virtually immediately and said we would act on all 94 calls to action. Even Thomas Mulcair did not do that.
We have done this consistently from day one, both legislatively and from a budget perspective. We can take a look at the numbers and the reality.
Members of the NDP need to have a better understanding that, not only are they doing a disservice here in the House, but by spreading misinformation outside the House, they are taking away hope that the indigenous people in particular, but Canadians as a whole, have for truth and reconciliation.
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Mr. Speaker, I want us to imagine we are of indigenous background, and we look at the calls to action. We are looking for leadership. What we see often from this House is a high sense of co-operation where in fact we are are moving forward. We see a sense of hope that, for the first time, we have Canadians looking at truth and reconciliation and acting on the calls to action.
Then, we have some members of Parliament who are going out and about spreading misinformation and trying to give the impression that Ottawa does not care and Ottawa is not acting on the calls to action. That sort of misinformation takes hopes away from young people and it takes hope away from indigenous people.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a government and a House of Commons that want to deliver, and we are delivering, whether it is financially or on the calls to action. As I say, there are 94 calls to action, and we are responsible, wholly or in part, for well over 80% either being complete or in process. Hopefully after today we will be able to say four of those calls to action have passed third reading.
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Mr. Speaker, I asked him to consult with the Nuu-chah-nulth in my riding to measure how they are doing. I invite the members, really with an olive branch, to come and meet with the Nuu-chah-nulth people.
Now, there are some good things happening. Just two weeks ago, the B.C. government, working with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, announced the creation of the Oomiiqsu mother's centre. It is creating a safe and culturally appropriate home. It is an indigenous-led model of care for women who are trying to keep their families together, who are leaving abuse, facing mental health and addiction disorders, or who are living in poverty and trauma. However, there is still no federal money. I hope that the government will live up to the council's recommendations and deliver funding.
Will the government work with the Province of British Columbia and ensure that we are delivering on that first call to action and make it a priority?
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Mr. Speaker, I assure the member that, virtually from day one, Ottawa has been working with indigenous people, provinces and everyone who wants to listen in terms of how we can have a positive impact on the lives of indigenous people here in Canada through truth and reconciliation in particular.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Lakeland.
This is a critically important bill. Despite the heated exchange that just happened, I think all members of the House can agree that this is an important bill and that seeing more reconciliation going forward is positive for our country and for our relationship with indigenous peoples from coast to coast to coast. It is something that I have been very fortunate in my riding and my community to see first-hand.
Through my experience growing up in Fort McMurray, I have had the opportunity to get to see what reconciliation looks like first-hand. Many of the industrial partners in my region and specifically a lot of the oil and gas partners, big bad oil and gas, have been working with indigenous communities throughout my region for over 40 years and providing economic reconciliation in some of the most profound and meaningful ways.
I thought this was normal. I thought this was just what everyone did, because this is what I grew up with. I did not know there was something other than this. In Fort McMurray, it is really cool and I would welcome members opposite to come and visit. They could see what reconciliation actually looks like by coming to Fort McMurray and seeing first-hand what economic reconciliation means.
The members opposite, and specifically the member for Winnipeg North, were bragging about how this bill addresses four calls to action. The member is actually correct. It does address four calls to action, but only because of the absolutely spectacular work of my Conservative colleagues who brought in amendments to correct three of the four calls to action to make sure the bill actually addressed the calls to action. The bill that was presented by the Liberals failed to actually meet the calls to action initially. It failed to meet three of the four. Luckily, the amendments were accepted.
I would argue that every amendment that was put forward by the Conservatives on this bill was exceptionally reasonable and meaningful and based on testimony. I am disappointed to see that while we put forward 19 amendments and 16 of them are in this final version of the bill, there are three missing. One is very near and dear to my heart. It is economic reconciliation. This is something that the government sometimes fails to acknowledge exists. It fails to acknowledge the importance of economic reconciliation.
When we were talking about this piece of legislation, I had some conversations with my colleagues. I said that someone I would really like to have appear as a witness before the committee was the CEO of the Athabasca Tribal Council that represents treaty 8 first nations in northeastern Alberta. The CEO is a woman by the name of Karla Buffalo, who has become a friend and an adviser to me. She is wise well beyond her years. In her written brief, she said:
We believe strongly in the need for authentic and action-oriented reconciliation. In our traditional territory, in Treaty 8, the First Nations are leaders in the advancement of economic reconciliation at a remarkable pace. Our focus is not just on fiscal sovereignty but also on cultural revitalization and fostering strong and thriving communities and Indigenous people. We are here to encourage a collaborative process with all Nations, respecting their individual sovereignty and self-governance.
I read that into the record because it is exceptionally powerful. This is about actions, not words. This is about making sure we are actually advancing and knowing what we are here to do.
I have been exceptionally fortunate in my time as an elected official serving the people of northeastern Alberta to have had the opportunity to interact one on one with many elders and with many indigenous leaders throughout my region and learn directly from them what reconciliation actually means. One of the people whom I had one-on-one conversations with was Dr. Willie Littlechild.
Dr. Willie Littlechild was part of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He worked tirelessly on that. He is such a strong voice for indigenous people and reconciliation. He often says that it is not reconciliation, but it should be “reconcili-action”. It needs to be action-based. That is so critically important.
While this bill is great and I will support it, it could be better. It could have been substantially better had the government been willing to understand that economic reconciliation is a way of putting action into reconciliation. It is not the only way of getting there, but it is a way we should be looking at, that we should be looking to try to find paths through. It is important.
The government could stand to learn, if it were willing to humble itself and come up to northeastern Alberta and meet with the chiefs themselves, meet one on one and hear what economic reconciliation has meant for their first nations. If members came up to Fort McMurray, they would see big coach buses that take people to and from work every single day. On the side of those coach buses, it says “Fort McMurray First Nation Group of Companies”.
One would be hard pressed to find a company in town that has not made a significant and meaningful partnership with an indigenous community or partnership. We have some of the most successful indigenous businesses in the entire country that are based out of my hometown of Fort McMurray or the first nations that are in our backyards.
This is the piece the government has failed to recognize the importance of in this piece of legislation. I am not bringing this up by way of pointing fingers, but because this is what expert witnesses brought up. This is what elders in my region brought forward. This is what the CEO of the tribal council that represents the five first nations in my region brought up. This is something they brought forward as a suggestion and a recommendation to the committee.
The members opposite like to talk about the calls to action and how they have done a great job. I heard the member say that 80% have been started or are in progress. I would love to see his stats on this, because everything I have been able to find shows a much lower number of calls to action that have been started or are in progress.
I was looking at a website earlier today, www.indigenouswatchdog.org. It compares the findings of where it thinks the government is, where the government thinks it is, and then where CBC thinks the government is when it comes to progress on reconciliation. The numbers are not as flattering, by any stretch of the imagination, as the member for Winnipeg North would have us believe.
This is something that is critical. We cannot just gloss over these pieces. There is a reason it is called truth and reconciliation, and not just reconciliation alone. There have been absolute horrors that have been committed in the past by governments of Canada, for years upon years, and somehow glossing over that something has been done that has not been done is not a way of making things better.
We need to be brutally honest about where we are and recognize that we can always do better. If someone thinks that somehow this is perfect and we have this 100% right, they are missing the forest for the trees, because the whole point of truth and reconciliation is learning where we have made mistakes and doing our best to go forward, knowing we are not always going to be perfect. It is about progress; it is about positive progress forward.
This is a piece that the government is very good about, patting itself on the back and celebrating all of its successes, but it has not provided the action required.
While the bill, in general, is a good thing, it has taken far too long to get to this chamber. It has taken far too long for us to get to this place, because the government has failed to put any importance on this.
I would urge all my colleagues to vote for this, but I would also urge any future parliamentarians who are looking at this and reading this speech in their preparation to look at putting in economic reconciliation when they are looking to update this bill, because it is critically important and it is missing.
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