44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2022 02:00PM
- Dec/7/22 8:30:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague's intention is great in this. I would like to speak on behalf of the status of women committee where we conducted that study. Education is critical, as is putting in changes to make sure everybody has the access to resources so these things are prevented.
I would ask my hon. colleague what she believes Liberals and New Democrats are doing on that end as well. Does she support a lot of these changes in education? That was the push in that study, and I know she has not yet had the chance to read it, but I am just curious of her thoughts on that.
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- Dec/7/22 8:42:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the minister's speech, he said progress is slow. For everyone watching at home and people sitting on this side of the House, I ask why.
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- Dec/7/22 8:54:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise in the House to speak on behalf of the members of my community of Peterborough—Kawartha. The purpose of tonight's take-note debate is to bring forth a discussion on a very serious issue and to call on the Liberals to listen. We have a crisis that has been happening for decades, and tonight we are demanding action.
I will provide a trigger warning for anyone watching or listening: This is a very heavy topic, and it can be triggering for some people.
Tonight, we are speaking about murdered and missing indigenous women and girls in Canada. Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman are the names of the four indigenous women murdered in Winnipeg. It is important to say their names. It is important to bring these women home to their families. It is important that the families of these women see justice.
The last updated number I could find was 307 murdered and missing indigenous women. As shocking as this statistic is, it is from 2018. How many more are there? Why is this not a priority? Indigenous women and girls in Canada are disproportionately affected by all forms of violence. Although indigenous women make up 4% of Canada's female population, 16% of all women murdered in Canada between 1980 and 2012 were indigenous. The 2019 general social survey on victimization, along with Statistics Canada data, has indicated that indigenous women were more likely to experience intimate partner violence than non-indigenous women.
During a study on sex trafficking of indigenous peoples, experts said that 52% of human trafficking victims are indigenous and that the average age of exploitation of an indigenous girl was 12 years old. Although the indigenous population up to the age of 14 makes up 7.7% of all Canadian children, they represent 52.2% of the children in the child welfare system. Studies have shown that these children in the system are more likely to enter into prostitution. This is not information that is new to the government. It is at the disposal of the government, but nothing has changed. We see no action on this human rights issue.
I will quote from Amnesty International's report, “Stolen Sisters: A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada”. It says:
When a woman is targeted for violence because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, her fundamental rights have been abused. And when she is not offered an adequate level of protection by state authorities because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, those rights have been violated.
The date of that report's release is 2004. It has been 18 years. This is shameful. Past governments, all of them, must share the blame in perpetuating the broken system that has left indigenous women and girls behind.
Two years after the release of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, the government finally released an action plan on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It is a plan that many have called flawed, toxic and unsafe. I will quote from an article:
University of Western Ontario professor Michael Arntfield — an expert on serial murder and cold cases — told the Toronto Sun the government and its army of bureaucrats are “chiefly to blame” for the continuing crisis.
“This is another solemn reminder of the fact that despite all the lip service in the world, the proper resources from the top down are still not being properly allocated.”
Meaningful reconciliation involves more than just funding announcements and photo ops. It requires partnership and collaboration with indigenous communities across Canada. There is so much more work to be done to protect the lives of indigenous women and girls across our country. “Bad people commit these horrible crimes against Native women,” said Malinda Limberhand, mother of Hanna Harris, who was murdered in 2013 on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. Malinda Limberhand continued, “but it is the system that allows it to happen generation after generation.”
There has to be change. Enough is enough. We need to see tangible results that meaningfully improve the lives of indigenous women and girls. This starts with the federal government implementing its portion of the 231 calls to action from the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, including calls for a “standardization of protocols for policies and practices that ensure that all cases...are thoroughly investigated”, “the establishment of a national task force...to review and, if required, to reinvestigate [cases] from across Canada”, and ensuring “protection orders are available, accessible, promptly issued and effectively serviced and resourced to protect [victims].”
Canada’s Conservatives are focused on bringing forward policies that make real and measurable improvements in the lives of Canada’s indigenous people.
I would like to take this opportunity to speak about a devastating loss in my local community of Curve Lake First Nation. Cileana Taylor was 22 years old when she was brutally attacked by her partner on September 3, 2020. Cileana was on life support for six months before she passed away with her family at her side. The man who attacked her was out on bail for a previous assault charge dating back to 2019, when he was charged for aggravated assault on Ms. Taylor. He was released on bail on February 3, three weeks before Cileana died.
“The charge of aggravated assault is not enough when one of our young Indigenous women has died from his violent assault,” is a quote from Chief Laurie Carr, who sent a letter of support on behalf of the Hiawatha First Nation Council. “Our community has supported Cileana’s family and Curve Lake First Nation through prayers and offerings as they sat with Cileana in the hospital, and after her death. Cileana, as all our Indigenous women are sacred and a part of the continuation of life for our people, our culture and our traditions. They are the link, and the connection to our future generations,” Chief Carr said in her letter. She went on, “Cileana had value. Cileana had a full life ahead of her. The loss of Cileana's life is unacceptable to our First Nation, to all our Peoples and to humankind.” The man who attacked Cileana was never charged with murder.
We do not need more headlines of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. We need them to be safe. Cileana and all of our indigenous women and girls deserve justice. Tonight I ask the Liberals to listen and, most importantly, to take action.
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- Dec/7/22 9:03:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is an incredible advocate and leader on the subject of missing and murdered indigenous women. I have the pleasure of watching her work and listening to her on the status of women committee.
This is deeply emotional. This is devastating. I cannot imagine not only having a family member murdered, but then knowing they are in a landfill and their family is not able to have their body back.
The answer to my colleague is that there has to be something done. Members cannot sit on the other side of this House as a government and say they are fully committed, but do nothing.
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- Dec/7/22 9:05:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a big question. I think the first step is to listen. We need to listen to the first peoples of this country, to visit reserves, to sit with them, to understand them, to understand their life. We need to understand the systemic trauma they have experienced and to further understand how that changes one's DNA and the neural science behind trauma, and why systemic trauma is so challenging to undo.
I think it would be arrogant of me to sit, as a white woman, and tell us this. I think we have to visit and be involved and listen and partner with people of Canada who are first nations. They will teach us. They know. I think the first step is to listen.
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- Dec/7/22 9:07:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was a very important report and it was a very important study. We heard very powerful testimony from witnesses. I am not sure if it has yet been tabled in the House but I know that the full report will be released soon.
It is a challenge because the oil and gas industry is the number one employer for first nations, so we do not want to take away the opportunity that, hopefully, it will provide. However, there are often things that are happening that are not okay. We heard testimony and I think that the study was very effective in putting forth recommendations on how to prevent further tragedy, abuse and violence.
I think that there is a lot that we will learn from that report and I am very proud to have sat on the committee that studied this.
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- Dec/7/22 9:09:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been a very big proponent of mental health. First nations have experienced this very differently from everyone else and they know this first-hand. The short answer to that question is there is a mental health transfer that is in the works. The sum of $4.5 billion was promised by the Liberal government for a mental health transfer, in particular for indigenous treatment and recovery. It is going to be different so we need to look at that.
There is a lot that we can be doing in terms of treatment and recovery and helping the trauma that is a result of a lot of past governments and a lot uneducated people, basically, would be the short answer to that.
I would love to see the $4.5 billion of mental health transfer help people who are suffering.
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