44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2022 02:00PM
- Dec/7/22 7:43:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to stand in a debate such as the one we are having this evening and say that we have done enough. Our government has not done enough. Our first budget was in 2016, and I can tell members that we have invested hundreds of billions of dollars of new money in education, health care, child and welfare reform, infrastructure, community safety initiatives and safe spaces, but we still have not done enough.
The pain is ongoing. The tragedy continues. Women and girls are being murdered every week. It has to stop. We need to do better. We need to work in partnership with Métis, first nation and Inuit communities to find solutions. We need to work in partnership with other levels of government to find solutions. Everybody needs to do better.
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- Dec/7/22 7:44:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have worked a lot with my hon. colleague in Winnipeg. Velma's House was a needed investment. I just found out this morning that a woman froze to death in a bus shack, under blankets. We are in a critical emergency. I appreciated what the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations shared the other day, that this is no time to boast about investments, because we are not doing enough.
I am wondering if my colleague would work with me to ensure a couple of things as a fellow Winnipegger: that there be immediate investments to support families in housing, shelter support and other services, as well as a red dress alert; and specifically that he join me in encouraging the police to call for an independent investigation, with costs and access to information support, to see if it is feasible to search the Prairie Green Landfill and, if not, that he joins me in the meantime in the call to have a moratorium placed on the continued use of this landfill site, as it is a crime scene and we need to respect the remains of loved ones.
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- Dec/7/22 7:46:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe I stated in my previous response that our government has not done enough. We need to do more. We need to continue the partnerships with community groups. We need to continue the partnerships with other levels of government, including the City of Winnipeg.
Yes, I will work with the member for Winnipeg Centre. We had a great working relationship when, together with other ministers, we delivered Velma's House, a 24-7 safe space for indigenous women and girls in downtown Winnipeg. I would be pleased to work with the member on finding other solutions to ongoing problems that, unfortunately, have been around too long.
We need to work in partnership to find those solutions, and I would be happy to sit down with the member to work toward solutions.
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- Dec/7/22 7:47:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened closely to the speech by my colleague from Saint‑Boniface—Saint-Vital. Obviously, what I got out of his speech is that he wants to eliminate all forms of racism against Canada's first nations.
There is something I would like my colleague to tell me. Is he prepared to abolish the Indian Act? The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations said over a year ago that it is unacceptable that this legislation still has not been abolished. It has been several months. It has been over a year and there is still nothing. This legislation proves that there is racism towards the first nations. We have to replace it with a mutual agreement. There needs to be some reflection with the first nations, in a spirit of respect, obviously.
I would like my colleague to answer the following question. Should we not abolish the Indian Act and use new legislation to considerably reduce racism against the first nations?
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- Dec/7/22 7:48:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that good question.
I would like to abolish racism, not just against the first nations, but also against the Inuit and the Métis. I am certainly prepared to sit down with the member to try to find ways to achieve that goal.
As for his question on the Indian Act, I am prepared to sit down with the member, but also with the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to try to find a way that makes sense in order to work first with the first nations on replacing the Indian Act with something better.
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- Dec/7/22 7:49:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister can provide his perspective. He said that there is more we can do here in Ottawa. Would that same principle apply, generally, to provincial and municipal governments, to indigenous leaders and to Canadians as a whole? We all have more that we need to do collectively. Could he provide his perspective on that issue?
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- Dec/7/22 7:50:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, the systemic violence and racism that we are seeing manifest itself today in the murders of four women has its roots in the colonial values that Canada had at its beginning. Our first Indian Act policy was the civilization of first nations, then the Christianization and ultimately the assimilation, thereby erasing the Indian out of the Indian person, which was clearly a racist policy. However, that was 150 years ago.
Today, there is more that everybody can do, including the federal, provincial, municipal and indigenous governments and the community. We all have a spectre of influence in our lives and in the communities where we live. I think that is what reconciliation is about.
There is more that everybody can do, including institutions, governments and individuals. We must come together to look for solutions. We must call out racism when we see it and hear it. We need to work with indigenous nations, person to person and government to government.
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- Dec/7/22 7:52:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg North.
In our country, there is a genocide against indigenous women that has happened and continues to happen. We have a government that continues to fail to do anything about it. That is the reality.
I just spoke with an indigenous woman who works with the National Association of Friendship Centres. She said that as an indigenous woman she is afraid to walk the streets. She is a young woman. She is a president. She carries a strong role in her community and a strong role with that association. She just wants to walk in her community without fear. That is what we want.
The fact that indigenous women do not have the ability to walk freely without fear in our communities is a shame on this country. The fact that, knowing how serious this is, the government continues to fail to act is a greater shame.
Indigenous leaders have laid out a clear path. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and two-spirit people, laid out a clear path with calls for justice that would save lives. Every single day that these calls for justice are not put in place, are not acted on and are not implemented means more lives are lost.
Indigenous people should not have to beg or plead to be able to live with dignity and respect. They should not have to beg or plead with elected officials or with police to do their work. However, that is what is happening. Indigenous people have to beg the police to do what they are supposed to, which is to do their jobs. They have to beg elected officials to take their lives seriously. That is the reality of what we are up against.
I want to acknowledge the recent horrific events coming out of Winnipeg. I want us to realize that when we talk about these horrific incidents, we sometimes dehumanize the lives. We lose track that these are real people. These are daughters. These are sisters. These are loved ones who have been stripped of their lives.
Let us remember their names: Morgan Harris, 39 years old; Marcedes Myran, 26 years old; Rebecca Contois, 24 years old; and Buffalo Woman.
These are lives that were ended. These are lives that were lost. Government inaction continues to put lives at risk.
I want to acknowledge the incredible courage and strength of our colleague, friend and champion for people, the member for Winnipeg Centre. She has, in the face of a very difficult time, shown incredible courage, and I want to acknowledge that. She wants it not to be about her but to be about the families who are here today, the families across the country who are reeling from the violence against their loved ones and the families who are living in fear.
I want to acknowledge that the member for Winnipeg Centre called for an emergency debate, because this is an emergency. This should be deemed a national emergency. The fact that lives are being stolen from us this way is a national emergency. The purpose of having an emergency debate is to shape our response to it, to put some urgency into the fact that we need to see action and that the federal government has a responsibility to act.
One specific point that the member for Winnipeg Centre continues to raise is that hundreds of millions of dollars remain unspent. That is money that should be going toward protecting and providing safe spaces for indigenous women and girls. The member for Winnipeg Centre has raised the fact, multiple times now, that the Liberal government has not spent money on building new shelters. No additional funding was announced in this last budget, and this is wrong.
We need concrete action. We need to acknowledge the pain. We need to move beyond that acknowledgement to actually doing something about it. We have the power to do something today.
It is undeniable that there is a genocide of indigenous women in our country and we must take action. Every day that the federal government does not act, the lives of more indigenous women are in jeopardy.
We must implement measures to protect the community. We must address this genocide. It is our duty and our responsibility.
New Democrats are using our power and using our voices to stand in solidarity with indigenous communities, doing whatever we can to stand with them in the fight against violence against women.
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- Dec/7/22 7:57:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, allow me to ask the leader of the New Democratic Party the same question, in essence, that I asked the government minister. One of the things we need to recognize is that we have all fallen short. The best way we are going to be able to deal with this issue is to get all the different stakeholders to be more engaged, recognizing the fact we all need to do more.
I wonder if he could provide his thoughts on that aspect.
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- Dec/7/22 7:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when confronted with a serious crisis, we have to do two things. We have to acknowledge the serious crisis and then take action.
When we talk about taking action, we have to acknowledge who has the power to take action. The government in power has the ability, the resources and the tools to take action. Therefore, I disagree with the member. In fact the government in power, the Prime Minister, who has the power to make decisions, is the one responsible for taking those decisions now, immediately.
It is not about everyone who is at fault. It is the government that has the power to act and refuses to act.
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- Dec/7/22 7:58:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will ask the leader of the NDP a question similar to the one I asked the minister a few moments ago. It is with regard to the 231 calls for justice that the inquiry has recommended and laid out.
Specifically, I am referring to a quote made a few months ago by the CEO of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who stated:
Today, we are seeing the sad results of the government’s weak response to the crimes being committed against Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people.... The National Action Plan, as it was drafted, was actually a recipe for inaction, and the people represented by our organization are paying the price.
The quote goes on to explain how slow the government has been to respond to a number of these calls to action.
Now that we are having yet another emergency debate on this very tragic issue, I would like to know what specific calls to action, or as the leader of the NDP put it, what action, he would like to see done immediately.
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- Dec/7/22 8:00:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member rightly highlighted what is a very legitimate and fair criticism. The fact is that it has been more than three and a half years since the calls for justice were laid out very clearly. I remember at that time the effort, work and pain that went into that work to lay out the path. At that time, the elders in the community did not expect the calls for justice would just be tabled and never implemented, just referred to without anything happening.
What the indigenous communities have been saying is that they want to see all 231 calls for justice implemented and they want that done now.
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- Dec/7/22 8:00:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a white woman who has raised indigenous children and has indigenous grandchildren, I always think about the day one has to tell their children and grandchildren how to be safe in a world that really wants to destroy them. I think that is a hard part of the reality of indigenous communities. They have to make those decisions.
When their granddaughters go to bigger cities, they have to make sure that all the aunties and uncles are watching them to keep them safe because they are that afraid. Then we get that call and we know what that means, not only for our own family but for our whole community in a country that continues to perpetrate genocide upon these beautiful precious bodies that we need home with us.
I think of my cousin Jeannine and her good friend Carla, who bring indigenous women together, and they bead. They bead earrings and monuments for indigenous women. They are called the Lil' Red Dress group. Do the members know what they do? They sell all of those so that they can put up signs when indigenous women and girls go missing. They fundraise to save the lives and to call for help because no one else will do it.
I am wondering if the leader could talk to us about how wrong it is to have indigenous people fundraising to save their families when the government does nothing.
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- Dec/7/22 8:02:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the powerful words.
I think it is abhorrent. It is horrific. It is such a failure of leadership that indigenous communities, indigenous women, need to fundraise to save their own lives and protect their own communities. That is an example, an indictment, of the government's failure to do what is necessary and what is right to protect indigenous people, to follow through on the calls for justice and to act immediately to tackle and to end the genocide against indigenous women.
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- Dec/7/22 8:03:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Rebecca Contois, Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman, as earlier referenced, each and every one of those incredible, wonderful and beautiful women's lives were cut short because of racial and many other complicated issues that led to the termination of their lives.
I do not believe there is a member of Parliament in this chamber who is not upset with the reality of what has taken place in Winnipeg. I know all of us extend our most sincerest condolences to the grieving families, friends and communities. I want to extend my personal condolences to each and every one.
I do not come to this debate lightly. Tina Fontaine was a wonderful young lady. Back in 2014, she went missing. It was on August 8, 2014. Her body was found in Winnipeg North along the Red River nine days later, on August 17, 2014. The community came together in a very real and tangible way.
I remember going to the Manitoba legislature, and there were indigenous women and others who showed up and stayed overnight in tents for days. They wanted to see a public inquiry. Whether it was called by the province or the federal government, they wanted to see something take place.
Tina was a wonderful young lady put into an environment that was very challenging. I recall back in 2014 raising the issue here of needing to have a public inquiry. A short while after that, there was a change in government and the current Prime Minister indicated we would have that public inquiry. Out of that public inquiry came 231 calls for justice.
If people want to do a Google search on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, they will find many of the things within those calls for justice are in fact being acted on. As the minister who spoke before me said, there is still so much more to be done. I do not believe for a moment that we should let anyone off the hook. There is a responsibility for all stakeholders, provinces, municipalities, indigenous leaders and community members.
There are some wonderful groups out there, such as the North Point Douglas Women's Centre, the Mama Bear Clan, the Bear Clan Patrol on Selkirk Avenue and Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata. There are many different organizations that care, that want to see ideas brought forward and want to see results. The minister made reference to some of those results, but again, there still needs to be more.
The Tina Fontaine safe place for young people on Selkirk Avenue was established a few years back and runs 24-7. There is also Velma's House.
Yes, the Government of Canada plays a critical role in this. It is bringing people together and making sure we collectively deal with this issue. For anyone to believe the federal government on its own can resolve the problem, it is somewhat misguided, whether it is intentional or not. The federal government does need to step up, and I believe every member in this House recognizes that. Our Prime Minister not only recognizes it but is stepping up, and at the same time recognizing we still need to do a lot more.
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- Dec/7/22 8:08:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it horrendous to hear the member say how much work the Liberals have done in this regard. The member must have missed the response from indigenous leaders on the failure of the action plan to implement the 231 calls for justice. The member must have missed the fact that again and again the government missed its timeline. Consequently, we see in our communities the lives that are lost. Members are coming into the House baring their souls yet again to demand action and families show up with so much hurt, and the member for Winnipeg North has the audacity to say how much work the government has done.
If the member is so proud of the government's work, will he agree to an independent oversight body of the government's action on the implementation of the 231 calls for justice for the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls?
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- Dec/7/22 8:09:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would encourage and welcome this issue being depoliticized.
If the member would like to come out to Winnipeg North, I would assist. Let us have the province, municipalities, indigenous leaders and others sit at the table. All of us need to be held to account for our actions, including the federal government. Whether it is me, the minister or others on the government benches, we have all said that we need to do more.
I do not know if the member does a service when she tries to give the impression that the Government of Canada has done nothing. I would disagree with that, and if she is saying that it is wrong for me to say that, I would disagree.
I think that we are here to inspire hope and inspire the fact that not only when we recognize what needs to be done, we are committed to doing more.
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- Dec/7/22 8:11:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that answer was really insensitive in light of the subject matter at hand.
Quite frankly, the Government of Canada has a major role that it can and should play. It has no problem using its power of spending for a variety of pieces. In fact, just yesterday, the Auditor General came out with a report that showed $30 billion of wasted spending, and yet we still do not see action on the calls for justice. It has taken years just to get to the final report.
All of us in this chamber can agree that this is important, but for the member to get up and say that we need to depoliticize this and that the federal government is doing everything it can, frankly, I do not think that is true.
I would love the member opposite to give me a concrete example of something the federal government has done that saved a woman's life today.
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- Dec/7/22 8:12:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives say that the Government of Canada has not done anything. The NDP says that the Government of Canada has not done anything. If I stand up and indicate that the Government of Canada has done a considerable amount and yet we still need to do more and are committed to doing that, it does not mean that I am wrong just because we have two opposition members who are saying the opposite.
If they are saying that I should sit back and just be told that the Government of Canada is doing absolutely nothing and it does not care, I am sorry, but I do not agree with that. Equally, I would say that we need to do more, and we will do more. Not just the national government, but everyone has a role to play in this. If the members who posed the questions disagree, then we will have to agree to disagree.
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- Dec/7/22 8:13:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight with a really heavy heart to take part in this take-note debate. Unfortunately, the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is extremely prevalent throughout northeastern Alberta. One does not have to look very far to find way too many heartbreaking stories.
Here we are in the aftermath of hearing of more senseless deaths of four indigenous women from the Winnipeg region. I will read their names because we must not forget them. Rebecca Contois was 24 years old. Morgan Beatrice Harris was 39 years old. Marcedes Myran was 26 years old. Buffalo Woman was an unidentified loved one.
It is so difficult to sit here and hear that more women are going missing, more people are going missing, and we still do not have concrete action from the government. How many more people need to lose their lives before the government takes meaningful action? The government seems to be at a bit of a stalemate.
There is a lot of talk. There are a lot of grandiose statements. When push comes to shove, I do not see a lot of action that follows that. I tried to find online how many of the calls for justice were in progress. I could not easily find that. If members opposite have that information, it would be useful. I could not find it today. That goes to show there is not much progress on it.
As the member of Parliament for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, my riding is situated on the traditional lands of Treaty 6 and Treaty 8, the territory of the Cree, the Dene and the homelands of the Métis people. This issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2S+ people is a major concern throughout my riding.
I want to honour and acknowledge all the mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, granddaughters, aunties, people and friends who are no longer with us because they unfortunately lost their lives. My heart goes out to all the family, friends and community leaders who have come together to share their stories, share their trauma, simply to demand action from our institutions and from the government.
The indigenous name for the Fort McMurray region is Nistawoyou. Since 2004, nine indigenous women from Nistawoyou have been reported missing or murdered. For the second time in this Parliament, I am going to read these women's names into the record: Elaine Alook, Shirley Waquan, Amber Tuccaro, Janice “Jazz” Desjarlais, Shelly Dene, Betty Ann Deltess, Ellie Herman, Audrey Bignose and Sherri Lynn Flett.
I take this opportunity to read their names because it is so critically important that we all remember we are not here talking about stats or something that happens distantly far away; these are people.
When I was a little kid, my mom was a hairdresser. She had a hair salon and barber shop in downtown Fort McMurray. Fort McMurray was sometimes a pretty rough and tumble place in the boom days. She would take us to her salon on Mondays. Her shop was always closed on Mondays, but she would often open up her salon on Mondays to serve indigenous community members who could not otherwise afford a haircut.
She would go down to the river and cut people's hair for free because she said, “If you look good, you feel good, and if you feel good, you're more likely to get a job. And do you know what? People are people.” My mom taught us from a really young age that if we treated people like people, they would act like people. That is a lesson that has stuck with me. My mom has been gone for about 13 years and that is something that I carry with me every single day.
We sit here and keep seeing women going missing because people are not treating them like people. They are treating them worse than they would treat animals. I am here begging the government to do more. It needs to use its voice and make a change. We all have this power.
This is a massive problem, and it is going to take every single one of us, but I challenge them to use the voice they have to make this a thing. I question why we are here doing a take-note debate and not an emergency debate. I do not know the answer to that, but it bothers me that this is the second time in six months that I have had the opportunity to speak in a take-note debate on an issue that is such a crisis in our country.
It has been more than three and a half years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls delivered its final report. It has now been one and a half years since the national action plan was released, yet we are here having another take-note debate. I am not quite sure what actions the government has been able to take in the six months since the last time we were here. I am not saying that as if it is somehow all the government's fault and therefore not ours, because it is every single person's responsibility to do everything they possibly can, but I really do think this is something that we need more action on.
The initial report concluded that indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than members of any other demographic group in Canada, and 16 times more likely to be killed or disappear than white women. Those are staggering numbers that should give pause to anyone in this chamber. They are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered.
I want to read one particular story. It happened as I was an adult coming into my space, and it really hit me because she was almost my sister's age. Amber Tuccaro was 20 years old. She had a 14-month-old son. She lived in Fort McMurray and she was a Mikisew Cree First Nation member. She flew down to Edmonton, like so many people from Fort McMurray do, just to have a bit of a vacation, get away, get to the big city and maybe do some shopping.
She flew down with her son and a friend to go to Edmonton. Unfortunately, she was last seen on August 18, 2010. Fast forward a couple of years to when her remains were found by a few people out horseback riding. The case is still unsolved. Today, they still do not have any more answers than they did then. Her family has been actively pushing this issue, as so many families all across the country do.
It is left to the families to pick up so much of this, to bring these cases and these stories forward, to share their trauma and the worst situation they could ever imagine happening. It is left up to them because our institutions have failed. Our institutions are not protecting people. We are not allowing people to live in the dignity with which they were created to live in. There is more that each and every one of us can do, but specifically the government because it does have that ability and that power.
Therefore, I would like to give space to all of those who are struggling right now because they have just lost a loved one, a friend, a community member, someone they saw on the street, or someone they saw in their community coffee shop or just out and about. Perhaps it was someone they did not even know but who is close in age to them or close in age to someone else. As I was doing my research for this take-note debate, I could not help but reflect on the fact that some of these women who were murdered and who are gone were almost my age, they were younger than me or they were the same age as my siblings. That is a tough, tough space.
I really hope that six months from now we are not here doing another take-note debate, with no more action on this file, and simply here trying to do our best, as opposition, to bring more attention to this issue. With that, I would like to thank all the families for being so brave in sharing their stories.
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