House Hansard - 143

44th Parl. 1st Sess.

December 7, 2022 02:00PM

Mr. Jagmeet Singh (Burnaby South, NDP)

Dec/7/22 7:52:15 p.m.
Watch

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.

760 words

All Topics

Hear!
Rabble!
add
star_border
share

SoVote

House Hansard - 143