44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 12:53:59 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to ask about affordability, which the member started talking about but did not really discuss in the rest of her intervention.
The NDP feels that there needs to be assurances that projects are meeting the core housing needs of Canadians. Does the member agree that infrastructure funding should be tied to specific affordability criteria?
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- May/2/23 1:21:35 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the Liberal government has been, for years, saying that there is no relationship more important than that with the first nations, Métis and Inuit. The member talked about how much more work they still need to do regarding housing, including indigenous housing, showing how indigenous peoples are at the bottom of the priority list.
Can the member explain why it is that the government chose to make sure that indigenous housing does not start until 2024 and is spread out wide over Canada when there are so many indigenous peoples that are in dire need of homes?
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- May/2/23 6:57:33 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, it breaks my heart to have to make this speech tonight.
Canada's genocidal laws and policies have remained strongly intact for over 150 years now, and because of that, we see the success of these policies by governments over those generations. The success of the policies in what we see in Canada today are so many, but I will name just the tip of the iceberg of some of them. They include the crisis of violence that we see against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, and the systemic discrimination that we continue to hear about, whether in law enforcement, the health care field, child apprehensions or the education system. Systemic discrimination strongly exists now.
There have been generations of a lack of targeted investment in indigenous people's well-being, including a lack of investments in housing, shelters and social programs that would improve our well-being. These include language revitalization, cultural revitalization and so many more social programs that we know could have better impacts on how we see indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
On the other end of the spectrum of those successes is the overinvestment this government has had, in the billions, in industry, which is well known to contribute to missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. The violence they experience from the resource sector is very well known.
Today, I had the tremendous honour to support the great work of my inspiring colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre, who hosted a media event with power. That power was shared with families of survivors of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
I especially would like to acknowledge that Nikki Komaksiutiksak was at the media event. She is now an inspiring leader as the executive director for Tunngasugit in Winnipeg. During the media event, she shared again what unfortunately she has had to share over and over again, the loss of her sister, the late Jessica Michaels, originally from my home community of Chesterfield Inlet. Her life was tragically lost to violence on August 26, 2001. Nikki also shared the experience with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which later published the “Calls for Justice”. There were 231 calls for justice announced in 2019.
I want to remind Nikki and all the other Inuit women who feel that there is no voice for them in this House of Commons that there is. They should feel free to approach my office on these matters. I will fight for their needs, for justice and to ensure that we are having more indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people celebrated for the beautiful people we are.
We need to see more funding and investments for indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people as well as for victims and survivors. We need to be the ones that help to stop the genocide against indigenous women. The House needs to take part in ensuring that we are doing better to protect indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, including ensuring that the red dress alert is implemented as soon as possible.
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- May/2/23 7:04:08 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I do enjoy working with that member as well on the indigenous and northern affairs committee.
Police services are also a very complicated matter. Unfortunately, they are used as a way to ensure that genocide happens against indigenous peoples. RCMP in Nunavut, for example, have very limited services, and I think the member brings forward a great solution. It is a great idea to make sure that it is indigenous peoples who are handling difficult situations in their communities.
Right now, as an example, in Chesterfield Inlet, from nine to five, RCMP will be available, but when the violence is happening after five and in the middle of the night, a phone call is diverted, not in Chesterfield Inlet, but all the way to Iqaluit, which is in a different time zone, and Iqaluit services do not always offer services in Inuktitut. That guarantee of response is not the same as it is in other parts of Canada, so I would definitely agree on needing to make sure we are empowering indigenous communities to deal with those kinds of situations.
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- May/2/23 7:06:19 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I think there are so many different solutions, and the biggest one, which I agree with the member for Winnipeg Centre on, is that we have to lift indigenous peoples up. I think the red dress alert would be a major solution because I know that indigenous women are targets, and the reason they might be targets is that there is not enough of a quick response when it is discovered that there is an indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person who disappears or is missing. When those responses can be reported more quickly, more people will realize that indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people cannot be targets anymore.
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- May/2/23 7:07:40 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, hopefully, it would be Inuit, first nations and Métis who would be helping in the responses. Unfortunately, the social work services are also a very patriarchal system. They use the best interest of the child to apprehend children, so I cannot trust easily the social work system.
Hopefully, it would be Inuit elders, Inuit people and indigenous peoples, who we know can help during these situations. Indigenous peoples have very collective communities, and they know who are the helpers in their communities. Those are the systems where the federal government needs to do better in tapping into as resources.
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- May/2/23 8:14:52 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the minister plays an important role as the Minister of Northern Affairs in determining whether resource extraction will be approved in Nunavut, impacting many Inuit communities.
I want to ask the minister if he has read the report by the Standing Committee on the Status of Women from its study of violence against indigenous women and girls in the context of resource development and what his response is to make sure indigenous women are being protected, especially knowing that the resource sector is known to have more frequent cases in making indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people in the category of being lost through MMIWG.
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- May/2/23 9:06:04 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I thank the minister for her intervention. I know she has been a minister for many years, and I know she has heard from many first nations, Métis and Inuit over her time as a politician in many different portfolios.
I am sure she has heard from families, survivors and advocates who are calling on the federal government to declare the continued loss of indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people a Canada-wide emergency. Indeed, that is what the motion calls for. I wonder if the minister supports this call.
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- May/2/23 9:34:33 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the motion specifically asks that more immediate and substantial investments be created, including a red dress alert system. We know that the infrastructure already exists for this because of the amber alert.
With the red dress alert system, we can do a better job of ensuring that indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are protected right at the time that they are considered missing or murdered. Does the member agree that there needs to be immediate action to ensure that the red dress alert system is put in place?
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