44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 7:20:12 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I just want to start out by saying how much I appreciate working with my hon. colleague on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. We may be from different parties, but at the end of the day we all have a responsibility to end gender-based violence no matter who it is.
In the case of indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and trans women, we know we are disproportionately represented. My colleague spoke about resource extraction. In our committee we spoke about how companies often come into communities and there is no accountability in place for them to ensure there is any safety put in place for communities, including for women and girls in the communities or in the nations they are reaping wealth out of. I am wondering if she can comment on that.
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- May/2/23 8:40:02 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, what a pleasure it is to work with my hon. colleague on the status of women committee. We are in different political parties, yet we strive to find common ground on so many issues to fight for women.
Former Prime Minister Harper, at a time when we had to fight for a national inquiry, indicated in this House it was not on his radar when women were coming forward sounding the alarm around the ongoing genocide of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. That sparked my motivation to start, along with Rain Hamilton, the We Care campaign to fight for a national inquiry and to get allies on board to fight to put in place a national inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.
It is very nice to see the member from the Conservative Party supporting our calls for justice regarding a red dress alert. I encourage other members of her party to share her enthusiasm and compassion when it comes to trying to understand and address the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.
The crisis continues. One of the areas we know contributes to violence, which is something we talk about a lot in the status of women committee, is the need to implement a guaranteed livable basic income. All gender-based violence organizations have unanimously supported this call. If we want to deal with gender-based violence head on, then we need to implement a guaranteed livable basic income. That is something everybody seems to recognize.
We know there is a direct correlation between poverty and violence. We know that indigenous women and girls and trans women are some of the poorest in this country as a result of violent colonization and violent dispossession.
Does my colleague agree with me? Would she support a guaranteed livable basic income as a means to tackle gender-based violence in the country?
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- May/2/23 8:54:43 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I have the pleasure to work with my colleague on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She was talking about funding announcements.
I want to remind my colleague, with all due respect, of the announcement of cutting $150 million from shelters in September. We know rates of gender-based violence are increasing. Although the reasoning was emergency funding during the pandemic, the pandemic may be shifting, but the crisis of gender-based violence has been increasing and this cut is going to cost lives.
We talk about $55 million over five years. We know it is inadequate. I mentioned it to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. I know it is inadequate because people, indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, diverse-gendered individuals and trans women, continue to be murdered and go missing at crisis levels.
Just this week, we found out about a little child who had been murdered in Samson Cree Nation. Another woman in Sandy Bay, from the Roulette family, I found out has been murdered. This is a daily occurrence.
For the government to praise its investments makes me feel, as an indigenous woman, that we should be satisfied, when we clearly should not be satisfied. We are yelling in the streets of Winnipeg that we are not garbage. Can one imagine? This is not a time for celebration.
Although I really appreciate working with the member across the way on the status of women committee, I hope at the very least we can admit in this House the government and all governments have failed in investing to protect indigenous women and girls and diverse-gendered folks in this country. Can we please at least acknowledge that truth, because we are dying?
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- May/2/23 8:59:33 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, could the hon. member further elaborate on the national action plan to end gender-based violence and some of the concrete steps that might impact indigenous women and girls across the country?
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- May/2/23 8:59:47 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my hon. colleague for her advocacy and ongoing work.
I mentioned the national action plan to end gender-based violence and that we were able to announce an agreement in principle with the provinces and territories a few months back. As I said, this is almost half a billion dollars being invested back into our communities to help women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. We are working with the provinces and territories directly on their priorities and projects so they are able to ensure women and girls have a safe place to land at the end of the day.
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- May/2/23 10:44:56 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have the pleasure of serving with my hon. colleague on the status of women committee. I am really proud of our status of women committee. We come from different parties, but tonight we showed up in full force, fighting to end gender-based violence in all forms.
I am very moved by my colleague from the Bloc on a regular basis, by her allyship with indigenous women and her genuine desire to understand the issue and find solutions. One of the things that we have called for, or that has been talked about regularly, in the status of women committee is to implement a guaranteed livable basic income. Gender-based or women's organizations, the organizations that are trying to end violence against women, girls and gender-diverse folks, support, almost unanimously, the critical need for a guaranteed livable basic income if we are going to tackle gender-based violence.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls call for justice 4.5 calls for exactly that. I am wondering if my hon. colleague supports that.
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