44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 3, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/3/23 11:47:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the long and painful legacy of Canada's neglected Métis people has and continues to have horrific impacts on Métis children. Métis families in British Columbia deserve a child welfare system that centres them, their culture and their future. Today, it fails to do that. Métis children deserve to know that, when their families need support, they will get that support from those who understand the most: their families.
When will the government meet honourably with Métis Nation British Columbia to ensure that Métis children in the province do not continue to fall through the cracks?
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- Nov/3/23 2:09:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased today to rise to speak to Motion No. 75 regarding Polish heritage month.
It is no secret that in Edmonton and right across Treaty 6 land and much of the Prairies, Polish Canadians have not only found peace and prosperity, but have also found, in many ways, the steps, materials and time to build relations with so many other groups. It is a great day, particularly for me, to speak to the unique history Canada has, a history that has welcomed newcomers as early as the 1600s and that also includes when the first Poles arrived in the 1880s. This has been something I think most Canadians may not be aware of, and I think it is incumbent upon all of us to remind them that there are so many folks, including the great many Polish Canadians right across the Prairies, who have contributed to the very early building of Canada. This history is what so many Canadians may take for granted in this very difficult time for our country. When it first started to be built, there is no question that many of those people sacrificed much of what they needed, and made sacrifices with respect to whom they brought with them. There was also immense work and sacrifice to rebuild and restart, coming from so far away.
Canada is a relatively new country to the west. Many indigenous people, including my family, have been here for millennia. In 1867, the Crown, by way of Queen Victoria, asserted jurisdiction over huge swathes of land here in Canada. Indigenous people took the opportunity to find peace and prosperity with our Crown partners by way of treaty, and it was not until the question of treaty, and particularly the historic numbered treaties, was answered that other folks could come to Canada. The Crown had to do a really big job. It had to delineate who could be present in North America, at that time known as “British North America”. British North America, for a long period, did not occupy much of western Canada, so western Canada was devoid of many persons of European descent other than those who entered the fur trade.
Later, in 1876, Treaty 6, on which land most Polish Canadians now find themselves, was signed. It was signed at Fort Pitt and Fort Carlton on the North Saskatchewan River. That treaty is so important for Canadians and, in particular, members of Parliament. We must understand how important these treaties are in order to better understand why Canadians are here, why we have the great mosaic we have today and why we celebrate and lift up Polish Canadians and so many others. It was in 1876 that our indigenous ancestors and many Canadian forebears came together at those places on the North Saskatchewan River, and we signed an agreement. I will read a portion of Treaty 6, and I hope many members can take an opportunity later today or in the many months to come to read some of the historic treaties here in Canada, because they directly relate to how many peoples, including Polish Canadians, found themselves in our Prairies.
Treaty 6, in the preamble, states:
that it is the desire of Her Majesty to open up for settlement, immigration and such other purposes as to Her Majesty may seem meet, a tract of country bounded and described as hereinafter mentioned, and to obtain the consent thereto of Her Indian subjects inhabiting the said tract, and to make a treaty and arrange with them, so that there may be peace and good will between them and Her Majesty.
Today, indigenous people right across our country, here on Turtle Island, continue to lift up and acknowledge our obligations to treaty, and one of those obligations is to continue to ensure that those seeking peace, those seeking freedom and those seeking prosperity can continue to find those things across our country. Those historic treaties are so critical to the founding of this country and continue to be aspects on which many new Canadians rely in order to gain access to Canada.
Noted earlier today were some of the remarkable contributions made not only to this place, the House of Commons, by Polish Canadians, but even to the very founding of the prairie provinces much later on. Today, the diaspora of Polish Canadians is right across our country, and most particularly in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The first Polish immigration to Alberta was in the 1880s, and it followed those historic treaties I mentioned, four years prior to their first settlement.
I grew up with many stories, and with many Ukrainian and Polish folks in the northeast part of rural of Alberta. We traded and discussed. Today, for example, in the indigenous communities in Alberta's northeast, there are still artifacts and stories of those times of first settlement, including the trading of textiles and goods. There is no question that Polish Canadians have done not only so much to ensure the future of the provinces that we enjoy today but also the very hard work it took to ensure that there could be places for all of us to enjoy.
In the city of Edmonton, for example, many Polish Canadians pray and worship at the Holy Rosary church, where many of my own constituents attend and pray in peace. It is by the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. There is also The Canadian Polish Research Institute, an immense and extensive library of archives and history. It publishes excellent data that is driven by important research.
In addition to all of that, there is also the Canadian Polish Historical Society, which was established in the city of Edmonton. It is a great Canadian organization with the primary mission to promote the understanding and exploration of Polish history, customs and culture. It gathers and preserves significant historical documents that highlight the achievements of individuals of Polish heritage in Edmonton, and in all of Alberta, maintaining records of many Polish-Canadian immigrants.
I encourage members of the House to look to some of these organizations, in particular the Canadian Polish Historical Society, to see how they have contributed in so many ways to the communities we all know and love, specifically the members' own communities. For Polish Canadians, however, there is much more work to be done to ensure the promotion of their unique language, heritage and culture here in Canada. We have to urge the federal government to not only recognize Polish heritage month but also make sure we go further by ensuring there are tangible resources that promote Polish culture, heritage and learning among all Canadians.
Our country is truly great. It is great because of the qualities of diversity it holds so near and dear to its soul and its being, as manifested in the history of our country, as promised by first nations, Métis and Inuit persons to that of the Crown, to continue to ensure that new Canadians can find peace and prosperity here and that their histories are never forgotten.
Canada is a young country, and because Canada is a young country, it is so important that we lift up and hold sacred those stories that created the foundation that we all enjoy today. Following their immense work of building farms, townhomes and eventually villages and cities, Canada is a prosperous place because of those sacrifices. We need to fully acknowledge the immense contributions of many Canadians in the early settlement period, particularly those of Ukrainian, Polish and other eastern European individuals. Without them, we would not have a Canada.
I am so grateful and honoured to rise in support of Motion No. 75 on behalf of all New Democrats. We need to ensure that we continue to lift up Polish heritage and strive to ensure that their stories, unique perspectives and what they have to offer to Canada can continue for many more years to come. I am excited for us to vote on Motion No. 75 and to, hopefully, see swift and unanimous passage of Polish heritage month here in the House of Commons.
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