Senator LaBoucane-Benson: Thank you for your question.

I’m not sure if they have rejected it because it’s prejudicial. I know that Natan Obed has concerns, absolutely. I look forward to hearing from him in committee and that robust discussion we’re going to have about the bill and his concerns. I think I will have more to say about that after committee study.

(On motion of Senator Martin, debate adjourned.)

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson: Honourable senators, I am once again very happy to be speaking on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg.

I am speaking today at the second reading of Bill C-29, the national council for reconciliation act. The council created by this bill would have a mandate to monitor, evaluate and report on reconciliation efforts federally and throughout Canadian society; highlight and share best practices; engage with Canadians to create a better general understanding of reconciliation and be a catalyst for innovation and action.

First, I want to express my sincere thanks to Senator Audette for sponsoring this legislation and bringing her experience to bear as a former commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

As she said in her remarks when we received the bill back in December:

. . . this bill is of vital importance. It is a step toward healing and reparation. . . .

. . . Bill C-29 gives us the opportunity to start laying the foundation for the shaputuan, the big tent of the Innus, or to take a step towards our collective responsibility. . . .

I agree that Bill C-29’s significance and potential is part of a landscape of reconciliation-focused bodies and organizations to help make lives better in her Innu territory, in my beloved Treaty 6 territory, here on the lands of the Algonquin and the Anishinaabeg people and for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people throughout Canada.

I also extend my thanks to the other senators who have contributed to the debate on the bill so far, including Senators Dupuis, Patterson, McCallum and Anderson. I have no doubt we all share the goal of making sure that reconciliation isn’t just a word but an accurate description of the way we live, the way we heal and the way we build a future together.

Over the course of our debate, we’ve heard concerns about some of the bill’s specifics, such as the national council for reconciliation’s composition and how it should be funded. These are important questions, senators, and I look forward to delving into them at the Indigenous Peoples Committee.

The main purpose of my remarks today is to address the matter of the bill’s genesis and the consultation and engagement process that preceded its introduction.

A couple of weeks ago, we heard Senator Anderson’s view that the process was deeply flawed, to the point that perhaps we should not advance Bill C-29 beyond second reading, at least for a time.

I have a different view. By the way, Indigenous leaders have been disagreeing with each other since time immemorial, so it should be no surprise that the Indigenous people in the Senate also have different perspectives on important pieces of legislation. I think it’s part of a healthy debate that results in good law.

The way I see it, Bill C-29 is the result of years of Indigenous-led efforts, beginning with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, or TRC. That commission, led by our former colleague the Honourable Murray Sinclair, spent years travelling across Canada, heard from more than 6,500 witnesses — most of whom were survivors of the residential school system — and issued 94 Calls to Action.

Among those are Calls to Action 53 to 56, which advocate for the creation of a national council for reconciliation, with recommendations about how it should be resourced and how different levels of government could interact with it. Certainly, it wouldn’t be enough to go straight from the TRC Call to Action to legislation. An engagement process is required to get us from point A to point B, and I’m about to get to that, but I do think it’s important to keep the context in mind.

The idea of the national council for reconciliation wasn’t dreamed up in a brainstorming session in a boardroom on Wellington Street. It comes from the work of the TRC.

Next, in 2017, the government set up an interim board of First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders to advise the minister on how to begin turning the TRC idea into legislation and, ultimately, into a functioning council. Among the interim board members were people with backgrounds in Indigenous government, like Wilton Littlechild, former grand chief of Treaty 6; in community activism, like long-time Quebec Indigenous activist Édith Cloutier; in economic development, like Clint Davis, an Inuk who was a CEO of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business; and in Indigenous rights law, like Métis lawyer Jean Teillet.

In addition to bringing their own expertise to bear, the interim board created an online mechanism to receive written submissions on how the national council for reconciliation should be set up, and the interim board held a major engagement session in April 2018 with dozens of Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants from across the country with diverse backgrounds, experience and knowledge.

The participants included Melanie Omeniho, President of Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak; Jocelyn Formsma, a board member of the Indigenous Bar Association and CEO of the National Association of Friendship Centres; Maggie Emudluk Sr., President of the Nunavik Landholding Corporations Association; Harold Robinson, a Métis lawyer and mediator with the Canadian Human Rights Commission; Stephen Kakfwi, the former premier of the Northwest Territories and a residential school survivor; and Elder Claudette Commanda, the first Indigenous chancellor at the University of Ottawa.

A few months after that engagement session, later in 2018, the interim board delivered to the minister a report that served as the basis for the bill that is currently before us. That report was shared at the time with the Assembly of First Nations, with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council. This past February, senators, it was shared with all of you, along with a summary of the April 2018 engagement session.

One of the report’s recommendations was that an Indigenous-led transitional committee be established to conduct more targeted, technical engagements and review the draft legal framework to be developed by the government. Essentially, the first body — the interim board — made conceptual recommendations in advance and crafted an initial working draft of the bill, while the purpose of the second body — the transitional committee — was to do the more technical, detailed work of reviewing legislative language as the text got firmed up.

The transitional committee was appointed in January 2021, with some members carried over from the interim board as well as some new appointees. Earlier this year, the Senate had the opportunity to receive a briefing from several of them: Edith Cloutier, whom I mentioned earlier; Rosemary Cooper of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada; Mitch Case of the Métis Nation of Ontario; and Mike DeGagné, the former president of Nipissing University, Yukon University and the former CEO of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.

The transitional committee submitted its final report to the minister in March 2022. Then, the minister discussed the bill with the leaders of the Assembly of First Nations, or AFN, Métis National Council, or MNC, and Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, or ITK, in early May. Bill C-29 was introduced in late June.

So that was the process that got us from the idea’s inception by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or TRC, through to introduction last spring. There is more consultation to come, as required by subsection 13(2) of the bill, which says:

. . . the Council must consult with a variety of persons with relevant knowledge, expertise or experience, including elders, survivors of the discriminatory and assimilationist policies of the Government of Canada and Indigenous law practitioners.

The government has deliberately avoided being overly prescriptive about the details of how the council will operate, leaving considerable room for the council itself to engage further with individuals and organizations as it develops its methods and procedures and determines its areas of focus. Still, it is certainly legitimate to believe that consultations thus far should have been more extensive, that a wider net should have been cast or that more or different people should have been involved in more or different ways.

I do not, however, accept that the process I have described can be dismissed as “unserious.” On the contrary, this bill is the result of a lot of work done by impressive, credible, eminent Indigenous peoples — First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples with capacity. These are Indigenous leaders with considerable experience and expertise. We owe them the respect of sending this bill to committee, inviting them to testify and engaging conscientiously with the product of their work.

Speaking of respect, the sponsor of Bill C-29 in our chamber is also an impressive, credible, eminent Indigenous leader who’s not exactly a novice on the subject of engagement with Indigenous people and organizations. That doesn’t mean we all have to agree with Senator Audette or vote the way she would like us to — although I’m sure she would like us to — but I hope it means that our collective approach to this bill will be studious, thoughtful and devoid of derision.

It’s also important to remember that we are not Bill C-29’s first point of contact with the Parliament of Canada. A couple weeks ago, Senator Tannas raised the example of the old Bill S-3, which the Senate held at committee for several months in 2016 and 2017 while the government conducted additional consultations. But that was a bill introduced in our chamber before the members of the other place had a chance to weigh in.

In this instance, we’re talking about legislation that has already been considered and adopted by our colleagues up the street. Their Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee held eight meetings on it last fall. They heard from 38 witnesses, made several amendments and MPs from all parties ultimately gave this legislation their unanimous support, including First Nations, Inuit and Métis members of Parliament Lori Idlout from Nunavut, Michael McLeod from the Northwest Territories, Jaime Battiste from Nova Scotia, Marc Dalton from B.C., Leah Gazan from Winnipeg and Blake Desjarlais — my friend — from Edmonton.

That doesn’t mean we’re obligated to set aside any concerns we might have — absolutely not; it’s quite the opposite. It’s our turn now to subject this legislation to senatorial scrutiny. But when the people’s elected representatives have completed an extensive study and sent us a bill that they all believe is worthy of support, our job — at minimum — is to get it to committee and conduct our own extensive study.

We will undoubtedly hear testimony at committee from the bill’s architects and supporters, as well as from people who have been making criticisms and asking questions about it. I’m keen to hear from all such witnesses and to ask them questions of my own, including about the consultation process. I am also eager to analyze Bill C-29 in detail with the benefit of their input.

Committee study will be a further opportunity for Indigenous voices to be heard, for differing viewpoints to be considered and for senators to determine if there are ways in which the legislation can be improved. That is at the core of the Senate’s institutional role, which is to serve as a complementary chamber in this bill’s legislative journey.

I’m under no illusions that a single bill can achieve reconciliation. But in the last few years, we’ve had the opportunity to support bills about Indigenous languages, child welfare and land management; bills addressing overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the criminal justice system; bills implementing self-governance agreements; and, of course, Bill C-15 regarding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In my view, Bill C-29 is an important element in this series of legislative measures, with many more to come.

Once again, I thank Senator Audette for sponsoring the bill, and I thank all senators who have participated in this debate. Even when we disagree about particular legislative measures, I know we share the ultimate goal of meaningful, impactful reconciliation.

In that spirit, I hope committee study of Bill C-29 can begin soon.

Hiy hiy.

Hon. Patti LaBoucane-Benson: Honourable senators, on behalf of the government, I rise today to speak to Bill S-250, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures). I am so honoured to support Senator Boyer’s important work, as well as bring the message that the government welcomes the tabling of this important legislation and supports the bill in principle at second reading.

As this chamber well knows, Senator Boyer has been working tirelessly to raise awareness on the horrific practice of forced and coerced sterilization. On several occasions, she has informed the chamber of this violation of human rights and serious breach of medical ethics in our country’s history — but she has also explained how this despicable practice continues today. Thanks to her advocacy, Senator Boyer was instrumental in having the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights examine forced and coerced sterilization more closely. This culminated in the report entitled The Scars that We Carry: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Persons in Canada — Part II, which was tabled last summer.

As is too often the case, the committee found that it is the most vulnerable who have been most affected by forced and coerced sterilization. In the past, government policies explicitly sought to control and reduce the birth rate of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, as well as Black communities — and low-income Canadians, racialized Canadians and Canadians with disabilities have also been targeted. Though these explicit policies no longer exist, racist and discriminatory attitudes continue to lurk in some medical settings today, and it is the same vulnerable communities that continue to be the targets of these reprehensible practices. This is why Senator Boyer’s bill is so important. It shines light on yet another dark corner where racism and discrimination linger in this country.

Colleagues, Bill S-250 responds to Canada’s long history of colonization and the colonial policies that have disproportionately affected the health and well-being of Indigenous people and racialized Canadians. Preventing contraception and the capacity for reproduction is an assault on the very core of a person’s humanity, their well-being and their future, as well as the future of their communities.

By making specific mention of sterilization without consent in the Criminal Code, this bill would make this practice explicitly and specifically illegal under Canadian law. It would help protect some of the most vulnerable Canadians from doctors who not only hold discriminatory attitudes and breach professional ethics, but who also commit a violent criminal offence. No matter our race, ethnicity or socio-economic class, or whether we have a disability, every patient in this country must receive equal, professional and conscientious care. Every Canadian deserves this — period.

Bill S-250 would make the Criminal Code crystal clear that a patient’s prior informed consent is the foundation of any medical sterilization process.

Under this bill, a doctor must not only receive the patient’s consent, but also make clear that consent can be withdrawn at any time, including immediately before the procedure. The doctor must also be satisfied that the patient is not being pressured or coerced, and inform the patient about alternative methods of contraception.

Colleagues, it is important for us to take a moment and imagine a discussion on sterilization between a doctor and a patient. There can be a considerable power discrepancy in the relationship and, therefore, a risk that this power may be abused. It is for this reason that Bill S-250 puts in place safeguards. Consent is deemed not to have been granted if the patient is under 18 years old; the patient has not voluntarily initiated the request for the procedure; or they are incapable of consenting for any other reason. In other words, a medical practitioner must ensure that the patient — who is making such a life-altering, consequential decision — is ready, willing and fully informed.

Of course, with the assistance of their medical practitioner, a person may choose to undergo a sterilization procedure. For some people, this might be the right decision. Bill S-250 is a way of protecting people from being manipulated or simply forced to submit to sterilization by unscrupulous medical practitioners. It will not punish health care providers who are living up to their deontological code.

On March 3 of this year, the government provided a response to the Human Rights Committee’s study on forced and coerced sterilization. In it, Minister Duclos stated that the government recognizes the harms caused by coerced sterilization, and the pressing need to end this practice across Canada. According to the minister, the government is working with provincial and territorial partners to ensure that health services can be accessed without systemic bias and discrimination. Though health care is primarily the responsibility of the provinces and territories, the federal government is playing a role in ensuring that health services are provided in a culturally safe way — while combatting racism and discrimination in the medical sector. There is much work to be done, colleagues, but this bill is an important step in the right direction.

I understand that the Minister of Justice has met with Senator Boyer, the bill’s sponsor, and has committed to working with her and her team on possible modifications in order to move the bill forward while still reflecting its important intent. I look forward to seeing it progress, and hope it will be sent to committee as soon as possible.

Once again, I extend my profound gratitude to Senator Boyer for her perseverance. This initiative has my personal support, and I’m glad that the government supports it as well. Forced and coerced sterilization is a horrific practice that has scarred too many women, families and communities for too long. Bill S-250 will help make it stop. Thank you. Hiy hiy.