- Member of Parliament
- Member of the Subcommittee on Review of Parliament’s involvement with associations and recognized Interparliamentary groups
Deputy whip of the Bloc Québécois
Member of the Joint Interparliamentary Council
- Bloc Québécois
- Manicouagan
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $175,049.14
- Government Page
- Dec/9/21 7:34:27 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-6
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will vote in favour of the motion.
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- Dec/9/21 7:32:27 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-6
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and will vote in favour of the motion.
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- Dec/9/21 7:27:45 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-6
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois agrees to apply the vote and is voting in favour of the motion.
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- Dec/8/21 10:02:26 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the minister is talking about colonialism as a thing of the past, but colonialism still exists today. What I heard was not a clear answer on where things stand. The minister talked about progress, but what meaningful action has been taken since 2018 with regard to reviewing the comprehensive land claims policy?
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- Dec/8/21 10:01:01 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to talk about another subject: the comprehensive land claims policy.
On February 14, 2018, the Liberal government announced a recognition and implementation of indigenous rights framework to replace the policy at the time, the comprehensive land claims policy. Three years on, we are still waiting for that framework, and in the meantime, we passed Bill C‑15 to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I would like to know where we are at on the policy.
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- Dec/8/21 10:00:47 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to thank the minister and ask him to provide an answer in writing.
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- Dec/8/21 10:00:06 p.m.
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Madam Chair, can the minister tell me the amount of funding requested by the government in the supplementary estimates (B) for the same cause?
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- Dec/8/21 9:58:35 p.m.
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Madam Chair, [Member spoke in indigenous language].
[Translation]
Going back to the date, it may have been a few days before. I am not going to argue about the dates, but we can agree that the announcement was made before the election was called. However, whenever we are in an election period, nothing happens; nothing gets done.
I understand, of course, that there are a number of projects, and $320 million was mentioned. I would like to know where the approved projects are at and where we are in terms of the budget. What amounts have been allocated to the projects that have been selected so far? I realize that there are others that are still being analyzed.
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- Dec/8/21 9:55:56 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would remind the minister that I am glad that $6 billion has been invested, but that amount was for all of Canada. Quebec alone needs more than $4 billion over the next five years, as I mentioned earlier. The amount of federal funding is $6 billion, yes, but so far only $2.8 billion has gone out the door for all of Canada.
Quebec therefore has a $4‑billion shortfall. We must also consider what this could mean for Canada and remember that the $6 billion covers only the next five years. Nothing is planned for after that, which means we will have another shortfall. That amount is simply not enough, and I wanted to point that out.
People will correct me if I am wrong, but according to everyone I have spoken with, housing is a cornerstone of first nations development and well-being. Nevertheless, I would like to raise some other issues.
I would like to talk about residential schools, which were mentioned earlier. This matter came up five days before the election.
The Prime Minister announced an investment that the minister said earlier was in the tens of thousands of dollars, but it is more like $320 million over three years to fund searches for unmarked graves, as well as the demolition or rehabilitation of former residential school sites.
That $320 million was announced five days before the federal election was called. After the election, some time went by before Parliament opened, and we see that we have not made much headway. I would like to know where we are today on this file that essentially amounts to an election promise.
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- Dec/8/21 9:54:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am very glad to hear the minister talk about the pandemic, which might have exposed and exacerbated needs and challenges in various sectors.
I would like to remind that minister that the Viens commission report said the housing problem had “emerged as the epicentre of many of the issues faced by the First Nations and Inuit”. According to the indigenous leaders I speak to in their capacity as community representatives, one of the biggest problems they have to tackle is housing, which is the root cause of many other problems, difficulties and even tragedies.
I would like to know if housing is a priority for the government, if not its top priority, as it is for band councils and chiefs.
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- Dec/8/21 9:52:32 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I agree that it can be complex. That is why we separatists like it when things are simpler, when there are fewer levels of government and fewer parties involved.
Overall, the AFNQL is representative. It represents its members and knows what is going on. It has an excellent view of what is happening in communities, and it knows what they need.
Is the government not concerned that by under-investing, it is deferring expenditures that will become even more significant in future? We spoke about northern communities. Construction is an issue in the north, whether it is on the territory of the Naskapi in Quebec or in Cree and Inuit communities.
At the same time, the reality is that indigenous communities are very young. There are many families and many children, and we are unable to house them. It is not necessarily about geography, but about demographics. With money, I would hope that we can do it. We are not fighting the climate but a dire lack of funding.
There is already a shortfall. In the minister's view, if we fail to make sufficient investments now, will we be further postponing investments of even greater amounts in housing for indigenous communities?
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- Dec/8/21 9:50:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I completely agree with the minister. That would be a luxury for me; I cannot split myself in three. There are just not as many of us, as my colleagues know, so we always have to do more.
In fact, as the minister said—and this is just an aside before my next question—the AFNQL has figured it out already and has been aware of these needs for decades now. I invite the minister, his staff and all the teams of people who could work together to address those needs to get in touch with the associations. They already know the details, so I am sure they would be delighted to collaborate.
Everyone agrees that there is a major gap and that it cannot just be closed. There is no plan for after those five years are up. We need a long-term plan. Five years is not a long time. It is very likely one Parliament given that this is a minority government. How is the government planning to close the resulting gaps?
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- Dec/8/21 9:48:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as the indigenous affairs critic for the Bloc Québécois, I do not have the luxury of being able to split the minister across the way into three so I will address him on different topics.
First, I would like to talk about housing. In its budget statement, the government allocated $6 billion over five years to be invested across Quebec and Canada. After the announcement, the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, or AFNQL, indicated that this was a step in the right direction but that it was not enough to build, repair and maintain housing in indigenous communities.
In 2018, the AFNQL determined that Quebec alone needed $3.9 billion for five years. Not to speak for the first nations, they are saying so themselves, but the Bloc Québécois used the AFNQL projection and determined that a $4.3‑billion investment over five years was needed for Quebec communities alone, including $400 million for Inuit communities.
With inflation and the growing problems resulting from the housing shortage, which we we saw in indigenous communities during the COVID‑19 crisis, we can expect that estimate will need to be even higher.
Does the minister agree with me and the AFNQL that $6 billion is not enough to meet the housing needs of first nations in Quebec?
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