- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Louis-Saint-Laurent
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 63%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $128,105.00
- Government Page
- Apr/15/24 2:00:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps saying that nothing is more important than the relationship with first nations. After eight years, nothing could be further from the truth, to say the least.
Here we have another example involving Wendake, that I have the honour of representing in the House of Commons. Parks Canada is preparing to transfer to Gatineau Wendat artefacts that are currently on the traditional territory. The decision was made without properly consulting the first nation. As Grand Chief Vincent told the Journal de Québec, “if the government does not follow consultation protocols, then we will see what action we will take. ...To us, what is happening right now is unacceptable.”
This is nothing new. Seven years ago I sounded the alarm, but the Liberal government did nothing. It is an unacceptable situation, especially considering that Wendake runs a magnificent hotel-museum that preserves and exhibits the artefacts. The hotel-museum was built and inaugurated in March 2008 with the Conservative government.
It is time for the government to stop saying one thing and doing the opposite and start respecting the will of the Wendat people.
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- Mar/22/23 2:20:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the past seven years, the Wendake community, which I have the honour of representing here in the House of Commons, has been working on an exciting project for first nations and the entire Quebec City area.
It involves developing the National Defence land in Sainte‑Foy, which is located near Laurier Québec and the hospital. This project will create over 1,000 housing units, such as social and health-related housing, as well as indigenous commercial spaces, public, commemorative and historic spaces, with the help of veterans, and spaces for other first nations.
The Wendake project already has the support of the City of Quebec, veterans and Laval University. It is fair to say that everyone in Quebec City supports this project and wants to see it happen. All that it needs to go forward is the green light from the federal government.
Let us be proud. Let us move forward with this project, which promotes reconciliation with first nations and furthers their economic self-reliance.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to participate in this debate, especially after my colleague's eloquent speech. There was one line that will stay with me for a long time.
He said that they do not want to see the first nations stakeholders as real, true partners. I love that line.
We are here today for the final stage of the bill that will establish the national council for reconciliation. I am always filled with pride and emotion when I rise to speak on an issue that affects first nations. I have the great honour and privilege of being the member of Parliament for Louis-Saint-Laurent thanks to the support and assistance of the people of this riding. I represent the people of Wendake, an indigenous community in the Quebec City area that is well known and well established. We know that the Wendat have been here since the dawn of time, but they are more permanently settled in the northern part of Quebec City. They have been there for more than 300 years. As a result, ours is a fruitful, extraordinary, exemplary and, I would say, very inspiring relationship for all Canadians and all first nations. I will have the opportunity to come back to this later.
Obviously, we agree that this national council for reconciliation needs to be created. We believe that it is a step forward in order to improve the way indigenous and non-indigenous people work, grow and live together.
I would like to acknowledge the outstanding work done by my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. I am glad I got that right. If there is one thing I do not like about my job at the federal level, it is the interminable riding names. I will never run for Speaker of the House, because I will never be able to remember even two names. The current Chair occupants can rest assured that they do not have a potential opponent in me.
I think that my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River did an excellent job of properly examining this bill. In the beginning, he spoke out about the shortcomings in the original version. It is important to point out that it took a long time for this bill to be introduced, debated and passed in the House of Commons. In fact, the government first talked about it back in December 2017. We know that there was an election, and then another one. We know that Parliament was prorogued because the Prime Minister did not want us to get to the bottom of the WE Charity scandal, so the government kept putting the bill off. Now here we are five years after the first draft. It has taken way too long to get here.
My colleague also mentioned problems related to transparency and independence when it comes to the appointment of members of this national council. We are also wondering about the soundness of the results. How can we determine whether this council is achieving real, concrete, relevant and successful results when we believe there were shortcomings at that point?
It is the same thing when it comes to accountability. The definition was far too vague, in our opinion. We wanted this council to report directly not to the minister responsible for indigenous-government relations, but to the Prime Minister himself. In fact, it was one of the recommendations of the 2015 report.
My colleague led the clause-by-clause study and went about it in a positive and constructive way to improve this bill. No fewer than 19 amendments were introduced by my colleague. The fact that 16 of those 19 amendments were accepted is proof that the work was taken seriously and completed diligently. A 17th amendment was almost adopted, but unfortunately, a partner walked away at the last second.
I congratulate and thank the colleagues from the other parties, but a special honour goes to the colleague who proposed these amendments for the good of the bill and to properly advance this bill. We owe a debt of gratitude to my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. When I say “we”, I mean us parliamentarians, but especially us Canadians and the first nations, for the ability to work well with this national council for reconciliation.
Therefore, we will be voting in favour of this bill, which had 16 amendments that were proposed by my colleague from the official opposition and that improved the bill.
I think it is quite important to remind everybody we are not talking about a brand new start. It is part of our Canadian history. When we talk about first nations, we all have to recognize, as proud Canadians, as we should be, if there was something wrong in our past. There is the fact that the relations we had with our first nations were not very good, for century after century.
We could talk about the fact that, all around the world, the big countries have to address that kind of issue. Yes, that is for sure. However, it is not because the rest of the world was not good that we have to be okay with the fact that we were not good. This is why I think this is a step forward and a way to address it correctly.
I would like to remind members that I was not in the House to witness that great moment on June 11, 2008. Many people currently sitting in this House were there. For the first time in history, the Government of Canada, through its prime minister the Right Hon. Stephen J. Harper, formally apologized to first nations for the horrors committed at residential schools.
For the first time, the only time in our parliamentary Canadian history, we saw a first nation leader here in the House, listening to the formal apology and the national excuses from a Prime Minister and answering to that.
The only time a first nation leader has spoken directly to Canadians in the House of Commons was in 2008 under former prime minister Stephen Harper. Whatever we can say, whatever happens, whatever party we are, we have to be proud of this great Canadian moment in our history.
What happened after the apology? The Prime Minister made sure that it was not the last step. Rather, it was the beginning of what was to be reconciliation. He created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. For five years, this commission travelled from coast to coast, and it was both studious and thorough in its work. I remember because I was a provincial MNA, and I attended one of the hearings in Wendake.
Thousands of citizens and thousands of first nations people testified to the horrors of a shameful stain on Canadian history, our history: residential schools that were designed to kill the Indian in the heart of each child. It is terrifying to think about, to think that it happened for generations, for over 100 years. Thousands of people still bear the scars today.
Yes, what happened is serious and it must be recognized. Yes, there was an apology. Yes, the commission was created. It tabled reports and over 90 recommendations in 2015. Some will remember the reactions we had at that time: Yes, this needed to be acknowledged.
I would like to remind members that six specific recommendations, calls to action 71 through 76, directly addressed the issue of burial sites and cemeteries. When graves were discovered two years ago, everyone suddenly grasped the horror of what had happened, but where were those people when the public apology was delivered in 2008? Where were they during the six years when the commission was investigating what happened to first nations? Where were they in 2015 when the report was tabled with specific actions for addressing this problem?
That is what happens when a relationship that is unequal, disrespectful and unproductive persists for centuries. Today we are passing a law that will create a national council for reconciliation. It will never be enough, but it is a step in the right direction that we applaud.
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- May/19/22 10:23:09 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would be pleased to welcome the minister to Wendake once the situation is resolved.
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- May/19/22 10:21:31 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, soon I will have been living in Loretteville for 58 years. I am turning 58 soon. I know the area like the back of my hand. I have had close, personal friends there from childhood, and I can say one thing: Wendake did not become urban overnight. Wendake has always been embedded in an urban area.
In 2022, Canada Post is unable to recognize that Wendake is in an urban area. This penalizes the Wendat by forcing them to pay a 30% surcharge to ship goods through Canada Post. This also has an impact on the price of insurance, because insurance is based on postal codes. The consequences are significant.
It is not true that Wendake has suddenly become urban. Wendake has always been surrounded by Quebec City neighbourhoods.
We are calling on the minister to act immediately. With the stroke of a pen, this situation could be resolved.
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- May/19/22 10:19:30 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the minister for her answer. I can see that she has worked on this file over the past few days, which is a good thing. That said, we are not seeing results.
Right now, it costs 30% more to send something from Wendake than to send it from my home in Loretteville, even though I live less than a kilometre from Wendake. That is totally unfair, unacceptable and wrong, especially for a government that prides itself and boasts about its lofty principles with respect to the first nations.
Three weeks ago, on April 29, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates, when she was answering a question from my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, the minister said that they were aware of the situation and were looking into it.
They need to do more than just look into it. This situation needs to be fixed. When does the minister plan to fix this situation, which is completely unfair to the Wendat people?
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- May/19/22 10:16:05 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, tonight I am very proud to be part of this extraordinarily fast-paced exercise, which is also very informative for all Canadians. It is wonderful. Democracy is winning tonight.
I am speaking to my colleagues from my constituency office, with good reason. I have the great privilege of representing the community of Wendake, which is part of my riding. That is why my colleagues will see the Canadian flag, the provincial flag and the flag of Wendake behind me. I am very proud to represent the Wendake First Nation and to defend their interests and concerns as best I can. However, there is one concern in particular that I just could not wrap my head around when someone from Wendake brought the situation to my attention.
Wendake is located in the middle of my riding and is therefore surrounded by several of Quebec City's suburban neighbourhoods. About 50,000 people live within a three-kilometre radius of Wendake. In short, Wendake is in an urban environment. Oddly enough, according to the postal code established by Canada Post, Wendake is not in an urban area, but rather in a remote region that is isolated and far from any major cities. That is all false, but unfortunately what I am saying is true. The postal code corresponds to a remote region, whereas Wendake is really embedded in a city. This situation has gone on for too long. We have already discussed this issue in the House and in committee. I will have the opportunity to come back to it.
I would like the minister responsible for Canada Post to tell us what she thinks of this situation, which is totally unfair and unacceptable to the Wendake First Nation.
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- May/13/22 11:24:17 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a different subject, Quebec City encircles the first nation community in Wendake, which I represent here in the House of Commons.
Oddly enough, according to Canada Post, the postal code for Wendake identifies it as a rural delivery area. As a result, it can cost up to 30% more to insure and mail packages. That is totally unfair and unacceptable.
Will the minister responsible for first nations acknowledge that this makes no sense and that we need to fix this problem at once?
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- Apr/28/22 2:12:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Wendake is right in the middle of the Louis-Saint-Laurent riding and it is surrounded by Quebec City, but Canada Post has assigned Wendake a postal code that classifies it as a remote area far from urban centres.
As a result, businesses and residents in Wendake pay up to 30% more to have goods delivered, all because of a postal code that in no way reflects their reality. This is happening in Wendake, in my riding, but it is also happening in a number of other indigenous communities near urban centres.
Wendake business owner Guillaume Boulianne wrote to me to say, and I quote: “This concrete example of systemic racism on the part of a federal Crown corporation is directly affecting economic development in our communities. Not only is this situation ludicrous, but it is also unfair.”
I urge the government to take swift action and to do what needs to be done to ensure that Canada Post selects postal codes based on geography, not the community. On top of just being common sense, it is a matter of respect.
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