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Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Hon. Marc Miller

  • Member of Parliament
  • Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
  • Liberal
  • Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 66%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $97,404.09

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 143 - Dec/7/22
Hon. Marc Miller (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)
  • Dec/7/22 8:32:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will note at the outset that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Sydney—Victoria. Kwe, ullukkut, tansi, hello and bonjour. I will also acknowledge this debate is taking place on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people as we acknowledge the horrific and devastating murder of four indigenous women in Winnipeg. This is a week where the expression “being treated like garbage” took on a tragic and literal meaning. These women were and are the victims of senseless violence. Their lives were taken from them. Their futures were stolen from them and their families. Each of them were cherished and loved by members of their families and communities. I had the privilege yesterday of meeting one of the families. I am obviously humbled by our conversations, and I want them to know, although I had little opportunity to speak as it was not my place, that I heard them. Nobody should have to go through this pain or the trauma of uncovering the truth. No one should have to struggle to obtain justice, and nobody should have to sift through the trash looking for their loved ones. In a sad twist of fate, yesterday was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It was a violent femicide when 14 women were killed and 13 others were injured at the École Polytechnique de Montréal 33 years ago. Quite frankly, I am disgusted by what is happening. There is a crisis involving the disappearance and murder of indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Together, as a nation and at various levels of government, we have the responsibility to respond to the calls for justice and to provide access to safe spaces and programs that help the most vulnerable to not be targeted. Canada needs to do better for all of the families, the survivors and the communities that have to live with the consequences. It was made clear in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that the federal government, all other levels of governments, the private sector and civil society each has a responsibility to address this national crisis that is ongoing. The report made clear that “jurisdiction” was a poisonous word and a word that contributes to the killing of indigenous women and girls. While we are focused on a very tragic murder and the circumstances surrounding it, as governments and as people, we need to focus on every step of the way that put these indigenous women and girls in the vulnerable situation they found themselves in. Today, women on the street perhaps face that same challenge. As a result of the final report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, Canada funded projects to support families and survivors, build cultural spaces and strengthen capacity for indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations, as well as launched indigenous-led data initiatives. This includes many initiatives in Manitoba that many members have spoken about. Over the past year, Canada has supported 65 cultural spaces and provided infrastructure investments that speak specifically to the priorities identified in call for justice 2.3. Despite these investments and despite the work we are doing to implement the calls to action, the progress is slow, and we keep failing indigenous women and girls across this country. Sadly, it is shameful that I am standing in the House saying that I do not know with any certainty whether any of those investments, had they been made in the places where they needed to be made, would have saved lives. I will not go on much longer with this speech, but I do want to say that as a nation we have a duty to keep breaking down jurisdictional boundaries and keep breaking down the silos within our own government that keep failing indigenous women and girls. As I have heard from the House tonight, this needs to be multipartisan. I welcome initiatives from the House. I welcome initiatives for increased oversight to make sure the federal government is doing its part in responding to this tragedy. No one should be bragging about what they are doing until every single indigenous woman, child and 2SLGBTQI+ person in this country is safe.
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Context: House Hansard - 141 - Dec/5/22
Hon. Marc Miller (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)
  • Dec/5/22 2:29:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our hearts go out to the families of the victims. It is not on a day like this that we can sit here and pat ourselves on the back about what we have been doing as a government. Obviously, it has not been enough. It is very puzzling to hear the news that this landfill will not be searched. I spoke to the mayor of Winnipeg yesterday about this and hope to get some clear answers shortly. Clearly, the federal government needs to play a role in an area where jurisdiction is a poisonous word and continues to kill indigenous women and children in this country.
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