- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Indigenous Services
Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
- Liberal
- Thunder Bay—Superior North
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $142,376.94
- Government Page
- May/29/24 11:46:44 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my second question is about a shelter I ran in Thunder Bay, It offered a needle exchange program supported by the local health unit. We wanted to help with the program's goals of reducing HIV and hepatitis C transmission, and collect used needles more safely.
Can the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions share why, despite the attack of federal Conservative members, provinces, including those with Conservative premiers, continue to fund this essential public health measure?
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- Apr/10/24 2:33:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for decades and decades, Canada has underinvested in indigenous communities, and the Liberal government is putting a stop to that. We have increased funding for housing on first nations by 1,100%. While we know there is a long way to go, I want to thank the AFN for co-writing this report with us. It is very important to understand the size of the gap so that we can work even more quickly to close it together.
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- Feb/5/24 12:28:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first of all, let me say that I have travelled across this country and visited with first nations people in every province and territory. Universally, the conversation has always started with a deep recognition that water is indeed life, and in fact, water itself has life and is an important element of being custodians and protectors of this planet we all call home.
I want to acknowledge the member's long-standing work on protecting the environment. I am glad she is looking at the bill so closely in her usual fashion.
I will say that the second important element of the five elements in the bill actually commits the Government of Canada to ensure that first nations have the resources and the funding they need to maintain and to operate their water systems, which would be inclusive of recruiting and training new water operators on an ongoing basis. The work on determining how to do that funding would be done and developed with first nations so that it would be truly a collaborative process, rather than one that would be dictated by the federal government to first nations.
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- Feb/5/24 12:23:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her passion for clean water. I share her dismay that this country, in many ways, has led to discriminatory policy and funding for first nations. In fact, that is why we are here today.
Discretionary funding for water safety has been part of the government's shameful legacy, and we are changing that with this legislation. In fact, not only would this legislation install tools and protection for first nations that are enforceable; it would also create the capacity and partnerships with provinces and territories that play a huge role in protecting the water that feeds first nations.
Finally, this law would enshrine the right for first nations people to have equitable funding, like that of non-indigenous communities, for the protection of their water sources, something that has been sorely lacking. First nations partners would have the ability to develop those funding models, together with the Government of Canada, to ensure that we never find ourselves in this situation again.
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- Nov/30/23 3:21:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is too bad that the former leader of the opposition did not listen to the Chiefs of Ontario for over a decade as the infrastructure gap grew and grew, as children suffered with discriminatory first nations child welfare, as education rates and levels were underfunded per capita—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/9/23 2:48:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to talk about the investments we are making and the announcement the government made just this week to fund 22 shelters, including shelters for women and for 2SLGBTQ people fleeing domestic violence and intimate partner violence. We have worked with communities to make sure these shelters will be appropriate and custom built. By the way, they will be supported with operational funding, so the communities will have the certainty that when there is trouble at home, there is a place to go.
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- Mar/10/23 11:47:13 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have heard, and I am certain that my colleague has seen in his practice over many years, the experiences that indigenous people have in our health care systems, every single day, that are rife with racism and with systemic discrimination. That is why I am so pleased that the Prime Minister announced a $2-billion indigenous health equity fund that will help to end the systemic discrimination that members of our communities all across the country are facing, like Joyce Echaquan.
I want to thank the Prime Minister for this inclusion, and I want to thank the member for his work in this space.
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- Oct/6/22 3:10:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for her constant advocacy for equity and for indigenous-led and indigenous-designed mental wellness strategies. In fact, that is what we were announcing today with Natan Obed, president of ITK. We announced an additional top-up of $11 million for the work ITK is doing with partners across the territories.
I will say that promise is being shown in these indigenous-led approaches. It was an honour to be with ITK president, Natan Obed, today to announce that the federal government will top up the funding ITK has by $11 million.
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- May/4/22 9:35:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I do not agree with the member's assessment, although I do agree with her firm commitment to ongoing sustainable and equitable funding for indigenous communities.
I will say that the $2.2 billion in budget 2021 was about the framework for the actions and the plan. The billions of dollars in budget 2022 over many different files relate to indigenous communities for housing and infrastructure and continue the work on ending boil-water advisories. There is $500-plus million for wellness and mental health, and those commitments will continue to underpin those actions and ensure that the multi-faceted action plan can indeed be brought to life in communities across the country.
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