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Member of Parliament

Niki Ashton

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • NDP
  • Churchill—Keewatinook Aski
  • Manitoba
  • Voting Attendance: 61%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $142,937.96

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 265 - Dec/11/23
Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, NDP)
  • Dec/11/23 8:14:47 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am tremendously honoured to follow my colleague from Nunavut. Tonight, we have an obligation to speak out against the reduction in spending, the cuts, in Indigenous Services Canada, given the dire needs of indigenous communities. We in the NDP are clear. A reduction of $7.6 billion in Indigenous Services spending is unacceptable. It flies in the face of the Liberals' commitment to reconciliation. It repeats a colonial approach long waged by Liberal and Conservative governments that have cut spending to indigenous communities. It will further impoverish indigenous communities, which are already the most marginalized in this country. I would like to speak about the riding that I have the honour of representing, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, and the reality that our region faces. I am honoured to represent 41 first nations, from Saugeen all the way to the Sayisi Dene. Each first nation is different, but they all share a common reality today, which is rooted in the neglect and the underfunding shown by Canada. Let me be clear about some of the needs. Last Friday, I stood, along with my colleague from Nunavut, with Chief Harper of Wasagamack First Nation and first nations grand chiefs and chiefs from across Manitoba in calling on Canada to work with Wasagamack and partners to build an airport in their community, which is one of the largest, most isolated communities in Canada. Over 4,000 people are without a road or an airport. It is a community that relies on ice roads, which are in peril because of climate change. Tataskweyak Cree Nation needs its school replaced after years of it falling into disrepair. Red Sucker Lake, one of the first nations that the army helped during the pandemic, has issued yet another boil water advisory. They are clear. They need water pipelines. The current system is making their people sick. Shamattawa, ravaged by numerous house fires over the past year, and yet another community disproportionately impacted by COVID, is clear. It needs 50 homes. Bloodvein, a community on the front lines of huge wildfires, has been clear with ISC for more than a year. It needs a fire truck and somewhere to store it. Peguis, a community forcibly relocated onto a flood plain, needs flood protection in the face of the climate emergency. Mathias Colomb needs help in pushing forward on its water treatment plant, which has begun but has stalled. York Factory, Bunibonibee, Manto Sipi, God's Lake, St. Theresa Point, Garden Hill, Red Sucker Lake and Wasagamack need all-weather road access now, given the fact that climate change is further isolating these communities. Every single one of these needs is known to Indigenous Services Canada. Many of them have been known for years. These are the realities of the $350-billion infrastructure gap that first nations face in Canada. It is pretty galling that the Liberals are standing up to talk about the investments they have made in the face of a $350-billion infrastructure gap, knowing, as we now know, that they are prepared to cut $7.6 billion in their spending. Let us be clear. On the infrastructure gap, they have spent less than 3% of what is needed to end the gap since 2015, yet we still have to listen to Liberals talk about how good the situation is. The reality is that the Government of Canada is failing first nations, and abject cruelty will come from the cuts that they are planning. The idea that they might cut Jordan's principle is shocking, given the absolute need at the community level, as well as the idea that they would not spend on addressing the housing crisis on reserve, given the fact that we know, based on waiting lists of hundreds of people, how acute that housing crisis is. We now know, from the pandemic, that the overcrowded housing, the inadequate housing, contributed to the disproportionate spread of COVID-19 and indigenous people getting more sick than others across our country. We see failures from this government time and time again. I want to acknowledge the deep cuts and the pain caused by previous Conservative governments, the Harper government. I will say, as many have said, that the cracks are showing. Many have pointed out that the Liberals are not doing the job when it comes to reconciliation and living up to their commitments to first nations. This is no way to treat people, much less the first nations this government claims is its most important relationship. These cuts will only bring harm. First nations are watching. The world is watching. Canada can, and must, do better.
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