SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

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 - 285 - Feb/26/24
Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, NDP)
  • Feb/26/24 3:16:31 p.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians across the country are struggling with the rising cost of food, and it is even worse in northern and indigenous communities, where the lack of competition has allowed NorthMart, often the only option, to jack up the cost of food without consequence. The Liberals are choosing to stand with wealthy CEOs instead of helping families afford food. In addition to competition, first nations like Garden Hill need reliable all-weather roads to be able to bring in food and supplies. When will the Liberals stop subsidizing CEO profits, take on the grocery giants and stand up for northerners?
101 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 186 - Apr/27/23
Ms. Niki Ashton
  • Apr/27/23 11:44:09 a.m.
  • Watch
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the commonalities between northern Saskatchewan and northern Manitoba. I think we have to be very real about what is in front of us, and as I said, while there is good in the budget, there is also much more work that needs to be done. However, I certainly want to speak to the issue of cost of living. We absolutely need government to be part of the solution. What is also clear to me in terms of regions like ours, and certainly communities across the country, is that we are not taking on the companies that are making profits on the backs of some of the poorest communities in the country. For example, we have the nutrition north subsidy, which has not been reformed in ages, since the Harper government totally reshaped it for the benefit of the Northern Store. The reality is that a lot of communities cannot afford, even with the subsidy, to buy the kinds of healthy foods they need for their families. We need the federal government to be taking a hard look at the nutrition north subsidy and working with northern communities, indigenous communities, harvesters, trappers and organizations that want to make a difference in terms of food security. That is clearly not being done right now. I would say more broadly that, when we are talking about the cost of living crisis, we also need good jobs in our communities. I come from a mining town where the Harper government signed a deal with Vale, a Brazilian multinational. This deal led to the loss of every single refining job in my community. We lost almost all the value-added jobs, with some of the best salaries, in my hometown. Families left and have never come back. As such, if we are going to be real about what the government needs to do, I would take a hard look at the history of the way in which the Conservative government made life more difficult for northerners in my part of the country and do very differently. This is something we are not seeing much of from the Liberals. I can safely say that if we were in government, it would be a whole different story.
374 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border