- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Nunavut
- Nunavut
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $178,285.32
- Government Page
- May/9/24 11:05:18 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, before 2013, there was a food mail program that was to help alleviate the prices of groceries.
During the former Conservative government, the food mail program that was going directly to consumers was changed to nutrition north. Nutrition north was changed so that the price of groceries was supposed to be reduced, but instead it has become a subsidy to protect corporate greed. For example, the North West Company had $200 million in profits, $67 million of that was subsidies from the federal government through the nutrition north program.
I wonder if the member could explain to the House what the Conservatives would do to make food more affordable, rather than protecting corporate greed. How would they help alleviate poverty in the communities?
124 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/29/24 1:39:54 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, I am always appalled at question period about how many resources other parties have to address issues. When I finally get my chance to ask questions in question period, I always ask about investments that go to Nunavut and indigenous communities. However, for the Conservatives, for example, a lot of their questions are limited to the carbon tax or something that does not advance the recognition and importance of indigenous peoples.
The two different topics that we are discussing today are so important. We should not be playing games, pretending to care about alleviating poverty against providing early child care and early child care development for all Canadians. It was quite an injustice to watch this morning and I really hope the Conservatives take more care in fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples, as well as the rest of Canada.
142 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/27/24 2:53:56 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, people in the north are paying enormous amounts for food as the CEOs of the grocery chains make millions of dollars. Nunavummiut have said for years that nutrition north is not working, and the government is ignoring them. Nutrition north is keeping many northerners in poverty as the subsidy is going to CEOs' profits, not lowering food prices.
Why is the minister padding the pockets of rich CEOs instead of helping northerners afford their groceries?
76 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/22/23 4:04:11 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, I rise to request an emergency debate on an issue of great importance to first nations and indigenous peoples across the country. The infrastructure gap for first nations was recently revealed to be almost $350 billion. This figure does not include gaps for Inuit and Métis communities. Underfunding to indigenous peoples has resulted in a crisis. It is an emergency, as indigenous peoples all across Canada are suffering. It must be debated as such.
The infrastructure gap means indigenous peoples will continue to suffer in overcrowded, unsafe homes and they will not be able to handle emergencies such as wildfires. It means crumbling schools, and it means Jordan's principle funding that will soon run out. It means boil water advisories that persist in 28 communities. We need investments now.
As parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to indigenous peoples in this country. We must come together to demand answers from the government on how it plans to bridge these gaps. The fall economic statement ignores the years of recommendations by auditors general, parliamentary budget officers, the TRC and MMIWG, just to name a few. Billions of dollars in Indigenous Services Canada programs will sunset. These programs will not be renewed. This is funding that communities rely on and it must be renewed. Further, there are still plans to reduce departmental spending and downsize staffing by over 1,000. This will affect service delivery and add to the already unacceptable backlogs. The status quo cannot continue. We cannot afford to wait any longer to lift indigenous communities out of the entrenched poverty the government forces them into.
An emergency debate would allow parliamentarians to get answers from the Minister of Indigenous Services regarding why her department refuses to commit to ending this infrastructure gap by 2030.
Mr. Speaker, I urge you to support this request for an emergency debate so we may come together as parliamentarians and demand funding that indigenous peoples desperately need.
326 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/22/23 3:22:28 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, in the fall economic statement, the Liberals showed that they are ending critical programs and services that indigenous peoples rely on. These decisions will keep indigenous peoples in poverty. This is at a time when the first nations infrastructure gap stands at $350 billion.
When will the government use the empathy it expresses and reconcile that with the funding so desperately needed to lift indigenous peoples out of poverty?
70 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Uqaqtittiji, when oppressed people have been led to poverty and have been suppressed for generations, the options they have become fewer.
The industry and the mining companies provide an option that looks attractive because governments are failing indigenous peoples. When indigenous peoples are saying they support it, it is because it is the only option left. I thank the Wet'suwet'en who continue to fight against the LNG project.
70 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Uqaqtittiji, I appreciated the member's animated intervention. I am a bit confused about what is going on with the debate, because we all know how important child care is and how much poverty there is in our communities, yet at this point we are debating a minor procedural matter.
I wonder if the member can explain why we are debating this minor procedural matter when we could be debating other more important ways to address poverty and ensure that children are getting the care that they need.
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/20/22 10:06:25 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, I have asked several times in the House about the nutrition north program, which is a federally funded program that is subsidizing for-profit companies, rather than helping people in poverty. Because of the subsidy that is being given to for-profit companies, people who are in poverty are suffering and are continuing to live in mental health conditions that they should not have to.
I really hope that we can do better to make sure that especially Arctic communities in my riding are able to have access to healthy, affordable and nutritious food.
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Uqaqtittiji, the North West Company is a for-profit corporation that benefits from the federal nutrition north program. In its last quarterly report it reported a 2.4% increase in sales to the tune of $579 million. Meanwhile, one in four indigenous Canadians lives in poverty. Does the member support corporate greed over indigenous poverty?
55 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I want to thank the member for North Island—Powell River. I have appreciated her leadership on this important issue.
Uqaqtittiji, from the beginning, the government has broken many promises made to Nunavummiut and indigenous peoples broadly, and specifically when it came to rolling out pandemic supports.
In this statement, I will paint a picture of the structural challenges Nunavummiut experience and highlight the importance of passing this important bill. Bill C-12 would fill a small gap in serving the needs of Nunavummiut; however, its insufficiency still presents a problem when one considers the structural challenges already in our wake.
Well before this pandemic, Nunavummiut have also been struggling with an affordability crisis, unemployment, poverty and food insecurity. The Government of Canada states that Nunavut has the highest cost of living. Roughly four in 10 residents of Nunavut are on social assistance, the highest proportion in the country. Basic needs like heating and electricity are even more expensive because almost all of Nunavut's electricity is generated from diesel fuel. There are 25 power plants operating in all of Nunavut's communities that run solely on diesel fuel to produce electricity.
In 2016, 18% of those of working age in Nunavut were unemployed. For the rest of Canada, that number was 7%. According to Food Banks Canada, 57% of households in Nunavut are food insecure and are unable to afford food for their families.
All the while Nunavummiut also continue to struggle amidst a housing crisis. A 2020 report from the Nunavut Housing Corporation said there are an estimated 56% of Inuit that live in overcrowded homes. The Government of Canada states that Nunavut has the highest number of people per household. Overcrowded housing is a central cause of the spread of COVID-19. Why are these structural challenges a persistent struggle for Nunavummiut?
Research from the First Nations Tax Commission notes that hundreds of millions of infrastructure proposals are shovel-ready; however, it currently takes about five times longer to make an indigenous project shovel ready compared to provincial systems.
Why do I share all of this? It is because there are too many structural challenges in the way for Nunavummiut, and they have been waiting far too long for redress by the federal government. Clawbacks on pandemic supports are just another structural failure hurting Nunavummiut, only it is not just another challenge. These failings on the most basic livelihood needs and rights compound and exacerbate the challenges experienced by Nunavummiut.
It is clear that Nunavummiut struggle with an affordability crisis. There is a prevailing struggle to feed families, keep houses warm and keep families safe and out of overcrowded housing, yet the government clawed back the supports Nunavut depended on. It is just not right.
Now that I have laid out this context, I would like to speak more to just how pandemic supports have not only failed Nunavummiut but deepened their struggles. In early fall 2020, the Government of Nunavut expressed fear of possible tax implications, repayment and impacts to social assistance. Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated asserted that many Nunavummiut thought it was a universal benefit and applied in good faith. Messaging was not accessible to Nunavummiut.
The Minister of Health in Nunavut, Minister Main, noted in January 2021 that there was a potential for his clients to get hammered with repayment requirements or clawbacks. Minister Main criticized communications around the CERB rollout in Nunavut saying there was no information provided in Inuktitut.
That, compounded by the lack of Service Canada offices in many Nunavut communities, led to rumours flying about what CERB was and who it was intended for. The Government of Canada later admitted that it had provided poor information.
According to Statistics Canada, close to 10,000 recipients in Nunavut, of which a couple of thousand were income assistance clients, switched to CERB. This ultimately impacted Nunavummiut's eligibility for income assistance programs, which they depend on, like the guaranteed income supplement. Similar to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut treats CERB as unearned income. This has had the effect of reducing social assistance benefits dollar for dollar. This occurred despite the overwhelming struggle with an affordability crisis.
Inuit living in extreme poverty were not in a position to repay. CERB benefits largely went to buy food. We saw food bank visits go down, because CERB finally allowed Inuit to afford to feed their families. Now the government wants them to repay a debt because of the Liberals' mistake. In October 2020, delegates to the Nunavut Tunngavik annual general meeting asked in a resolution that Inuit who had collected CERB despite being ineligible should not have to repay it. Nunavummiut had been waiting for the government to deliver on their most basic rights, not to have these rights further withheld.
Nunavummiut cannot wait any longer. Seniors across Canada cannot wait any longer. The bill before us does not address the many immediate critical needs of many Nunavummiut, but it alleviates the struggles of the most respected in our Inuit community. Canada's poorest working seniors have been cruelly punished by the government simply for receiving legitimate pandemic supports like any other working Canadian received.
New Democrats support Bill C-12 because it answers our demand to exclude pandemic income supports from future calculations of the guaranteed income supplement. The bill would allow some pressures to be relieved from the seniors whom we look so highly to. I hope we can work together on this and do right by our elders and in respect of our elders.
Qujannamiik.
932 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
