Parliamentary Speeches
677 speeches by Gary Anandasangaree — Page 8 of 14
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, on April 28, Canadians gave us a mandate to ensure that our streets are safe. Since that time, we have been working together with law enforcement to work towards safer communities across Canada. I want to just outline some of the highlights from the chief of police for the City of Toronto, who indicated that auto thefts, for example, have decreased by 39%, home invasions are down by 4…
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moved that Bill C-78, An Act respecting temporary cost of living relief (affordability), be read the second time and referred to a committee of the whole.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the report from the special interlocutor, which was received by the Attorney General earlier this week. It puts forward some very compelling issues that should be discussed and studied. We, as a government, are going to look into it and we will get back to both the special interlocutor, as well as Canadians, on next steps forward.
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-77, An Act respecting the Commissioner for Modern Treaty Implementation. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Winnipeg Centre for her work in bringing forward the bill that would recognize residential school denialism as a hate crime. I look forward to working with her. We know that as we marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, it was a painful reminder that we need to do better to educate Canadians on the impacts of residential schools, a…
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Mr. Speaker, let me begin by acknowledging the work of my friend from Winnipeg. Yesterday was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and over the last several days I have had the opportunity to listen to many survivors who spoke about the enormous loss that they feel. I also have had the chance to speak to many who have been working toward advocating and toward finding truth for the loved …
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Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity to acknowledge the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the many commemorations that took place across this country. Since 2015, when the truth and reconciliation report's calls for action came to the government, we have been working toward enacting all 94 calls for action. We will continue to work with survivors in order to ensure that there is t…
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Mr. Speaker, I would seek unanimous consent for my vote on Bill S-205 to be registered in favour.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I was here just before you announced the last vote. Unfortunately, I was not recognized, but I understand that the last two votes for which I did vote, both in favour, were not registered. I am wondering if you could clarify that. If they are not registered, then I would ask for your consent to be registered as in favour.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank the member for Nunavut and the member for Timmins—James Bay for bringing this very important debate forward. Let me also express my deepest condolences to those who have been impacted. We have been struggling with the notion of systemic racism in law enforcement for many years and across different jurisdictions. In this particular case, it was in different a…
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Mr. Speaker, the sad history surrounding the abuses in the north with Reverend Rivoire is devastating. Many people have been impacted, and I have been able to speak to many survivors. He passed away recently, yet that does not bring justice to those who are seeking justice. We will continue to work and support the families and those who survived.
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moved that Bill S-16, An Act respecting the recognition of the Haida Nation and the Council of the Haida Nation, be read the first time. (Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
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Mr. Speaker, I just came from the front lawn of Parliament Hill, where I heard from Bridget Tolley. Her mother was stolen from her over 20 years ago, and she has been seeking justice ever since. This is the story of many indigenous families and survivors across this country. On this fifth anniversary of the national inquiry, we stand with people such as Bridget. While there is a lot of work to do,…
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Mr. Speaker, let me thank the member for Winnipeg Centre for her constant advocacy on this issue. Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit and gender-diverse people in Canada are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered compared to their non-indigenous counterparts. Urgent action is needed to improve safety, justice and dismantle systemic racism. Today we tabled the “2023-24 Federal Pathwa…
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moved that Bill C-59, An Act to implement certain provisions of the fall economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 21, 2023 and certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023, be read the third time and passed.
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Mr. Speaker, self-determination over indigenous land is so critical to our path toward reconciliation. We will be working with the Woodland Cree as well as my colleague opposite toward a resolution to this very important issue.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize the advocates, families and survivors working tirelessly to press our government for urgent action. That includes the member for Winnipeg Centre, the member for Oakville North—Burlington and folks like Sandra DeLaronde, Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Leslie Varley, Angela MacDougall, Gladys Radek, Lorna Brown and Denise Halfyard, who are advancing the implementation of a red…
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Mr. Speaker, the ongoing national crisis must come to an end. No one knows this better than the families of those who have lost their loved ones to this crisis. That is why we are working with indigenous partners in leveraging budget 2024 with an investment of $1.3 million to co-develop a regional red dress alert system. From housing to indigenous policing, budget 2024 continues to make progress o…
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Mr. Speaker, violence against indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people must be put to an end. After the previous government dragged its feet for years, we called a national inquiry. We have an action plan that was co-developed with indigenous partners. We made progress. For example, we built 12 new cell towers along the Highway of Tears in British Columbia and new shelters for…
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Madam Speaker, I fully agree with my colleague. The bill is essentially an additional tool that could be used to keep governments accountable for the work on reconciliation. The 2015 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had 94 calls to action. The government has been in the process of implementing much of it. There has been debate on how much we have actually implemented and how much …
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Madam Speaker, my colleague is someone whom I have had the pleasure of working very closely with. I admire the work he does, especially on the fight against climate change. However, I want to take this opportunity just to talk about a couple of the other elements of the bill. This, essentially, would enable the establishment of a national council for truth and reconciliation. It would allow for an…
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Madam Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. However, I fundamentally disagree with her on this particular issue, because we have had 17 days of debate in the House, along with 27 days of debate in the Senate, and it is now back here. The last time this was up, on February 12, a concurrence motion derailed debate on this, so we could not actually even d…
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Madam Speaker, I question whether my friend opposite actually read either the TRC calls to action or Bill C-29. This is essentially about implementing four calls to action that speak to the establishment of a national council for truth and reconciliation. The notion of economic reconciliation is something our government has been working on. In fact, the loan guarantee program in the fall economic …
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Madam Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to highlight a couple of critical elements of this bill. This is really a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action 53 to 56, four very important calls to action that look to establish, fund and support a national council for truth and reconciliation. We already have an interim committee that has been working on the develop…
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Madam Speaker, I just want to highlight the number of days we have had debate on this particular bill: in 2022, September 21, 28 and 29; October 6; November 17; and November 29. I could go on. It is a total of 58 hours and 21 minutes. The last time this matter was brought up, on February 12, we could have actually debated the issue that has been brought forward by my friend. However, there was a c…
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Madam Speaker, it is very curious to me. I do think that on issues of reconciliation, on issues involving the rights of indigenous people, there is a moral imperative for all of us to come together. This is a plea I want to make because I know sometimes we get sidetracked by politics, but this is as simple as it gets. This should not offend anyone. This is something that, ultimately, I do believe …
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Madam Speaker, let me just illustrate a point. On February 12, there was scheduled debate on Bill C-29. That day, the Conservative Party moved a concurrence motion meant to derail the debate and derail a vote on Bill C-29. That is what I am talking about. This has been going on since September 2021, when we had the first debate on the bill. It is now closer to two years. It is time to move on. I d…
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Madam Speaker, I believe that I have already answered this question. I think that the process has worked itself through both Houses, and this matter has been discussed at length. I believe that there has been closure, and the matter is closed now. I do encourage all members to support the passage of this bill, and it could even happen tonight. I am hoping we could get that done.
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Madam Speaker, this issue has come forward. The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples had a chance to make submissions at the Senate and the House of Commons parliamentary committees. An amendment to add it on as one of the members of the council, or to have a delegate from the organization, was considered by way of amendment. It was rejected. We are at a point right now where the final amendments put fo…
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Madam Speaker, we have either completed or are in progress on 80% of the calls to action that relate to the federal government or are in the sole purview of the federal government. We have been working on the path toward reconciliation. We established, for example, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We are in the process of implementing the 231 calls for jus…
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Madam Speaker, that is a very important question. Last June, the minister of justice did release an action plan. The challenge is that there are a number of different calls to action that need to be implemented, so there is a review of loss process that is being undertaken, which can take some time. I do want to note that the UN declaration has been transformational. If we look at the decision on …
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands. I do think we need to make Parliament work better. I do think that certain things we do sometimes, like all-night voting for example, are not good for our health. Unfortunately the process we have right now, the one that is not working sometimes, is prolonging bills that are very important to Canadians. Bill C-29 is such an exampl…
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The bill, Madam Speaker, calls for establishment of a council of between 9 and 12 members. Four seats would be reserved, and there would still be eight more seats fully open. Nothing would preclude members of CAP, for example, from seeking a seat there and being represented. Second, just to confirm, once a person were to become a member of the board, the allegiance would be to the council itself a…
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Madam Speaker, what is really curious about this particular piece of legislation is that it would be an additional tool for accountability, through which the government of the day would be held to account. I am quite disappointed that the bill is being delayed, because, essentially, it would enable greater scrutiny of the work on reconciliation. I think that all of us should be held to a standard …
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Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute honour for me to speak to pay tribute to the late prime minister, the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney, upon his demise. He lived an incredible life and I want to honour him today. There are a number of reasons I felt compelled to speak this evening. Let me begin with probably the most important reason for me. I am a proud Tamil Canadian. I was elected in 2015 to represent …
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Mr. Speaker, this marks a historical milestone for the Haida Nation. It was 50 years in the making and it would rightfully recognize the Council of the Haida Nation as the government of the Haida people. This long-overdue step solidifies the Haida's authority in ensuring the protection of the beautiful lands and waters of Haida Gwaii for generations to come. I am grateful to the nation for its col…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the conversation about missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. I know that, right now, it is an area particularly being highlighted. There is work that we have been doing for the last several years in order to get both the calls for justice as well as the implementation. However, the member mentioned 81 items that are still outstanding from a federal pers…
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moved the second reading of, and concurrence in, amendments made by the Senate to Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation. Mr. Speaker, kwe kwe. Ulaakut. Tansi. I would first like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. This has been a very important week for reconciliation in C…
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot go back to those days. This brings me to the legislation at hand. Bill C-29, which we are here to discuss today, represents another crucial step in this ongoing, sustained effort. Despite this effort, the road to reconciliation is sometimes a winding road. Today's government and every single government that comes after it need to be held accountable to indigenous people alon…
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Mr. Speaker, since we took office in 2015, we have been working to advance reconciliation across the board. It is the number one priority for the Prime Minister. He has reiterated that on a number of occasions. In 2017, we established the interim council that, over the last several years, has been working towards establishing and bringing forward this bill. We have been debating this bill now for …
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that we had a very critical discussion during the two days of conversations we had at the IFPT round table. It was the second round table we had; we brought together many different national indigenous organizations, survivor groups and those who represent urban indigenous people. We also brought provincial and territorial governments to the table. We had a number…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Labrador for her long-standing advocacy and work on reconciliation. What I can confirm with this bill, which has been strengthened by the other place, is that we now have an additional measure of accountability where the minister, as well as others, need to present annualized reports to the council. It will have the opportunity to assess and rep…
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Mr. Speaker, I hope my silence reflected the need for me to not answer that question. It is a deeply offensive question when we are talking about the passage of Bill C-29, which is meant to establish a national centre for truth and reconciliation. I cannot believe that we cannot have a non-partisan discussion about an important issue without the Conservative Party bringing up the carbon tax, which…
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Mr. Speaker, at the outset I shared the frustration that the pace of reconciliation is probably not where we want it to be. We want to advance things in a very expedient and fast way. If we look at, for example, Bill C-92, which was a piece of legislation we brought forward, it was passed in 2021, was challenged, and today we have a resolution on it from the Supreme Court. Therefore, some of these…
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Mr. Speaker, first, I want to thank my colleague for all his work and congratulate him on his new role as the Bloc Québécois critic for indigenous relations and northern development. I know that the member has indigenous communities in his riding. Can he talk to us about the importance of consulting indigenous peoples to make progress on the path to reconciliation?
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley for his advocacy for the Council of the Haida Nation. For 50 years, the Haida Nation has been on a journey toward self-governance. This recognition is long overdue and rightfully owed. Later today, I will have the opportunity to meet with the president of the Haida Nation, Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, to further his important work. We…
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Mr. Speaker, the history of Canada is built on displacement of indigenous peoples from their lands, which they hold very sacred. This landmark agreement with the Snuneymuxw First Nation, involving the return of Camp Nanaimo lands, represents a significant step in honouring our commitments to reconciliation. By returning these lands and supporting the nation's vision for development, we are rectify…
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Mr. Speaker, addressing the ongoing violence against indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people is a whole-of-government approach which requires living up to our moral obligations as a country on the calls to justice. That is why, in budget 2023, we have invested $125 million to implement the national action plan for MMIWG, ensuring accountability by establishing an oversight mechanism and suppor…
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Madam Chair, I would first like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. Earlier today, I joined the Minister of Indigenous Services as she introduced Bill C-61, an act respecting water, source water, drinking water, waste water and related infrastructure on first nation lands. This bill is an important step toward ensuring that a…
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Madam Chair, I deeply respect my colleague. I am very curious, because the member mentioned that there are equity relationships where indigenous communities are buying up equity stakes. One of the things that is required for that are loan guarantees. In the fall economic statement, that was one of the principle features of our economic reconciliation. I was wondering why the member opposite and hi…
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