Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there are three distinct groups that make up aboriginal people under the Constitution of Canada, which are the Métis, the first nations and the Inuit. They are represented by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council. We made sure we heard from these voices, but we wanted to make sure this was a non-political group. We did not want parties…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that Canada's Parliament is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. As we gather to debate Bill C-29, I think that it is important to take a moment to explain the approach that the government took when developing this proposed legislation. There is a saying, “Nothing about us without us”. The government has tried to …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. Many may be surprised to know that indigenous people have rates of disabilities three times higher than the average Canadian, many times without the support that many Canadians enjoy. However, they are some of the most resilient, kind and humble people in our communities. One particular constituent comes to mind, and I would like to a…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge my hon. colleague from Nunavut for raising this very important question. I would like to start off by saying that I am speaking from my home in Eskasoni First Nation on unceded Mi'kmaq territory. The member is right that this is an important issue, and our government certainly needs to do more. That is why, as part of our commitment to the many Truth and Reconciliation…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I understand the question and I understand the intent of it. However, what we have seen in many of our indigenous communities as a result of intergenerational trauma is that indigenous communities are far more likely to be violent, far more likely to see abuses and far more likely to need indigenous policing and policing of all types. We feel that the RCMP is part of that answer. In…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her comments and her years of advocacy on this important file. It is one of the things that we learned growing up in an indigenous community, that within a language we are all connected. That is an important thing that I try to remind myself of daily, but I think the answers are not only in indigenous knowledge but in collaboration within this Hous…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, in times of crisis, Cape Bretoners come together. They unite for a common purpose, healing their neighbours, helping their neighbours. With that in mind, I have to start off by thanking the member for Cape Breton—Canso for sharing his technology and his screen name with me tonight so that I might give this speech. I extend my sincere gratitude to him for accommodating me. As of the be…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, what we need to do is move fast. However, to blame this disaster on bureaucrats or gatekeepers or whatever terminology the member wants to use is not seeing the actual problem in front of us. The actual problem is climate change. These disasters will happen, and they will continue to happen. We have seen it up north. We have seen it in the west. We have seen it in the east. To try to …
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, that is an important question. In the Mi’kmaq culture and in the Mi’kmaq language we have a term called netukulimk. It reminds us that we have a responsibility to each other, we have a responsibility to our communities and we have a responsibility to our nation. We also have a responsibility to our ecosystem, one that we too often forget at the cost of profits and at the cost of money…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, a lot of that good work is continuing. It is what we are focused on. Bill C-29 is really focused on the calls to action that were determined by survivors all across the country, and we owe a responsibility to those survivors, my family members included, who have called upon the government to do a certain amount of things. This is what the truth and reconciliation calls to action were …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, kwe. Hello. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that Canada's Parliament is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I am pleased to have the opportunity to say a few words today as we gather to debate this important bill. Part of the shameful and racist colonial policy of residential schools was to forcibly remove indigenous children, f…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as always, the member knows I am open to all kinds of suggestions from all parties on how we can improve this bill. I want to be clear on call to action 56. It requires the Prime Minister to respond to the national council for reconciliation's state of aboriginal peoples. It is important to realize that, as we are in the process of determining how to move forward with this council and…
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Mr. Speaker, I realize the Conservatives are very passionate about seeing call to action 56 implemented. I am wondering if he could speak to me about any of the other calls to action he would like us and his new leader to fast-track so we can prepare to move forward in a faster way to get these calls to action done.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I realize that the member was cut off in the delivery of her speech. I wonder if she would want to conclude with some thoughts and if she could direct her thoughts to the portions of the TRC calls to action around education that she supports. Does she think that the education that we currently have is satisfactory in terms of what Canadians are learning about indigenous history?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we do everything that we can, as a government, to implement the calls to action. Call to action number three talks about the full implementation of Jordan's principle. Our government knows that it has been, for generations, underfunding a lot of areas for indigenous communities. Jordan's principle is one of those. That is why I was really happy to see, in January,…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, so far as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada programming is concerned, the response to part (a) is that since June 2021, the residential school missing children community support funding has received 106 applications totalling $214,180,918 in requested funding from indigenous communities and organizations. In response to part (b), a total of four requests were deni…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the tragedy that occurred on and around the James Smith Cree Nation on September 2. A tight-knit Cree community has lost beloved community members: elders, youth, brothers, sisters, mothers. Today I stand to remember and offer condolences to the 11 victims and their family members. We mourn as a country the victims from the Burns, Sanderson, Head…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada. On top of celebrating indigenous history, culture and resilience, today also marks the one-year anniversary of the royal assent of Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. UNDRIPA breathes life into aboriginal and treaty rights, and concretely advances reconciliation. For over 30 years, indig…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, addressing the ongoing violence against indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ is a whole-of-government approach that requires living up to our goals as a country and all the calls for justice. That is why budget 2021 put $2.2 billion over five years to address the violence toward missing and murdered indigenous women. We will ensure our initiatives are trauma-informed and focused on th…
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Madam Speaker, in Canada, indigenous women are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered. This is shameful. This is why our government put $2.2 billion forward over the next five years for missing and murdered indigenous women. We know we have to move faster. We know we have to do better. We know we can do better. We will do better.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that there is $2.2 billion in a federal pathway for missing and murdered indigenous women. However, when we look at the budget, we also have to look at the investments we have made toward housing, the investments we have made toward Jordan's principle and the investments we have made toward mental health. These will all help indigenous women. Just bec…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start off by thanking the member for Northwest Territories for his wisdom and guidance in our caucus and for his hard work on this. The Government of Canada acknowledges the apology from Pope Francis to the delegation in Rome. We know it is an important step toward rebuilding trust and addressing the historical wrongs committed by the Catholic church against indigeno…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her passion on this subject. Our government is committed to working with indigenous stakeholders all across this country to make sure that we move forward on the missing and murdered indigenous women calls to justice. In fact, we put $2.2 billion in a five-year federal action plan to make sure we are addressing that, to make sure that we s…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today is National Indigenous Languages Day in Canada. It is time to celebrate the hundreds of indigenous languages spoken across Canada. I am proud to stand with a government committed to the preservation and restoration of indigenous languages and that appointed the first-ever indigenous language commissioner. Congratulations to Ron Ignace. This work is already being felt on the grou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I come from a riding where Donald Marshall Jr. once lived. Donald Marshall Jr. is famous for showing that there is systemic racism within the justice system. Far too often we see indigenous people overrepresented in jails. I am wondering if the Minister of Justice could speak a bit about his efforts to ensure that we are taking the steps and measures needed to ensure that systemic dis…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, reconciliation is a journey, not a destination. We all must walk on this journey. I thank the member for her intervention. Our government has put forward $2.2 billion over the past five years. Over the next four years, we will have a chance to pass four budgets to make sure that tangible benefits and tangible results are in place for grassroots indigenous women at the community leve…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, at the turn of the 20th century, Cape Bretoners opened their hearts to a wave of Ukrainian immigrants. In the years since, the community has become a vital part of the fabric of our island. On Saturday, my colleague and I attended mass at the Holy Ghost Ukrainian Parish where Whitney Pier's Ukrainian community has sought solace in dark times. Colleagues, I have been inspired by many U…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, insofar as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is concerned, the response is as follows: Thousands of children were sent to residential schools and never returned home to their families and communities. The families were often provided with little to no information on the circumstances of their loved ones who had gone missing or had died, or the location of their bu…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, insofar as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is concerned, the response is as follows: In response to part (a), the Government of Canada recognizes that lands are central to Indigenous traditions, identity and prosperity. Informed by the UN Declaration and Canadian jurisprudence, the Government of Canada is working with Indigenous and provincial and territorial pa…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, insofar as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is concerned, in response to part (a), the department pursued conversations about the sharing of documents through telephone calls and video conference with representatives of church organizations, as follows: With respect to video conferences, on June 14, 2021, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Deputy Ministe…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start off by thanking the good people of Sydney—Victoria for re-electing me as their member of Parliament. Cape Bretoners are known for their generosity and community spirit. Today, I would like to commend a remarkable young woman and Cape Breton’s 2021 citizen of the year, Alyssa Rose. Years ago, Alyssa was a patient at the IWK Health Centre, one of the most important…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, my prayers and my thoughts are with the people of the member's riding, just as they are with those in my riding of Sydney—Victoria, which is seeing unprecedented rain. In some places it is 200 millimetres of rain. They are seeing bridges coming out and unprecedented flooding. I am glad that we are talking about lessons learned in this House. I am reminded of a lesson from Chief Seattl…
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