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Mr. Speaker, I think the committee has a duty to adhere to calls to action 53 to 56. The Prime Minister will report on reconciliation every year. Certainly, let us talk about the tragic story of residential schools. As my colleagues from the NDP and the Bloc Québécois have said, it will be very important to continue to focus on the survivors and their families, and the traumatic legacy that contin…
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moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in.
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Mr. Speaker, this should not be about me or anyone else in the House of Commons. At this point, there are a lot of survivors, particularly the survivors of St. Anne's, who are hurting in light of the judgment of the Supreme Court. I have asked my department to re-examine 11 of the cases, particularly sensitive student-on-student cases. We will be approaching the court monitor to re-examine those c…
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned two days ago, 91 projects are under way in communities, to a total of about $100 million. The vast majority of people who have applied to our department have been funded for the first two years of their projects. We will be with them for the complete trajectory of where they will need to do searches, which may be well over five to 10 years. It is something that we will …
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Mr. Speaker, reconciliation is not easy. It is neither linear nor free, but we are determined to right past wrongs and address their impact on indigenous peoples, an impact that is still felt today. Tomorrow, we encourage all Canadians to reflect, to listen and to show compassion for indigenous voices. Tomorrow is a day for residential school survivors and indigenous communities and leaders to hav…
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Mr. Speaker, as an update for the House, I think folks would appreciate knowing that there are about 91 communities that have now received funding to do searches on their own time, at their own pace. It is something we obviously have to respect as a government. If the member opposite has a community in mind that needs to be brought to my attention, I would ask her to please do so. I will ensure th…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge, before I begin, that we are speaking here today on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. As we begin the second reading debate on Bill C-29, an act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, I think it is important to highlight that since locating unmarked graves at former residential schools a year…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his important question about the national council for reconciliation. Today we are set to begin second reading of Bill C‑29, a bill that will establish an independent, permanent and non-political council to monitor long-term progress on reconciliation and implement the commission's 94 calls to action. Bill C‑29 fulfills calls to action 53 to 56. I urge all parli…
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Establishing an independent, non-political council is crucial to holding the government to account. The government has had the unfortunate habit of saying that 80% of the calls to action had been honoured or were being honoured. However, it was not necessarily subject to review, and other entities were saying that the government had only honoured two or three. In the future, there will be an offic…
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Mr. Speaker, that is an important question being posed by the member opposite, and I think it is important for this House to consider the work that has been done by the interim board in doing broader outreach as Bill C-29 was put forward. That was the task given to the interim board, and it included a broad swath of indigenous representation. I have a list of specifically notable people who were c…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to note that this bill actually responds to calls to action 53 to 55. Obviously, call 56 would follow after the establishment and passing of this law. Clearly, this is a comment the member opposite is free to put through at committee so the committee can study it and give it due consideration. I think all of us are responsible to answer for the calls to action,…
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moved that Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, be read the second time and referred to a committee. Mr. Speaker, before I begin, there have been consultations among the parties, and I am hopeful that you will find unanimous consent to allow my colleague, the member for Sydney—Victoria, to share my debate time today.
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-29, An Act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation. (Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
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moved for leave to introduce Bill S-10, An Act to give effect to the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement, to amend the Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act and the Yukon First Nations Self-Government Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts. (Motion agreed to and bill read the first time)
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Mr. Speaker, today I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Anishinabek Nation Governance Agreement.
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Mr. Speaker, I did more than want to rise. I did rise. If I used unparliamentary language, I am glad to apologize. What I did say to the member opposite is that if he wants to call me out in the House of Commons, he can at least have the decency to come see me before that. There are plenty of opportunities. If we are going to have a debate on the substance of this, Mr. Speaker, I think you should …
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Mr. Speaker, clearly, as a country, we continue to fail indigenous women, children and LGBTQ people. The one-year anniversary is not something to look back on, despite our investments of billions of dollars into addressing this national strategy, and pat ourselves on the back; this is something we have to address as an entirety in society. Whether it is us, the provinces or cities, we all have our…
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Mr. Speaker, since 1910, the Siksika Nation has been deprived of half of its lands and its fair share of the resources on those lands. Its claim is one of the largest in the country, and the community has waited over 112 years for Canada to address this historic injustice. That is why, today, we are celebrating the signing of a $1.3-billion land claim settlement with the Siksika Nation. This settl…
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday's news is indeed part of the ongoing tragedy in this country of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. The funding in the announcement of last week will create the infrastructure necessary to operate a facility that will be welcoming for people who are in distress. As to the member opposite's current request, which is one of many, it is clearly one that needs prior…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to designate Thursday, June 2, for the debate to be held pursuant to Standing Order 51.
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Mr. Speaker, to the member opposite's point, clearly what we have seen in this country is a pattern of dispossession that has continued to retraumatize and traumatize communities, and the constant denial of this reality is what characterizes today's discourse as well. We have a duty, as a society, to keep opening our minds and being more respectful, and to show compassion to communities that are r…
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Mr. Speaker, as part of this comprehensive approach to supporting communities as they reel from the ongoing discoveries of unmarked graves, clearly what they have asked of us is to have a concerted approach, whether it is from me, the Minister of Indigenous Services or other departments, or whether they need supports now or for the next 10 years. This is something that, sadly, will go on for some …
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Mr. Speaker, I would highlight the fact that since the discoveries in Kamloops, the first anniversary of which is upcoming, this government has deployed over half a billion dollars to assist communities with this very painful step of deciding whether to go and search for lost ones. Not every community will work at the same pace. There are about 70 applications that are still in and fully funded, a…
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Mr. Speaker, I first want to correct my colleague's comment that I am responsible for the first nations. I serve the first nations. In reply to the question, the member opposite is quite right. It is unfair that communities that were previously in rural areas but now are not because of urban sprawl are penalized because of prices linked to postal codes. Let us hope that Canada Post, which is an in…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for her passion and the words she shared with us, yesterday and today, with respect to murdered and missing indigenous women. It is a tragedy that sadly is ongoing in this country and has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. The monies we have announced in the last and present budgetary cycles are directly targeted to a systemic approach to reduci…
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Mr. Speaker, the pain and loss felt by families and survivors of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and the lack of safety felt today, are tragedies that are ongoing and have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Indigenous women and girls have the right to be and feel safe anywhere in this country. Tragically, this is not the case today. This can only be achieved by continued inves…
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Madam Chair, that is an excellent question. It will be hard to keep my comments on this matter brief. However, we know that violence increased when communities entered lockdown. This phenomenon was observed in communities and in major centres. We will obviously build on the investments we have made in housing. Take, for example, the key investment we made in Pauktuuit. We invested tens of millions…
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Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member opposite for the words that she has shared tonight and for her continued advocacy, both on the floor of the House of Commons and outside. I want her to know that we are continuing to accelerate the work the we are doing based, in part, on her advocacy and the work we need to do as a country and as a government. I want to talk about the issue of forced steriliz…
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Mr. Chair, first we need to acknowledge that no single budgetary cycle can address this tragedy adequately. There will have to be sustained investments. We also have to acknowledge that in every budget, survivors and families should recognize the investments as responding specifically to this tragedy. If there is a criticism to be levelled on the budget, it is that while there are investments from…
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moved: That this committee take note of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Madam Chair, kwe, kwe. Unnusakkut. Tansi. Hello. Bonjour. I want to start by acknowledging that Canada's Parliament is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I will be splitting my time with the member for Nunavut. The tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous wom…
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Madam Chair, I want to acknowledge that the riding the member opposite represents, as she knows well, is part of the epicentre of the tragedy. Her advocacy is key in making sure that this tragedy ceases to continue and in fact ends. We all know, sadly, that it will not end tomorrow. However, investments that we have made, particularly in her riding for the Ka Ni Kanichihk, for example, very recent…
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Madam Chair, I want to take a moment to thank the member opposite for his advocacy. I know that his interest, compassion and advocacy are genuine. It did take time to come out with a federal pathway. This is something that has been informed by survivors who are going through an awful time that has only been magnified through a world pandemic. When it comes to the steps that have been accomplished,…
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Madam Speaker, clearly, we have heard that communities, pursuant to the calls to action 72 through 76 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report, have to have the leadership. It is not the place of the Government of Canada to step into communities and provide all the answers. Certainly we have to stand by and provide the financing and support to those communities, which are still reeling,…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is right. We are failing as a society as long as every woman, child and LGBTQ person is not safe in this country. The investments that we put in through prior budgets, like the $2 billion we invested in budget 2021, are designed specifically to address this ongoing tragedy. Just last week, I had the honour and pleasure of announcing investments that respond directl…
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Mr. Speaker, as a society, none of us should pretend there is any form of success until every woman, child and LGBTQ person in this country is safe, and if that is a measure of success, we are failing. The reality is that in this year, the ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations announced the federal pathway. That was only the beginning, and it was coupled with $2.2 billion of investments. We are c…
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Mr. Speaker, last summer, in light of the devastating findings in Kamloops and Cowessess, our government announced an additional $329 million to support indigenous communities in their search for loved ones robbed from them at such a young age, in their efforts to memorialize their loss, and in their quest for closure. Residential schools were a reality in this country for well over 150 years, and…
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Mr. Speaker, just this past Thursday, I was honoured to stand with Rebecca Kudloo, who is the president of Pauktuutit, and award her the award for women, peace and security for her role in peacemaking inside this country. It is not something that we do and stand up and say we need to do internationally, but something that we need to do internally. If it were not for Rebecca Kudloo and the organiza…
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Mr. Speaker, frankly, the member opposite is absolutely right. We have invested $2 billion in the federal pathway, and as we approach the first anniversary in June, survivors and 2SLGBTQQI+ persons are looking for results and outcomes. This is something that we say is a whole-of-government approach, but it is up to every minister in our cabinet and, frankly, everyone in this House to make sure tha…
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Mr. Speaker, the lease was signed at fair market value.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada remains committed to upholding our fair and compassionate refugee protection system, fulfilling our domestic and international legal obligations and protecting the health and safety of Canadians and those who wish to live in our country.
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Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I told the Bloc Québécois. The lease was signed at fair market value, and if we are talking about partisanship, then it is important to point out that the same donor made donations to the Conservative Party for eight years.
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Mr. Speaker, if he is thinking of kickbacks, does my colleague have something on his conscience? If he does, perhaps he should answer for what he himself did for eight years. The government signed the lease at fair market value.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the member will agree with me that it is true he is not in a hostage situation. Our government is taking, and will always take, the necessary steps to protect our borders and to keep Canadians safe. ArriveCAN, for the past year, has played a significant role in reducing the introduction and transmission of COVID, and its use is mandatory. In the last few days, the minister has…
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Mr. Chair, building on my previous answer, I had the opportunity over the course of the summer and the last few weeks to visit over half a dozen sites, each with its own unique, devastating story. However, throughout that, we have heard the cry from indigenous communities, from survivors and those who are courageously speaking out, but also from those who are courageously still suffering in silenc…
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Madam Chair, indigenous communities are telling us loud and clear that this must not be handled by people in Ottawa only. The policies need to be changed, and this overhaul needs to be done. However, some clauses are no longer being used, including extinguishment clauses, and they need to be removed. This uncertainty is a good thing because it is the indigenous communities who are setting the pace…
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Madam Chair, there are two timelines that are important to bear in mind for people. One, the $500 million in infrastructure that we committed has gone through the Treasury Board. That is intended for shovel-ready projects in Inuit Nunangat over the next three to five years, conscious of the construction season as well. We announced, during our campaign, a commitment to a specific Inuit amount in h…
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Madam Chair, we have a rough understanding of the massive underfunding that exists across Canada. In Inuit Nunangat, there was a very good report produced by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami through Ernst & Young. It is very detailed. We appreciate the co-operation that we have ITK. This is a double work that we have with the territorial governments as well as ITK. We do have an appreciation, but we need t…
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Madam Chair, not as well as the member opposite. My understanding is that it ranges in and around $400,000.
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Madam Chair, we know well that a dollar in the north is much more than the dollar in the south. Those are rough understandings, but it obviously varies from community to community, but much more clearly, particularly given the shorter construction season.
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Madam Chair, the platform commitment of this government was $300 million. That supplements the various initiatives we have throughout four to five ministries within this government. We are committed to committing that distinctions-based investment in short order. Obviously, the timelines are within the next three years to five years, as we deploy this capital.
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