Publication Search

Mr. Chair, I want to first say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Edmonton Griesbach.

This is the second consecutive year in which we have dedicated a take-note debate to the ongoing national crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The timing of this debate coincides with the annual national day of awareness, which is this Friday, May 5, commonly known as Red Dress Day.

I would like to share with this House the story of how a red dress became such a potent and meaningful symbol. The individual I want to highlight is an artist with deep roots in my hometown of Winnipeg who shares a proud Métis heritage, Jaime Black. Jaime learned about the tragedy of the missing and murdered from Jo-Ann Episkenew, a Métis writer from Manitoba. She was also inspired in part by the image of a red dress on the cover of The Book of Jessica by Linda Griffiths and Maria Campbell. From this knowledge and inspiration, Jaime proposed an idea to the University of Winnipeg's Institute for Women's and Gender Studies, an installation of red dresses. Through her work, Jaime was also told by an indigenous friend that red is the only colour spirits can see.

On Red Dress Day, thousands of families, indigenous and non- indigenous, will feel closer to the memory and spirit of someone they have lost to this violence. This is more than just a day to hang up a red dress to remind us of those who have been murdered or are still missing. It is a day that calls for action to address the appalling circumstances that have allowed, and continue to allow, so many indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people to be murdered or disappear.

The first exhibition of Jaime Black's installation was at the University of Manitoba in 2011. Later that year, it was installed in the Manitoba legislature. In 2014, it became part of the permanent installation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Much has changed since 2011, when a young Winnipeg artist conceived the idea of displaying a red dress to draw public attention to the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, a cause that has expanded to include 2SLGBTQI+ people. We know the work is very far from being done. Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are still very much in danger. Each and every year, there are more names added to the list of the murdered and missing. I am acutely aware of this. In my hometown of Winnipeg, where I come from, the remains of murdered indigenous women have been found in landfills a shocking number of times. It has to stop.

I am thinking of the ongoing trauma, the scars that still linger today. Every story, every disappearance, every violent end re-traumatizes our community, our friends, our neighbours. This has to stop. As a Manitoban, Métis, father and grandfather of indigenous women and girls, I am deeply concerned. It is clear that we have a lot more work to do.

As members of the House, all of us are privileged to be able to rise today and add our voices to the chorus demanding that action be taken.

I acknowledge those who have worked tirelessly to advance awareness of this ongoing Canadian tragedy, including one Winnipeg artist who turned a red dress into a widely recognized symbol of the urgent need to make the world safer for indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her hard work, dedication and advocacy toward this very important cause throughout her life.

We know resource development is an important part of Canadian history and Canadian society, and it will be an important part of the future of Canada, likely even more so in the north. It is absolutely imperative that the rights of all indigenous people and the rights of indigenous women and girls be respected and not be compromised through any of that activity.

I have confidence that, working together with the member for Nunavut, the territorial governments, the provincial governments and industry, we can do better. That is something that is a mandate for all of us. We need to work with absolutely everybody in our society to make sure we do better.

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that excellent question.

Everyone knows that reconciliation with indigenous peoples and environmental protection have been key priorities for our government since it was elected in 2015. Since then, we have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in education, health and child and family services. We are working closely with provincial, territorial and indigenous governments.

Budget 2023 includes about $125 million in investments to implement a plan to fight violence against missing and murdered women. We are working closely with all our partners.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for all of his hard work on all these issues.

I congratulate the Métis National Council for 40 years of hard work for the rights of Métis across the homeland, building on the legacy of our ancestors. I commend Cassidy Caron for her stewardship of the council. I also commend and congratulate all the previous presidents of the Métis National Council over the last 40 years.

Our government is working hand-in-hand with MNC on issues such as reconciliation, housing and the environment. There is a lot of work to do, but we are making progress.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Fredericton for her important question. I know how hard she works, and I know she is absolutely passionate about this issue.

All Canadians, no matter where they live, deserve access to healthy and affordable food all year round. Just this month, increased subsidy rates are reducing the cost of food in communities across the north and the Arctic. Our government is funding the harvester support grant. It supported over 5,500 harvesters, 150 hunts and 120 food-sharing initiatives in its first year. Together, we are delivering locally led solutions for the north, by the north.

Mr. Speaker, our government is absolutely committed to transitioning northern and Arctic communities to clean, reliable and renewable energy. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the remote and indigenous clean energy hub. We have developed the indigenous climate leadership initiative.

Just last week I had a fantastic meeting with the Kivalliq hydro group. We have invested significant sums in the Kivalliq project, as well as in the Atlin project in Yukon and Taltson in Northwest Territories. There is a lot of work to do, but we are going in the right direction.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Member for Calgary Skyview for all his hard work. The Prairies have unique needs and priorities, and only local communities know how to best address them. That is why our government is investing across the Prairies by opening seven new PrairiesCan offices across the Prairies.

Last week, I opened a brand new service location in Fort McMurray that will support the residents of northeastern Alberta in building a strong, competitive Prairie economy that benefits everyone. Over the last three weeks, I have also announced more than $46 million in federal investments creating—

Mr. Speaker, our government and I have made it very clear that we are here to build more non-profit affordable housing. I have stated on the record that I feel Lions Club should provide non-profit affordable housing for generations in downtown Winnipeg. I have written to the chair of the board of directors asking for a meeting. I have not had a response to my letter, but I am here to work with Lions Club and the Province of Manitoba to make sure it remains affordable housing.

Mr. Speaker, we will always respect hunters, sport shooters, and indigenous peoples and their traditions.

Our government has been extremely clear. We are not targeting hunting rifles. We are not targeting shotguns. This is about guns that were used at Polytechnique and the mosque attacks in Quebec City and South Simcoe. This is to create safer communities for all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by acknowledging that the Parliament of Canada is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

I cannot begin to imagine the pain and anguish that the family and friends of the four women who were found are going through today. I am so sorry for their pain and for their loss.

Winnipeg is where I grew up, and Winnipeg will always be my home. It is where I raised our four children. It is where my three granddaughters are currently living. It is a community very close to my heart. It is my community, and I know that many people in my community in Winnipeg, my city, and for that matter all across Canada, are suffering tonight. My heart goes out to absolutely everyone who is impacted by this horrible, senseless tragedy.

This has to stop. It simply must stop, this hatred and senseless violence. The racism is absolutely brutal. It has no place in Canada.

We all—the federal government, provincial, territorial and municipal governments and, of course, indigenous governments—have a role to play.

I would like to thank the members of the House for their participation in this evening's debate, which is taking place the day after the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.

Each and every Canadian has a responsibility to speak out against anti-indigenous racism and misogyny when we witness it. It is going to take every single one of us to stop this senseless violence.

The calls for justice clearly tell us what we need to do. The final report on the national inquiry speaks to the factors that lead to the ongoing tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. We have a responsibility to address those contributing factors if we hope to make any progress at all.

We need safer neighbourhoods, where indigenous women and girls, gender-diverse people and everyone can live and thrive. Supporting indigenous-led, 24-7 safe spaces, emergency shelters and transition homes is a very important part of the Government of Canada's federal pathway to address violence against indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.

This October I joined the Minister of Indigenous Services and the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth in support of Velma's House and funding for indigenous women's organizations across Manitoba.

Velma's House is a 24-7 safe space in Manitoba to support victims of sexual exploitation. It was created through the collaboration of community-based organizations serving indigenous women, gender-diverse people and other women at risk of violence and exploitation. It provides extremely important services, including access to traditional medicines and cultural ways of healing, hot meals, hygiene and harm-reduction supplies, as well as extensive support in helping to navigate systems of employment and better housing. It does such incredible work, and I thank its staff for their incredible and tireless efforts.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done. That is why we are making investments to address the factors that contribute to the disappearance and murder of indigenous women, namely in housing, education and fundamental changes that must be made to police interventions in first nations, Inuit and Métis communities.

Precarious housing conditions put indigenous women and girls, as well as 2SLGBTQQIA people, at higher risk of violence. The work we are doing with partners to co-develop the 10-year national first nations housing and related infrastructure strategy is absolutely key to all of this. The Assembly of First Nations chiefs endorses this strategy, and we continue to work with the Assembly of First Nations to advance this.

We are also working directly with Inuit and Métis partners to implement co-developed housing strategies based on their needs and priorities. As we have stated in the House before, federal budgets have invested in indigenous housing every single year that this government has been in power. We work very closely with other federal departments to ensure alignment of our various initiatives and efforts.

We fully recognize that an important contributing factor to addressing this issue is education. The calls for justice call upon all governments to ensure that equitable access to basic rights such as education is recognized as a fundamental means of protecting indigenous and human rights.

Education that is equitably funded and rooted in first nations, Métis and Inuit culture provides indigenous people more choices and more power. Nine regional education agreements have been concluded and signed across this country. The regional education agreements are designed jointly with first nations communities. They reflect the visions and priorities of first nations education systems to provide high-quality, culturally appropriate education for first nations living on reserves.

Another area we are focusing on is indigenous leadership's continuous call for fundamental changes to how police services are delivered in their communities. This includes calls for legislation that recognizes first nations policing as an essential service that must be funded accordingly. We are also investing in support of culturally responsive policing in indigenous communities through the first nations and Inuit policing programs. The money will also be used to expand this program.

To address the overrepresentation of indigenous women in Canada's prisons, Justice Canada is introducing an indigenous justice strategy to address systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of indigenous people in the justice system.

Another priority is ending racism towards Canada's indigenous people. We must provide real support to indigenous people and communities who have expertise in fighting various forms of racism and discrimination. The strategy recognizes the different experiences of first nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, which lets these peoples express their viewpoints and make decisions about the initiatives that best meet their needs.

These are just a few concrete actions that the government is taking to address the root causes of violence against indigenous women and to correct long-standing systemic inequities. Communities across Canada are also taking action locally.

I recognize that this provides absolutely no relief from the ongoing pain that Canadians are experiencing or the suffering and trauma that the news of these horrible murders brings. There are no quick solutions to resolve the deep-rooted, systemic inequalities and racism that lead to the intimidation, violence and murders of indigenous women and girls. Creating systemwide changes to address this national tragedy is something I know this entire House recognizes must happen for today and for future generations, for my kids and for my grandkids.

I offer my sincere condolences to the families and communities that have lost their loved ones. I am so deeply sorry for their loss.

Meegwetch, qujannamiik, marsi.

Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to stand in a debate such as the one we are having this evening and say that we have done enough. Our government has not done enough. Our first budget was in 2016, and I can tell members that we have invested hundreds of billions of dollars of new money in education, health care, child and welfare reform, infrastructure, community safety initiatives and safe spaces, but we still have not done enough.

The pain is ongoing. The tragedy continues. Women and girls are being murdered every week. It has to stop. We need to do better. We need to work in partnership with Métis, first nation and Inuit communities to find solutions. We need to work in partnership with other levels of government to find solutions. Everybody needs to do better.

Mr. Speaker, I believe I stated in my previous response that our government has not done enough. We need to do more. We need to continue the partnerships with community groups. We need to continue the partnerships with other levels of government, including the City of Winnipeg.

Yes, I will work with the member for Winnipeg Centre. We had a great working relationship when, together with other ministers, we delivered Velma's House, a 24-7 safe space for indigenous women and girls in downtown Winnipeg. I would be pleased to work with the member on finding other solutions to ongoing problems that, unfortunately, have been around too long.

We need to work in partnership to find those solutions, and I would be happy to sit down with the member to work toward solutions.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that good question.

I would like to abolish racism, not just against the first nations, but also against the Inuit and the Métis. I am certainly prepared to sit down with the member to try to find ways to achieve that goal.

As for his question on the Indian Act, I am prepared to sit down with the member, but also with the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to try to find a way that makes sense in order to work first with the first nations on replacing the Indian Act with something better.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the systemic violence and racism that we are seeing manifest itself today in the murders of four women has its roots in the colonial values that Canada had at its beginning. Our first Indian Act policy was the civilization of first nations, then the Christianization and ultimately the assimilation, thereby erasing the Indian out of the Indian person, which was clearly a racist policy. However, that was 150 years ago.

Today, there is more that everybody can do, including the federal, provincial, municipal and indigenous governments and the community. We all have a spectre of influence in our lives and in the communities where we live. I think that is what reconciliation is about.

There is more that everybody can do, including institutions, governments and individuals. We must come together to look for solutions. We must call out racism when we see it and hear it. We need to work with indigenous nations, person to person and government to government.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that very important question. Concerning the first part of the question about the power outage, I will speak to my team at the end of this meeting and make sure we get those details and see what our role is.

We have a very good relationship with the Government of Nunavut, and we are very proud to support the Kivalliq community and the Government of Nunavut on the Kivalliq fibre optic line, which we are working on in partnership with all partners.