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May/4/22 10:37:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I think my colleague raised an issue that is a real problem in rural and isolated communities. I have housing problems in my riding and I believe many rural MPs have the same problem. I think the government really has to act on the recommendations from the inquiry because they were very clear, but the government has not done so.

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Mr. Gary Vidal (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, CPC)

May/4/22 10:38:45 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we have heard tonight about many different organizations and many campaigns in Canada that are used to raise awareness and honour indigenous women and girls who have either been murdered or gone missing. In addition to participating in many of these events and becoming part of them, does she have any suggestions for all of our colleagues on Parliament Hill on how we can engage even better on this very important issue?

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Mrs. Laila Goodridge

May/4/22 10:39:18 p.m.
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Madam Chair, one truly important thing that we can all do is engage with indigenous communities and listen. We need to hear what they have to say and approach the solution understanding that they have the answers in their communities. It is incumbent on each and every one of us to have those conversations, carry that message forward and allow indigenous-led organizations to really shine through, especially on days like tomorrow.

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Mr. Gérard Deltell (Louis-Saint-Laurent, CPC)

May/4/22 10:39:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as we say in my riding of Louis‑Saint‑Laurent and in Wendake, kwe. Like most of my colleagues here this evening, I am participating in this very important debate about what the government and Canadians must do to address violence against indigenous women and about the measures that are needed to break this despicable, vicious circle for the country and more specifically for indigenous women. These kinds of debates are necessary. My riding is home to the Huron-Wendat community. It always makes me smile to think about how lucky I am, because we cannot choose our family or our birthplace, as everyone knows, but I was very fortunate on both counts. My parents came to Canada in 1958, and in 1962 they moved to what was then known as Château‑d'Eau, which then became Loretteville and is now part of Quebec City. It was less than a mile away from the indigenous community of Wendake. I grew up and still live in Loretteville, so I have some very good, very close Wendat friends. These friends are and will always be lifelong friends. I therefore grew up with an awareness of the first nations. We should all have this awareness of the first nations, but it will never be deep enough. It is not easy to fix 400 years' worth of damage, yet that is the reality of indigenous relations with the federal and provincial governments. It has been 400 years of misunderstandings, of battles, of totally unacceptable domination and, in many cases, that is what we are facing now, in the 21st century. We must understand that we can never do enough to erase, or at the very least lessen, the pain caused over the centuries. The reality is that we must take action but, more importantly, we must reflect and understand what happened. At the start of the 21st century, there was an awareness that dawned. It has always been there in Canada. No matter who held the title of prime minister, there was always a gesture or a thought, sometimes positive, sometimes abhorrent, but there was also a desire to be honest with first nations at times. We must recognize that it was the late Jack Layton, the former leader of the NDP, whose passing we all lament, who took the first concrete step that led to today's recognition of the tragedy of indigenous women who have fallen victim to appalling violence. In the early 2000s, Jack Layton suggested that the Canadian government should formally apologize for the tragedy of residential schools and the crimes that took place there, which led to the totally unacceptable abuse that was most recently condemned by the Holy Father himself. Canada's prime minister at the time, the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, listened to Jack Layton. For the first time in Canada's history, the federal government offered a formal and sincere apology to first nations. It was the first and only time that a grand chief of the Canadian first nations ever addressed the members of the House of Commons, and it happened right here in Ottawa on June 11, 2008. There was an apology, and there was action. The government created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission because there can be no reconciliation without facts and truth. That is why, over a long period of six years, Canadians travelled the country listening to first nations. When I first entered politics as a member of Quebec's National Assembly, I clearly remember being at the meeting in Wendake. It lasted several days, but I was only there for a day. I should maybe have stayed longer. The participants could see and understand the pain these people were carrying. In 2015, the commission released its report, which contained almost 100 recommendations and suggestions. One of them, call to action 41, was for the Canadian government to take action on the tragedy of indigenous women who were beaten, raped, assaulted or killed. We all know what happened next. The government waited two years before coming up with a plan. As I said in my introduction, we can never do enough because fixing 400 years' worth of damage is almost impossible. We have to start by accepting that unfortunate reality.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

May/4/22 10:45:03 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to share with my hon. colleague how I appreciated his honest acknowledgement of the history in Canada and also that he spoke about apologies that have happened. Certainly, I know that apologies are well received. We are at a point, though, where apologies are fine and good but now we need to follow up with action. I think my hon. colleague would agree, particularly with his acknowledgement of the level of violence and the level of inaction, that not enough has been done. Does my hon. colleague believe that we need to move beyond apologies to immediate and urgent actions to mitigate this ongoing genocide?

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Mr. Gérard Deltell

May/4/22 10:46:00 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to pay my respects to my colleague, who represents so much with such passion and such dignity her people here in the House of Commons. It is a privilege to have a member like her here in the House who serves so well the community, but also the country. Indeed, we need action, but those actions will not come from here, the House of Commons, and especially not from a guy like me, but first and foremost from people like the member and the first nations, because first nations are part of the solution to that. If we think that only here in the House of Commons we can achieve something, it is just something that would start. If we want real, strong results, they will be coming from the first nations. As a guy who grew up so close to a first nation community, I can assure members that we have to work hand in hand. That is exactly what happened for almost 400 years in Wendake in Quebec City. Yes, we can get inspiration from this great example.

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Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

May/4/22 10:47:05 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my question for the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent is on call for justice 4.8, specifically on the “adequate plans and funding...for safe and affordable transit and transportation services and infrastructure for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people living in remote or rural communities.” Can the member talk to us about the importance of the investment mentioned in call for justice 4.8?

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Mr. Gérard Deltell

May/4/22 10:47:48 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to commend my colleague. He worked in Montreal for several years, which means he speaks impeccable French. I thank him. He is an inspiration to us all. I think he has once again put his finger on a situation that does not have an easy solution when it comes to the first nations. There are communities like Wendake back home that are literally embedded in an urban city like Quebec City. However, there are other so‑called remote communities, although I find it pejorative to call them remote, as though we were at the centre and people who are not at the centre are remote. As far as I know, the remoteness is just as far as the centre. People who live in so-called remote areas could say that the people living downtown are remote. They would all be correct to say so. The reality is that if we want to provide proper and appropriate services to first nations, we must consider the fact that these communities are not located in urban centres. We must provide services to ensure that the assistance we want to offer is made available appropriately and promptly in light of the daily reality of these first nations.

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The Deputy Chair

May/4/22 10:49:06 p.m.
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We have just enough time for a brief question. The hon. member for Manicouagan.

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Mrs. Marilène Gill (Manicouagan, BQ)

May/4/22 10:49:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would just like to ask my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent about his expectations for the outcome of the take-note debate on the issue before us tonight.

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Mr. Gérard Deltell

May/4/22 10:49:21 p.m.
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Madam Chair, although it has unfortunately taken 400 years for us to engage in this reflection, let us hope that concrete action will be taken in the years to come with the support and co-operation of first nations. It is not up to people like me, the son of an immigrant, to say what is good for first nations. Instead we should be listening to what first nations want and what they want to do, and then we should provide the support required so that we can all look ahead to a bright future.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

May/4/22 10:49:55 p.m.
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Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise today toward the end of the debate. We have some time left and some more speakers, but I think this take-note debate has been one of sincerity and has been heartfelt. I think we have seen some real change in the way we are able to discuss things in this place and to accept the inquiry. I remember when the inquiry came out: it was not quite three years ago. When the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirited inquiry first said that this was a genocide, there was a great deal of response in the media as if that might not be the case. It has been stated by members on all sides of the House today without question. That gives a sense that we have made progress in understanding the scope, scale and gravity of the issue. I want to start by acknowledging that we are here on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples. I want to also acknowledge the territory that I am honoured to represent here in Parliament: My riding name of Saanich—Gulf Islands is a corrupted English pronunciation of W̱SÁNEĆ, the W̱SÁNEĆ nation of the Coast Salish peoples. I am deeply indebted to the peoples of our territory. I want to also begin by saying that I will be splitting my time with the honourable and terrific member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach. There is a lot that has been said. With the time remaining for me it would be hard to add a great deal more, but in preparing for this and whenever I think about the inquiry, I do not want to talk about statistics. I just want to say, as a settler culture woman, recognizing the privilege of the colour of my skin, that I am so lucky. I have a bunch of great women friends, but it is only my indigenous women friends who say things casually like, “I was left for dead in a dumpster”. I hardly know any close indigenous women friends who have not had the experience of losing close family members, particularly in the downtown east side in Vancouver. That statement, “I was left for dead in a dumpster,” was actually in the context of sitting in a circle after this report came out in Victoria with a woman who I thought I knew really well. Her anglicized name is Rose Henry. She goes by the Tsilhqot’in name now of Grandma Losah. I had no idea that my friend Rose, as a kid, had been left for dead in a dumpster after being beaten and abused. These experiences are not statistics. These are our friends, our mothers, our aunties and our children. The levels of abuse and casual violence against indigenous women and girls is appalling and a human rights abuse. We have not responded with the urgency that we must. We went for years, as I am sure colleagues will remember, demanding that we get an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We got the inquiry. We got the recommendations, but women and girls are still going missing on a routine basis. Indigenous women and girls are still marginalized and at risk, and we have 231 calls for justice to make that not the case anymore. In the time remaining for me, I want to emphasize a few of them that stand out. Call for justice 4.5, which I have mentioned tonight in questions and comments, is a call for a guaranteed livable income that will end the marginalization and take women and girls from being in a position of great risk to being safer by the security of having enough money to not be in poverty. It is pretty straightforward. We also know from this inquiry that women who have gone missing are quite often, through their marginalized economic status, forced to hitchhike. They do not own cars. They are not going to be getting safe and affordable ground transportation because there is none. Our ground transportation system in this country is worse than that in most developing countries: Members should think about that. This report came out before Greyhound withdrew service right across Canada. I talk to my Nuu-chah-nulth friends, particularly Chief Judith Sayers of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation. She has been a prominent supporter of a local bus company called Wilson's bus lines that has been trying to stay afloat and trying to connect services. The government needs to acknowledge that we need VIA Rail to work for the marginalized. We also need to address the huge threat of wellness checks in which indigenous women and girls die. A wellness check should not result in an inquiry and a coroner's report. This also needs urgent attention.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

May/4/22 10:55:05 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I have great respect for the member, but since she has brought us into a debate about the universal basic income, which I see as entailing a variety of different policy questions from the specific issue of combatting violence, I wonder if the member can share whether there is any data at all to suggest that somehow we are going to see a drop in violence associated with the particular implementation of this policy instrument. Would we not be better off addressing causes of poverty, as in providing the specific support that people who are in vulnerable situations need, rather than providing simply a guarantee that anybody who falls below a certain level automatically starts getting paid by the government? Does the member believe that we could finance this by cutting other social programs, or does she believe we could afford this on top of the existing social programs we are providing?

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Ms. Elizabeth May

May/4/22 10:56:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as I was calling out the calls for justice from the inquiry report, I will read it: 4.5 We call upon all governments to establish a guaranteed annual livable income for all Canadians, including indigenous peoples, to meet all their social and economic needs. I could go into this at great length. We have a poverty caucus in this place made up of members of Parliament and people from the other place. We have had expert testimony for years. I recommend to the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan a great book by the great Progressive Conservative Hugh Segal: Bootstraps Need Boots.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

May/4/22 10:56:46 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I think the hon. member's speech was great. It has been interesting to sit here during this debate and hear all the empathy and understanding that apparently seems to be quite common about the realities and experiences of first nations, Métis and Inuit. Unfortunately, we are not hearing a lot of calls for accountability. I wonder this. Can the hon. member, with her long experience as a member of Parliament, share some examples of how accountability could be ensured, and to make sure we are seeing, with regard to the crisis of the murdered and missing indigenous women and diverse gendered people too, accountability from that perspective? Qujannamiik.

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Ms. Elizabeth May

May/4/22 10:57:33 p.m.
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Madam Chair, that reminds me of something that the great journalist Warner Troyer once said, which was that politicians are basically like single-celled organisms, susceptible only to heat, pressure and pain. We need more heat, more pressure and some more pain to make those who have the power to make these changes, make the changes.

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Ms. Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, BQ)

May/4/22 10:57:58 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her speech. We are nearing the end of the take-note debate. I agree with my colleague from Manicouagan. I too have a problem with the term “take-note”. There are 231 calls for justice, 231 ways to take action so that no more women or girls are murdered or go missing. I wonder if my colleague could comment on the fact that we are having a take-note debate when there are 231 calls for justice, for action.

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Ms. Elizabeth May

May/4/22 10:58:38 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from Shefford. She is right. We are here, at this late hour, when there are over 200 calls for justice. We all understand what needs to be done, and yet we are having a take-note debate, which is not enough.

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Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)

May/4/22 10:59:10 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I know that my granny went to residential school in Lejac from the age of four to 16. Unfortunately, when she was 16, the nuns arranged for a marriage for her and she was married to a 50-year-old white man. When he passed away not too long after, of course, she was rejected by the family and lost her status and was not able to go home. When I think about the history of Canada and how unsafe it makes indigenous women and girls, I am wondering this. Could the member talk about how this history continues to repeat itself?

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Ms. Elizabeth May

May/4/22 10:59:47 p.m.
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Madam Chair, these stories just break our hearts. History repeats itself because we do not take it on board as a situation. We would not tolerate this if, throughout society, at the same proportion of the population, women with my colour of skin were going missing at the same rate as indigenous women. We have to face facts. History repeats itself because racism remains systemic.

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