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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 64

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 64 - May/4/22
Mr. Eric Melillo (Kenora, CPC)
  • May/4/22 9:48:55 p.m.
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Madam Chair, before I begin my remarks, I will indicate that I am happy to be splitting my time today with the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, who we know often contributes quite meaningfully to the debates that we have on a number of issues in this chamber. I appreciate the work he does on behalf of his constituents and all Canadians. This is an incredibly difficult discussion to be having here this evening, but I am honoured to be here and I feel it is quite important for me to be here as the member of Parliament for the Kenora riding to speak about this important topic, which, unfortunately, has touched the lives of far too many people in my riding. I will touch more on that in just a moment. I will begin by indicating that it has been nearly a year since the national action plan was released by the government. From the discussions we have been hearing on all sides of the House today, respectfully, I think we all agree that there has not been enough action to this point. Many short-term priorities were outlined in that plan, such as services being provided for families and survivors and developing public education and awareness campaigns, which are so vitally important and, as the plan mentions, are needed immediately. From what I have been hearing so far today from all sides, I am heartened to know that all members recognize the importance of moving more quickly to implement this and put it into action, because we have gone far too long without adequately addressing these important issues. As I noted, the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls hits very close to home for many in my riding. I would like to quote a statistic that I have previously noted in this chamber, just a couple of years ago, from Grand Council Treaty No. 3. The Kenora riding encompasses three treaty territories, Treaty No. 3, Treaty No. 5 and Treaty No. 9, which is 42 first nations, as well as the Métis homeland, but Treaty No. 3 is an area that represents a large portion of the population in my riding. Grand Council Treaty No. 3 indicated in 2020, so perhaps it is a bit dated, that over the last eight years, half of Ontario's identified cases of murdered or missing indigenous women actually happened in the Kenora region. That is an incredibly troubling and incredibly startling statistic, especially looking beyond the actual statistic and understanding what that means for the families and communities, recognizing that those individuals are daughters, mothers, sisters and valued members of their communities who, unfortunately, have faced a tremendous amount of abuse and, in some situations, we know had their lives taken from them. A TVO report put out in 2018 highlighted the human trafficking problems that exist across the Kenora region, something that was under the radar for far too long, and arguably still is. There is not a lot of data to back up what is, for lack of a better term, conventional knowledge on the ground from the Kenora Sexual Assault Centre and other organizations, knowing that Kenora has, as the TVO report indicated, served as a hub between Winnipeg and Thunder Bay for human trafficking. There is certainly great importance and great urgency in the Kenora riding for all of us in this chamber to move forward together and work together to address these very real and very important issues. I want to make one final plea in the remaining moments I have. It is important that we take this action because we have had discussions like this before, but if action is not taken, if the government does not move forward and work with everyone in this House, and if we do not work together to put these ideas into action, unfortunately we are not getting the job done. I want to make sure I emphasize that point because of the importance of this and what it means for people across the Kenora riding.
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Context: House Hansard - 64 - May/4/22
Ms. Andréanne Larouche
  • May/4/22 11:26:52 p.m.
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Madam Chair, reconciliation is essential, but we cannot talk about reconciliation unless we have discussions as equals, nation to nation. I spoke about how Canada's treatment of its indigenous peoples has tarnished its international reputation. Canada did not want to sign the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and refused to do it for far too long. That is unacceptable. The fact that Canada did not sign the declaration and even delayed these declarations and negotiations is unacceptable, especially when we are talking about opening a dialogue and engaging in these exchanges. I think it is clear that we must open this debate and have real discussions, but the government avoided signing the UN declaration for far too long.
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