44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 18, 2022 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech about the much-talked-about national ribbon skirt day.
I hope that, above all, this day will be a time of reflection that will prompt us to take action. My colleague talked about the report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. I hope that this day will give us an opportunity to think about what measures should be put in place to help and honour these women.
78 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, first, I would like to say that I am honoured to be able to speak today about national ribbon skirt day. I am honoured because I represent the people in my riding, but I also hope to lend my voice to other indigenous nations in Quebec. I am honoured because, today, I am wearing a ribbon skirt. I will come back to that later.
My riding includes two nations, the Innu and Naskapi nations, and I am proud to be their spokesperson and their MP and to be able to wear these colours as I present these ideas this evening. I salute them.
The Bloc Québécois is in favour of this bill. We have always sought to promote these relationships. In concrete terms, we have always taken action to be able to discuss and maintain a dialogue nation to nation. For us, it makes sense to showcase these symbols that are so precious and important to their traditions. We talked about it a bit earlier. The skirt itself is a statement on its own. I will come back to that later.
I would also like to thank Élise Vollant, a proud Innu woman from Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam, an Innu community on the north shore or Nitassinan. Ms. Vollant made the skirt I am wearing today, a skirt that is very special to the Innu nation and particularly the community of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam. It is a gift from the Innu nation, since it is a symbol that they want to see represented in all the traditional ceremonies and rituals, as it is usually done. For me, being white, it is truly a sign of trust and, at the same time, a request for me to walk with them. When wearing a garment like this, every step we take is for these people, these communities, these women, and it is their history that we think about.
I say tshinashkumitin to Élise Vollant and the entire community of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam for allowing us to think of them today and walk alongside them in a symbolic way in the House. I believe it is an important moment for the nation.
As I said earlier, the garment is a statement. We described it in several ways. These are fabrics, bright colours that have been transformed and evolved over decades or even centuries as contacts were made. It is truly the product of the relationships between the nations themselves and of their own history. The statement is transformed. We see in the garment itself all that history that the women want to pass on through tradition, language and culture. It is also a way of taking action.
Today, I am wearing a red dress. It is a colour that is particularly favoured among indigenous nations, and also among the Innu people. It has several symbolic meanings relating to the spiritual world and life. Again, the ribbons chosen by the Innu nation are orange, red and purple. Undoubtedly many people already see the strong symbolism of this skirt, in the orange that refers to the survivors of residential schools, to a painful history. At the same time, we want to move forward, heal and find the truth.
Through this skirt, the Innu nation reminds us that it is important for them to highlight this element. Again, there is a call for us to take action. That was for the colour orange.
There is also red, representing the missing and murdered women and girls. It is the famous red dress we have seen represented in recent years and that has also become a symbol. The skirt has therefore two symbols.
Finally, there is purple, representing Joyce Echaquan. I believe people are familiar with the story of Ms. Echaquan, who, because of horrendous racism, experienced horrors that no human being should endure. Ms. Echaquan’s story is remembered on this skirt.
For me, it is also a symbol of the fraternity between all communities. Ms. Echaquan was an Atikamekw woman and the Innu people represent her on their skirt. It is a symbol of the entire issue of the equity of fundamental human rights, the right to security and the right to life. This memory must be eternal. When we talk about truth, we also care about memory, because memory should help us avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
All these colours are symbolized in an image that I will quickly describe. We see a woman wearing the red skirt, eyes blindfolded, holding the scale, the symbol of justice. We also see purple. All the colours are there and they truly show the desire of the Innu nation, particularly the Innu of Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam, to move forward and to always remember the survivors of the residential schools, the murdered or missing women and girls and the story of Ms. Echaquan, to finally achieve reconciliation.
Wearing a garment such as this is not about the fabric, the ribbons or the colours. It really sends a message. We are in a position where we can be interpreted and, at the same time, we can remember everything I have just said and remember that the nations are proud.
For me and for others, wearing this skirt makes sense. Despite that, some have noted that, for many people, it is not easy to wear the skirt in public. In fact, children, particularly in Saskatchewan, have received racist criticism and comments because they were wearing this garment. For me and the members of first nations, it is also an affirmation, a recognition of the past and of the people who came before them. It really makes a statement.
In short, I believe that we could talk about it for really long time, but it is more than just the garment. It is what I would like us to remember and I think and hope that the entire House will agree to make January 4 national ribbon skirt day, so we can remember our obligations and commitments to first nations and truly listen to what they have to tell us.
These garments show that members of first nations are strong and proud, and also that Canadians, and we, the elected members, have much work to do to perhaps be worthy of wearing a ribbon skirt. I am very proud to do so, but it also gives me a sense of duty that is humbling.
1077 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill S-219, an act respecting a national ribbon skirt day. This bill aims to further educate Canadians about the role of indigenous women and indigenous culture and heritage, and to celebrate those contributions. The ribbon skirt is a symbol of womanhood, identity, adaptation and survival. It is a way for indigenous women to honour themselves and their culture.
While national ribbon skirt day is an opportunity to celebrate indigenous women and their fortitude in the face of paternalism and colonialism, we can and must do more. The Indian Act perpetuates racism and sexism, and we must address this archaic and broken piece of legislation if we truly want to see all indigenous women and girls realize their vision of freedom, their vision of independence and their vision of honour.
The Indian Act was created by the federal government in 1876, a very different time with very different thoughts on the role of women and girls in society. The 1876 Indian Act explicitly stipulated that any first nations woman who married anyone other than an “Indian” or “non-treaty Indian” would themselves cease to be “Indian” under the meaning of the act. It adopted many of the concepts of its precursor legislation, including the ideas of assimilation and enfranchisement and the changing definition of “Indian”.
The 1951 Indian Act continued in this vein, introducing several sex-based rules governing entitlement to status, including the “double mother rule”, which revoked the status of individuals at the age of 21 in instances of two consecutive generations of mothers who were not born with entitlement to status; the “illegitimate female child rule”, which permitted the male children of status men born out of wedlock to register, but which did not entitle their female children to status; “the marry-out rule”, which caused first nations women to lose their status upon marrying a non-status person, but which permitted first nations men to extend status to their non-status wives; and involuntary enfranchisement, which revoked the status of first nations women and their children when their husbands became enfranchised.
Often led by the legal challenges of indigenous women, it was not until 1985, under then Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney, that discriminatory parts of the Indian Act began to change. Thankfully, we have matured as a nation since then and we recognize and respect the power and potential in women and girls. However, many aspects of the Indian Act still perpetuate its 1876 paternalistic vision of indigenous women and girls.
The Indian Act denied women the right to possess land and marital property. Only widows could possess land under the reserve system. However, a widow could not inherit her husband’s personal property upon his death. Everything, including the family house, legally went to his children. Previous governments, including the previous Conservative government, have made amendments to update the act to eliminate sex-based inequalities. I would be remiss if I did not also recognize the work of the Minister of Crown Indigenous Relations and the Minister of Indigenous Services, who continue this important work, most recently on enfranchisement, deregistration and natal band membership.
In my my previous roles as the critic for families, children and social development and the critic for indigenous services, and in my two previous stints, and now my current stint, as the critic for Crown-indigenous relations, I have met with hundreds of stakeholders, women’s issues advocates and indigenous leaders over the years. On the Indian Act, the message, sadly, is always clear: The act is outdated, broken and paternalistic and it must go.
The government, the opposition, advocates and indigenous people all agree, so one question remains: What is next? How do we get to where we all want to be? As my colleagues in this place all know, that is never an easy answer. Indeed, there are many different approaches we could take: complete abolishment, a new act or a transitionary approach. There are many options, and many people have their own ideas.
However, all hope is not lost. We know a few important things. We know where we all want to be. We all know what we are willing to do and what needs to be done to get there. On this side of the House, the Conservatives support reconciliation and we support a proactive, inclusive process that puts a clear plan in place to achieve the results everyone wants.
While I know my colleagues across the way support reconciliation, and they have said so many times, there appears to be more reaction than planning from the government. As I have heard many times from community leaders, their faith in reconciliation with the government is sadly waning. One does not have to look far.
For example, in the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, we are currently examining Bill C-29, an act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, a piece of legislation that has ignored the voices of indigenous women and girls.
Yesterday, the Native Women's Association of Canada president, Carol McBride, told the committee that she was disheartened to see that indigenous women were not included in Bill C-29. In fact, that bill only guarantees the seats of the AFN, ITK and MNC. Indigenous women literally do not have a seat at the table.
The Native Women's Association of Canada plays a unique role and could provide invaluable insight to the national council by providing culturally relevant, gender-based analysis; the lens of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls; and specific expertise related to the concerns of indigenous women and girls.
Establishing a national council on reconciliation without the voices of indigenous women and girls is an oversight. It is an oversight Conservatives will correct and we will be putting forward amendments to ensure indigenous women and girls and their voices are heard on the council.
It has been three years since the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report and the Liberal government has made little progress in the past year on its plan to end violence against indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.
While there have been funding commitments, there has been little action. For example, the CEO of the Native Women's Association of Canada said this about the Liberal government’s record: “The National Action Plan, as it was drafted, was actually a recipe for inaction, and the people represented by our organization are paying the price.”
A poll conducted by Nanos Research last June found that Canadians are three times more likely to say the government has done a poor job addressing the MMIWG than a good job.
Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, chair of the National Family and Survivors Circle, lamented, “Without the political will to create transformative change, this genocide will continue.”
The continuous blunders and inaction are undermining indigenous faith in the Crown. Therefore, in the spirit of Bill S-219 and what it proposes, Conservatives will work very hard to put a plan in place.
On day one of forming a new Conservative government, we will hit the ground running. We will achieve this by listening and planning with indigenous leaders, national organizations and grassroots community members on what they need to achieve true reconciliation.
We will not confine ourselves to one aspect of reconciliation or another. Instead, we will take a holistic approach to reconciliation, one that recognizes the importance of economic reconciliation and what it has on restoring the honour, self-dignity and power to indigenous people.
We will facilitate a plan that empowers indigenous people to not only make their own decisions on water treatment, child services, public safety and entrepreneurship, just to name just a few, but also provide the economic power to achieve those objectives themselves.
We will, once and for all, eliminate the Ottawa-knows-best approach to indigenous relations, and we will do so with the principle that indigenous decisions need to be made by indigenous communities. We will ensure that those decisions include the voices of indigenous women and girls.
1376 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
