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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Nov/29/22 10:34:36 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Madam Speaker, I have worked really well with my colleague across the way, but he spoke about more spending, and that certainly is not agreed to by Riley Yesno at the Yellowhead Institute, who said: What does this underfunding —this is in regard to indigenous people— and the budget approach more generally mean for those like Indigenous people, who have been consistently underfunded even when the Canadian government has made its largest investments? I think, chiefly, it means two things: 1. Indigenous people will continue to be insufficiently invested in—left to try and make do with scraps of what is truly necessary to improve well-being; 2. It solidifies what the government values when it comes to Indigenous futures. In the case of Budget 2022, those values revolve around resource development and economic partnerships rather than Indigenous climate action or Indigenous-led self-determination. I would like to remind the member that all the resources and riches we benefit from in Canada today have been built on the backs of indigenous people and our lands and resources. I know he said the Conservative Party will respect the rights of indigenous communities to guide their own destinies, and I am wondering if he respects the rights of indigenous people who choose not to have their destinies be founded and grounded in an oil and gas industry when the Conservatives consistently—

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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan

Nov/29/22 11:38:22 a.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I mean this respectfully, but I just want to remind members in the House not to use possessive terms like “our indigenous people”, when referring to indigenous people. We are our own people with our own independent rights.

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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan

Nov/29/22 12:35:23 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. This is the second time that I have risen in the House today to remind members not to use the words “our natives” or “our indigenous peoples”. We are not owned. We are individuals. We are independent people with our own individual rights as indigenous peoples.

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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Nov/29/22 1:19:46 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague, whom I have had the pleasure of working with on the status of women committee. I appreciate working with her tremendously. One of the observations I have made of the Conservatives' contributions to the debate today is their complete focus on economic reconciliation. I read something from the Yellowhead Institute that basically said the focus, including by the Liberal government, is on things like economic reconciliation. I do not feel they have demonstrated the same sort of respect for indigenous nations that make other decisions about their lands outside of resource extraction. This goes to free, prior and informed consent regarding how they wish to use their lands. It is one thing to talk about economic reconciliation and respecting indigenous people's rights to make decisions about their own affairs, but I have not seen that demonstrated in practice. Does my hon. colleague respect nations that choose not to participate in resource extraction on their own lands and territories? Does she support that?

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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan

Nov/29/22 5:21:54 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Mr. Speaker, with the passing of Bill C-15 in the last session, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is mentioned 15 times in the bill, and the TRC calls for UNDRIP to be used as the framework for reconciliation. We have a framework. We just have to follow that framework. That was a declaration that was produced after decades. It was over 23 years of work. We have the tools. We have the frameworks. We just need the political will to do the right thing.

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Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Ms. Leah Gazan

Nov/29/22 5:23:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-29

Mr. Speaker, as a long-time educator and an educator who taught in the area of indigenous education, I am happy to answer these questions. We have several examples of first nations' control of first nations' education across the country, including in Manitoba with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre. For the James Bay Cree, it has been a few decades that they have been developing their own curricula and taking control of the education of their children. I think this is central, particularly with the history of educational systems and how things, under the guise of educational systems, were used to perpetrate genocide against our kids. For first nations, Inuit and Métis, control of education is critical and the path forward.

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