44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2022 02:00PM
Uqaqtittiji, I have been noticing that the Liberals and the Conservatives seem to be on the same side when it comes to not taxing the major big box stores.
I see that they have made a small incremental tax in the Canada recovery dividend, but it does not do enough.
I wonder if the member can respond to whether the Canada recovery dividend needs to be extended to big box stores that have been showing record profits.
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Uqaqtittiji, I have people in my territory who are homeless, like Bernie Napassikallak from Taloyoak, who lives in a tent in harsh winter conditions at the moment. I appreciate that the member focused his intervention on the need to increase housing.
I wonder if the member agrees that the Canada recovery dividend needs to be extended to collect revenue from big box stores and oil and gas companies so that the revenue collected can go toward increasing the amount of housing in Canada.
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Uqaqtittiji, I thank my constituents in Nunavut for putting their trust in me. I will continue to work hard to ensure their needs are being met and to ensure their voices are being heard.
Bill S-223, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act related to the trafficking in human organs, is important to many Canadians and people abroad. This bill, if passed, could do one of three things.
The bill’s proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act could help to ensure that receiving organs or benefiting economically from this illicit trade is inadmissible in Canada. This is particularly important for developing countries where impoverished people are experiencing forced removal of organs, like kidneys and livers. This could be a strong message to countries like India and Pakistan that have corrupt agents to people in developed countries, including Canada.
The bill, if passed, could send a clear message that the government should do what it can to protect the vulnerable people who are exploited by these heinous crimes. Most importantly, the issue of organ trafficking is not a partisan one and we need to work together to get this bill passed.
We know that organs, like kidneys and livers, are being forcibly removed from many people worldwide. It is a very real problem on which the government has been needing to pass legislation for a while. It is something that, through several Parliaments, we have been waiting for substantive action on. This is the opportunity to pass this important legislation.
The World Health Organization has noted that one out of 10 organ transplants involves a trafficked human organ. This totals about 10,000 a year. We know this is a crime that disproportionately affects people who live in developing countries that do not have access to the same rights, privileges and equality under the law.
The Canadian government, by taking a firm stance on this issue, is sending a message that the trafficking of human organs is a criminal action and should be punished as such. In addition to supporting this initiative, more should be done to encourage ethical, safe organ donation domestically to alleviate the need for trafficked organs.
A total of 2,782 organ transplants were performed in Canada in 2021, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. There are more than 3,300 Canadians on waiting lists for a kidney transplant, which is almost double the number from 20 years ago, and close to a third of them are from Ontario, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Organ donation is greatly needed within this country. With such a large need within this country, it is important to have a conversation on how the Canadian health care system needs to talk about these needs. With so many Canadians needing organ donations, the illegal trade of organs in Canada continues to grow.
The people who are exploited in this trade have given testimony speaking to their experiences. There are stories of people who have woken up in a drugged haze to someone wearing a surgical mask and gloves telling them that their kidney has just been removed and that they need to take care of themselves. Often, these victims can suffer very serious, lifelong health consequences from that and because of the nature of the operation, some people have ultimately died from it.
In expressing what matters to indigenous peoples, this is an opportunity to remind all Canadians and parliamentarians of the consequences of federal government neglect in investing in first nations, Métis and Inuit health. Indigenous peoples continue to suffer elevated health indicators worse than those of mainstream Canadians.
Generally, the health care needs of indigenous peoples are not being met. Nunavut continues to rely too much on a medical travel system that does not invest well enough in the potential to invest in human resources in Nunavut and indigenous peoples across Canada. An article regarding challenges experienced by indigenous transplant patients in Canada confirmed:
Northern, remote and rural Indigenous populations are further challenged as small population sizes mean that there are significantly fewer local diagnostic and health-care services, and the distances to travel to receive these services is often challenging for patients and families, particularly when regular treatments are required.
By addressing the seriousness of this issue, and through years of discussion, this bill should be passed.
I am pleased to see that this Parliament has tried to address that by making it easier for people to sign up and become an organ donor. However, the illegal organ trade continues to grow and people continue to be exploited. The demand for organs is high and as our population ages, we certainly need to have smart and effective policy to address this issue. It is important that education on organ donation be made more accessible to Canadians.
Canada has a shortage of organs, with 4,129 patients in 2020 waiting for transplants at the end of the year and 276 Canadians who were waiting on a transplant list dying. That was up from 250 to 223 in previous years.
Indigenous children, including first nations, Inuit and Métis, experience persistent health and social inequities and face higher rates of end-stage organ failure requiring solid organ transplantation. The reasons for these inequities are multi-faceted and linked to Canada's history of colonialism and racism. Organizations and labs across Canada continue to conduct research to present their findings of inadequate health care system experiences that indigenous peoples face. With a better discussion, there is hope for the future.
New Democrats have long opposed all forms of trafficking, be it human trafficking for sexual exploitation, labour trafficking or the trafficking of human organs. We continue to fight for human rights.
We all must do what we can to protect vulnerable people. By passing this bill, Canada can send a strong message to other countries. Let us stand together in sending this message out.
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- Dec/7/22 6:44:41 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to thank the member for Winnipeg Centre for amplifying the voices of an indigenous woman, the daughter who lost what sounds like a beautiful mother.
In this year's budget, there was reconciliation money for the RCMP to have reconciliation with indigenous peoples so they can help with the finding of gravesites. I thought that was a terrible injustice. I wonder if the member could share her thoughts on what more the RCMP should do to make sure that they too are sharing in the reconciliation, stop with the systemic racism and do better to protect indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
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- Dec/7/22 7:03:17 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I am glad to hear that the member is looking to work with other people on solutions that might work. Families are also calling on the federal, provincial and municipal governments, and the Winnipeg Police Service, to order an independent review, with support and access to information, to make a determination on the likelihood of the success of the investigation.
Does the member support and agree with this call?
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- Dec/7/22 10:06:14 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I will be splitting my time with the member for Vancouver East.
I stand today in solidarity with Chief Kyra Wilson of Long Plain First Nation and Cambria and Kera, the daughters of Morgan Harris, who was murdered and whose body was found at a landfill, in seeking justice for indigenous families. I call on the government to finally start to end the genocide by implementing the MMIWG calls for justice and the demands made by those I stand with today, including helping to search for Morgan Harris so her daughters may have the closure they seek.
I am concerned with some of the questions that have been asked in the House tonight. As much as I have appreciated MPs' interventions, the words are distant and, while empathetic, make it clear to me that violence against indigenous women is clearly not understood.
As an Inuk, I have experienced violence and have seen violence. I grew up with violence in my life. Here is what violence feels like. There is so much physical pain that it is unbearable to breathe, it is unbearable to cry and it is unbearable to ask for help. There is so much misguided love and trust that keeping the unhealthy relationship going feels like the only way. When there is finally courage to leave that violent relationship, women are put into other violence situations.
Cambria and Kera have asked us to help them end the genocide. I frequently have asked tonight how we can do this. How can we in the House guide the federal government to end Canada's genocide against indigenous peoples?
The federal government must create policies and programs and provide better resources. The federal government must help lift up indigenous peoples and their sense of cultural identity.
It must ensure that systemic racism is addressed by improving law enforcement and policing for the overincarceration, overpolicing, underenforcement and underpolicing of indigenous peoples. It must lift up indigenous families that still suffer the effects of intergenerational trauma and ensure they are encouraging each other to rely on each other the way they used to before colonialism. It must help indigenous families find the remains of their loved ones. Victims of genocide are targeted because they belong to a certain group. As such, targeted resources must immediately be released to protect indigenous girls, women and two-spirit people. Last and certainly not least, it should implement fully, not incrementally, UNDRIP, the TRC's calls to action and the MMIWG calls for justice. These instruments provide the framework to end genocide.
I note the words of Chief Kyra Wilson, who said, “We have 231 calls to justice, we need searches, we need support and it needs to start now.” I will end with what the beautiful, amazing and courageous Cambria Harris said at the presser yesterday: “Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and...Buffalo Woman. Remember these names. Shout them from the roof of your lungs and bring the justice that these women deserve.”
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- Dec/7/22 10:12:12 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I appreciate the encouragement. It does take a lot of emotion and strength to speak. I especially need to thank my party, which has been great in allowing me to share my experience and my voice, and also making sure that indigenous people's voices are being amplified in this House.
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- Dec/7/22 10:13:26 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I also enjoy working with the member on the indigenous and northern affairs committee.
I have changed my speech a lot tonight. One of the things I wanted to remind the House of is this. There were many questions about what women can do, and I kept thinking that this is not just a women's issue. This is not just a government issue. This is not just an indigenous issue. This is something that we all must do and we all must work together on: men, women, indigenous and non-indigenous. We all need to be working together to make sure we are part of a system that can say we are the ones who ended genocide in our time.
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- Dec/7/22 10:15:05 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the member's question is very important. I have risen in this House so many times to speak about how impactful overcrowded housing is to my constituency, how the poor conditions impact the mental health of the people I represent, and how, because of those conditions, we suffer worse mental health impacts.
We definitely need more investments in housing, to make renovations to improve housing and to also fill empty units. There are many empty units in our communities that need to be renovated and reopened.
I also wanted to very quickly say that more of our communities in Nunavut need safe places for women to go to. I know personally of two women I wanted to mention who I think would not have been murdered if they had had a safe place to go, because they were murdered having been in unhealthy, very violent relationships. We also need to be investing in ensuring that women have safe places to go to in their communities, so that they do not have to leave their communities and can remain with their families and keep raising their children in their home communities.
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