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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)

Dec/7/22 8:27:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, previous speakers have talked about the lack of efficacy in spending on this issue and have alluded to how the government uses spending as an outcome, when we are in here, once again, six months later, having a debate about a tragedy that we should have prevented. I am wondering if my colleague could comment on some of the ideas that have been raised about having independent review boards for the monitoring of spending, to ensure that when the government is talking about spending, it is actually getting to the people who need it to prevent these tragedies.

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Mrs. Laila Goodridge

Dec/7/22 8:27:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that is an excellent question because I was also taught that we cannot just throw money at problems and hope they go away. Some problems we can throw money at and they will go away, but life is not that simple. Frankly speaking, we are not seeing money being spent in the right ways. One of the things that has been championed quite a bit by the member for Winnipeg Centre is the idea of a red dress alert. Something like that, similar to what we have with the Amber Alert, could possibly save lives because it would quickly draw more attention. We do know that the faster people go out looking for someone after they go missing, the better chance they have to come home alive and the better chance they have to have that case solved if they are, unfortunately, already missing. Suggestions like that are meaningful, tangible suggestions that do not necessarily require a whole bunch of money. They just require will from the government to do so.

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Mr. Matthew Green

Dec/7/22 8:28:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, words do matter, and I want the hon. member to have the opportunity to clarify whether or not she believes, based on the study that just happened at the status of women committee, that proximity to resource extraction, in particular the oil and gas sector, has a higher propensity of violence against indigenous women. These are not opinions. These are facts that have been borne through the House of Commons time and time again, so I want the hon. member to stand to clarify whether she agrees that resource extraction, oil and gas, being in proximity to northern indigenous communities, leads to a higher propensity for missing and murdered indigenous women.

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Mrs. Laila Goodridge

Dec/7/22 8:29:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that my colleague has an intense dislike of the natural gas industry— Mr. Matthew Green: They are murdered women. Mrs. Laila Goodridge: I appreciate that, but I am not going to sit here and allow him to say an entire industry is somehow to blame for this issue, because we are seeing women, girls and exploited people going missing from communities such as Winnipeg, Vancouver and a variety of communities all across the country. Frankly speaking, to just blame it on the extractive industry or natural resources is missing the forest for the trees.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

Dec/7/22 8:30:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know my hon. colleague's intention is great in this. I would like to speak on behalf of the status of women committee where we conducted that study. Education is critical, as is putting in changes to make sure everybody has the access to resources so these things are prevented. I would ask my hon. colleague what she believes Liberals and New Democrats are doing on that end as well. Does she support a lot of these changes in education? That was the push in that study, and I know she has not yet had the chance to read it, but I am just curious of her thoughts on that.

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Mrs. Laila Goodridge

Dec/7/22 8:31:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think one of the things that is really important is that we have more education. That is one of the pieces the red dress alert would provide. It would give an opportunity for more information to go out quickly, and study after study has shown that, the faster people get information, the more likely a person is to be found and to be found alive. I think that is so critically important, as well as having better information for our police officers. One of the interesting pieces we have implemented in the Fort McMurray region, and it has already happened in Calgary as well as Edmonton, is having more awareness around human trafficking, what that can look like and how that plays such a huge role in missing, murdered and exploited indigenous people. There are different pieces, like #NotInMyCity, which is an initiative by Paul Brandt that brings forward more awareness around human trafficking. That can play a very important role in dealing with this, and that education factor would teach a variety of different people what human trafficking does and does not look like, how to intervene safely and that there is a safe space to go to. In the Fort McMurray airport, YMM, there are stickers that say how to spot human trafficking, and if someone suspects they see human trafficking, how to get in touch with the staff who have that training. I think that is so critically important, because if we can intervene early, we have a better chance of having a positive outcome.

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Hon. Marc Miller (Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)

Dec/7/22 8:32:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will note at the outset that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Sydney—Victoria. Kwe, ullukkut, tansi, hello and bonjour. I will also acknowledge this debate is taking place on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people as we acknowledge the horrific and devastating murder of four indigenous women in Winnipeg. This is a week where the expression “being treated like garbage” took on a tragic and literal meaning. These women were and are the victims of senseless violence. Their lives were taken from them. Their futures were stolen from them and their families. Each of them were cherished and loved by members of their families and communities. I had the privilege yesterday of meeting one of the families. I am obviously humbled by our conversations, and I want them to know, although I had little opportunity to speak as it was not my place, that I heard them. Nobody should have to go through this pain or the trauma of uncovering the truth. No one should have to struggle to obtain justice, and nobody should have to sift through the trash looking for their loved ones. In a sad twist of fate, yesterday was the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. It was a violent femicide when 14 women were killed and 13 others were injured at the École Polytechnique de Montréal 33 years ago. Quite frankly, I am disgusted by what is happening. There is a crisis involving the disappearance and murder of indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Together, as a nation and at various levels of government, we have the responsibility to respond to the calls for justice and to provide access to safe spaces and programs that help the most vulnerable to not be targeted. Canada needs to do better for all of the families, the survivors and the communities that have to live with the consequences. It was made clear in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that the federal government, all other levels of governments, the private sector and civil society each has a responsibility to address this national crisis that is ongoing. The report made clear that “jurisdiction” was a poisonous word and a word that contributes to the killing of indigenous women and girls. While we are focused on a very tragic murder and the circumstances surrounding it, as governments and as people, we need to focus on every step of the way that put these indigenous women and girls in the vulnerable situation they found themselves in. Today, women on the street perhaps face that same challenge. As a result of the final report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, Canada funded projects to support families and survivors, build cultural spaces and strengthen capacity for indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQI+ organizations, as well as launched indigenous-led data initiatives. This includes many initiatives in Manitoba that many members have spoken about. Over the past year, Canada has supported 65 cultural spaces and provided infrastructure investments that speak specifically to the priorities identified in call for justice 2.3. Despite these investments and despite the work we are doing to implement the calls to action, the progress is slow, and we keep failing indigenous women and girls across this country. Sadly, it is shameful that I am standing in the House saying that I do not know with any certainty whether any of those investments, had they been made in the places where they needed to be made, would have saved lives. I will not go on much longer with this speech, but I do want to say that as a nation we have a duty to keep breaking down jurisdictional boundaries and keep breaking down the silos within our own government that keep failing indigenous women and girls. As I have heard from the House tonight, this needs to be multipartisan. I welcome initiatives from the House. I welcome initiatives for increased oversight to make sure the federal government is doing its part in responding to this tragedy. No one should be bragging about what they are doing until every single indigenous woman, child and 2SLGBTQI+ person in this country is safe.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)

Dec/7/22 8:38:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government has said a lot of words over the last seven years, and the government has spent, or claims to have spent, a lot of money, yet here we are. I appreciate the minister's willingness to be non-partisan, but at the end of the day, he is the one who writes the memorandums to cabinet. He is the one who has responsibility for oversight. It is actually his fiduciary responsibility to the country to break down the silos, and here we are. Would the minister today commit, in light of these murders, to immediately implementing the call for justice that would require an independent oversight body to ensure that the government is actually meeting its spending objectives, as opposed to just making announcements and then, per my colleague from Winnipeg Centre's Order Paper question from earlier this year, spending minimal amounts of money while indigenous women are still being taken, still being murdered and still freezing to death on the streets of Winnipeg?

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Hon. Marc Miller

Dec/7/22 8:39:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in this context, independent oversight is absolutely key. I welcome the House's support of Bill C-29 to create a national council for reconciliation, which would be able to monitor, in particular, the TRC calls to action. The government is also open to appointing an ombudsperson, in the right context, to monitor specifically the calls for justice from the final report on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. This work will have to be done in partnership. The Government of Canada cannot single-handedly impose that ombudsman without doing the engagement that is necessary. I think people's patience is quite thin in making sure that there are independent mechanisms to verify what we are doing as a government, but we would welcome that initiative.

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Ms. Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre, NDP)

Dec/7/22 8:40:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been working with my colleague across the way to respond to the crisis occurring in our communities, but he just said something of concern to me, which is that he is open to establishing an ombudsperson. Call for justice 1.7 specifically calls for that. This is something indigenous women, girls and families are calling for. It is needed. Will the minister commit today to putting that in place immediately, especially in light of the level of emergency we are in? Also, will he support the calls of the families to immediately put a moratorium on Prairie Green Landfill so the remains of their mothers can rest in peace and an independent investigation can occur regarding the feasibility of a search in the area?

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Hon. Marc Miller

Dec/7/22 8:41:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I should have clarified my thought. We are supportive of putting in place call for justice 1.7, which does call for an ombudsperson. We need that engagement to occur so that it is done in the proper procedural way. This is something the government is open to and will be moving on. As for the calls that we have heard from the families, I would have to see what exactly is being called for with respect to that site. I heard it clearly yesterday, but we need to understand exactly what needs to be put in place to support that. We clearly do not want remains being disturbed. The feasibility of doing searches, given the toxic nature of the land site, is something that I do not have expertise on. We need that expertise. We also need to put the resources in place to make sure these women are properly honoured and that if searches are done, they are done in an exhaustive fashion.

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Ms. Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha, CPC)

Dec/7/22 8:42:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the minister's speech, he said progress is slow. For everyone watching at home and people sitting on this side of the House, I ask why.

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Hon. Marc Miller

Dec/7/22 8:42:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very difficult to answer this in a short time, but clearly what the final report said is that structural and generational elements have put women in the vulnerable situation they find themselves in today. The member opposite mentioned land, extractive activities, the reform of child and family services and education as contributing factors that put women in this vulnerable situation. These are all reforms that take time. It is frustrating to hear that, but if there is anything the final report told us, it is that we need to attack this in a systemic and systematic way, and some of those reforms absolutely do take time. It does not mean lack of effort. It means the understanding that the genesis of this goes back decades, and it will take time to make sure that every indigenous woman and child is safe in this country.

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Mr. Jaime Battiste (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)

Dec/7/22 8:43:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank hon. members who are here tonight to talk about this extremely important issue. I would like to express my thoughts and condolences to the families and communities of the four first nations women in Winnipeg. The news is tragic, and it is a painful reminder of the discrimination and horrific violence that indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people continue to experience in this country. These tragedies, these injustices, to put it bluntly, happen far too often in Canada. It is unacceptable. However, far too often when I come to the House and hear these debates about indigenous people, it is always in a very pejorative light. It is always very sombre and tragic and often filled with a lot of emotions, and I do not think we do enough to celebrate the indigenous women out there. I think about my home, my Mi'kmaq community of Eskasoni, with 4,000 people. I think about the young girls possibly watching this debate tonight and what they must be feeling knowing that there is this despair and reality coming to them. We have seen it highlighted through the public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and the calls for justice. I also cannot help but think that we have to talk about the indigenous women champions out there who have done some great things over the years. I do so because I want those indigenous young women to feel that there is more in this country than despair. We can look at the most recent Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, the first indigenous woman to hold that role. This is a thing of pride that we should have as indigenous people in Canada. I think about RoseAnne Archibald, the very first woman national chief. Young women in our communities can now say, “I could be a national chief someday.” I think about Michelle O'Bonsawin, the very first indigenous woman Supreme Court of Canada justice. I want the young girls at home to think they can be a Supreme Court of Canada justice in this country as well. I think about all of the courageous women in my home province of Nova Scotia who have fought to ensure that their advocacy and their voices have led to a better tomorrow for indigenous women. I think about the Native Women's Association of Canada, and the phone call I got to make to the then president Bernadette Marshall, who is a community member of Potlotek. I think of Lorraine Whitman, a former president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, and her daughter Zabrina Whitman, who helped push this proposal forward. These are proud, strong, amazing Mi'kmaq women who have advocated. When we made the announcement of more than $8 million for something they had been fighting for for 30 years, they had tears of joy. They said, “We have been fighting for this.” I think if we just focus on some of the tragic things, we are not focusing on some of the amazing accomplishments of indigenous women, Mi'kmaq women. I think about most recently, over the past month, going to the Mi'kmaq Native Friendship Centre in Halifax, where Pam Glode-Desrochers was able to work with our government and work with her staff to get a commitment for more than $28 million for all the important services that Mi'kmaq friendship centres provide to indigenous women who leave their communities to go to university or in search of better employment. These are important supports they have and continue to move forward on. It is important that when we talk about indigenous people and women in this House, we also talk about the champions. We have to give indigenous people hope for a better tomorrow. That is why I continue to have conversations about what we need to do. We have the calls for justice, which are important, and I am committed to working with every member of this House to make sure that we fulfill them. However, I am open to ideas on how we move forward. I am also open to some of the programs that we are currently moving out. One thing we have been able to do is make sure we look at projects across the country that are rolling out. Sixty-five projects have been funded from coast to coast to coast, and they are making a difference for indigenous communities. Some examples are longhouses, women's lodges, improved powwow grounds, heritage parks, cultural centres and other facilities to support cultural ceremonies and teachings with elders. It has been an amazing experience, during my short time of three years as a member of Parliament, not only to be a part of and see this change, but also to recognize, as a first nations person living on a reserve for 43 years, that I am able to look at the indigenous women in my communities and say there is some important work going on. I want the indigenous girls at home to know that when we are talking about them in the House, we are talking not only about the tragedies, but also about the hope we need to have in a better Canada, and about the fact that they are going to lead that for our country.

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Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, CPC)

Dec/7/22 8:49:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are indeed many accomplishments of which first nations and indigenous women in this country can be proud, but that is not for the government to own. In fact, many times it is in spite of the government that these women succeed. Tonight we are here to talk about what the government will do to prevent further murder, further tragedy and further lack of opportunity for these women. The one woman from a first nations and indigenous background who actually had her hands on the levers of power was turfed by the government. We need to stop tokenizing first nations women and listing their speeches as if they were the government's accomplishments, and commit to action. Does the member across the way regret not having a first nations woman at the helm of the justice ministry today?

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Mr. Jaime Battiste

Dec/7/22 8:50:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am really happy to hear Conservatives rise in the House to talk about indigenous issues during emergency debates. I would like to hear more about it when they are talking about the overspending we are doing as a government as we try to remedy years of the Harper government, which continued to ignore indigenous issues. I know that as a government we have a lot of fixing to do because of years of disservice, but it is this party that continues to look to and promote indigenous women and candidates, and that is why we have first nations candidates on this side of the House.

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Mr. Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach, NDP)

Dec/7/22 8:50:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to be able to rise today in this place to recognize so many indigenous women in my life, including my mother, my sisters, and people in the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement and across all of Alberta, and the work they continue to do every single day to make sure that women and girls are alive. They, not the government, are the front line. What my mom, aunts and sisters and the people in my community have done to serve that community, to make it whole and strong, is they took care not just of themselves. Oftentimes they put the members of the community way ahead of themselves in order to keep that community and, oftentimes, children alive. These are the real heroes, and I want to thank my colleagues for recognizing the important work of indigenous women. I have a question for the member in relation to action. We are talking about action here today. I want to hear from the member exactly what he is going to do tomorrow. Will he heed the calls from the survivors who made direct asks of the government? One is a moratorium on use of the landfill. What will the government do tomorrow to make that happen? I want to hear the member talk about that.

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Mr. Jaime Battiste

Dec/7/22 8:52:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his advocacy and for making sure he holds the government to account. I appreciate his words. When I took on this position of being the first Mi'kmaq MP, one of the things I wanted to do was reach out to the Native Women's Association of Canada to see how I could create more justice. One of the things we did in our community was to create a national video with Myles Goodwyn and some of the Mi'kmaq singers, such as Kalo Johnson and Deedee Austin, which talks about the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women and tells the story and the facts with respect to that. I do not have to wait until tomorrow; I continue to do it today, but with respect to my role as parliamentary secretary, I am willing to work on all sides to figure out how we can roll out money faster. I have talked about some of the projects that were important in my province that we moved forward on, and as much as these are infrastructure projects and I know the supports are coming from across Canada, I know we need to do more, and I am willing to work with members to figure out how we can do more.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Dec/7/22 8:53:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I note that the theme of the parliamentary secretary's intervention today really departed from the themes of some of the other speeches we have been hearing and really focused on hope, celebrating and trying to showcase some of the incredible successes. I am curious if he can explain why he chose to do that.

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Mr. Jaime Battiste

Dec/7/22 8:53:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I heard all of the comments tonight, and it created a bit of emotion in me. I did not want to go through the whole night without giving inspiration and hope to the young indigenous girls at home who may be watching, who may be interested, who may be going to university. I wanted to say that, yes, we are talking about tragic events today, but tomorrow, with their leadership and their help, we could be talking about some of the amazing accomplishments of indigenous women in this country. I hope we will give that topic as much time as we give to talking about the negative and pejorative things that we have to discuss as well.

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