44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2022 02:00PM
- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- 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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- Dec/7/22 8:54:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise in the House to speak on behalf of the members of my community of Peterborough—Kawartha. The purpose of tonight's take-note debate is to bring forth a discussion on a very serious issue and to call on the Liberals to listen. We have a crisis that has been happening for decades, and tonight we are demanding action.
I will provide a trigger warning for anyone watching or listening: This is a very heavy topic, and it can be triggering for some people.
Tonight, we are speaking about murdered and missing indigenous women and girls in Canada. Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman are the names of the four indigenous women murdered in Winnipeg. It is important to say their names. It is important to bring these women home to their families. It is important that the families of these women see justice.
The last updated number I could find was 307 murdered and missing indigenous women. As shocking as this statistic is, it is from 2018. How many more are there? Why is this not a priority? Indigenous women and girls in Canada are disproportionately affected by all forms of violence. Although indigenous women make up 4% of Canada's female population, 16% of all women murdered in Canada between 1980 and 2012 were indigenous. The 2019 general social survey on victimization, along with Statistics Canada data, has indicated that indigenous women were more likely to experience intimate partner violence than non-indigenous women.
During a study on sex trafficking of indigenous peoples, experts said that 52% of human trafficking victims are indigenous and that the average age of exploitation of an indigenous girl was 12 years old. Although the indigenous population up to the age of 14 makes up 7.7% of all Canadian children, they represent 52.2% of the children in the child welfare system. Studies have shown that these children in the system are more likely to enter into prostitution. This is not information that is new to the government. It is at the disposal of the government, but nothing has changed. We see no action on this human rights issue.
I will quote from Amnesty International's report, “Stolen Sisters: A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada”. It says:
When a woman is targeted for violence because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, her fundamental rights have been abused. And when she is not offered an adequate level of protection by state authorities because of her gender or because of her Indigenous identity, those rights have been violated.
The date of that report's release is 2004. It has been 18 years. This is shameful. Past governments, all of them, must share the blame in perpetuating the broken system that has left indigenous women and girls behind.
Two years after the release of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, the government finally released an action plan on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. It is a plan that many have called flawed, toxic and unsafe. I will quote from an article:
University of Western Ontario professor Michael Arntfield — an expert on serial murder and cold cases — told the Toronto Sun the government and its army of bureaucrats are “chiefly to blame” for the continuing crisis.
“This is another solemn reminder of the fact that despite all the lip service in the world, the proper resources from the top down are still not being properly allocated.”
Meaningful reconciliation involves more than just funding announcements and photo ops. It requires partnership and collaboration with indigenous communities across Canada. There is so much more work to be done to protect the lives of indigenous women and girls across our country. “Bad people commit these horrible crimes against Native women,” said Malinda Limberhand, mother of Hanna Harris, who was murdered in 2013 on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. Malinda Limberhand continued, “but it is the system that allows it to happen generation after generation.”
There has to be change. Enough is enough. We need to see tangible results that meaningfully improve the lives of indigenous women and girls. This starts with the federal government implementing its portion of the 231 calls to action from the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls report, including calls for a “standardization of protocols for policies and practices that ensure that all cases...are thoroughly investigated”, “the establishment of a national task force...to review and, if required, to reinvestigate [cases] from across Canada”, and ensuring “protection orders are available, accessible, promptly issued and effectively serviced and resourced to protect [victims].”
Canada’s Conservatives are focused on bringing forward policies that make real and measurable improvements in the lives of Canada’s indigenous people.
I would like to take this opportunity to speak about a devastating loss in my local community of Curve Lake First Nation. Cileana Taylor was 22 years old when she was brutally attacked by her partner on September 3, 2020. Cileana was on life support for six months before she passed away with her family at her side. The man who attacked her was out on bail for a previous assault charge dating back to 2019, when he was charged for aggravated assault on Ms. Taylor. He was released on bail on February 3, three weeks before Cileana died.
“The charge of aggravated assault is not enough when one of our young Indigenous women has died from his violent assault,” is a quote from Chief Laurie Carr, who sent a letter of support on behalf of the Hiawatha First Nation Council. “Our community has supported Cileana’s family and Curve Lake First Nation through prayers and offerings as they sat with Cileana in the hospital, and after her death. Cileana, as all our Indigenous women are sacred and a part of the continuation of life for our people, our culture and our traditions. They are the link, and the connection to our future generations,” Chief Carr said in her letter. She went on, “Cileana had value. Cileana had a full life ahead of her. The loss of Cileana's life is unacceptable to our First Nation, to all our Peoples and to humankind.” The man who attacked Cileana was never charged with murder.
We do not need more headlines of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. We need them to be safe. Cileana and all of our indigenous women and girls deserve justice. Tonight I ask the Liberals to listen and, most importantly, to take action.
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- Dec/7/22 9:02:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the pleasure of working with my hon. colleague on the status of women committee. We are just finishing a study on the connection between resource extraction and increased violence against indigenous women and girls. I am very proud that everybody on that committee committed to that study in response to addressing violence against indigenous women.
One thing we have learned about on the committee is the importance of listening. Families are very clear. In this instance, a family came today to listen to what we had to say. One of the things families are calling for is a moratorium on continuing the use of the Prairie Green Landfill site, where the remains of their mother are currently suspected to be located. This was acknowledged by the police. It is a site that continues to be used for refuse.
Does my colleague support the family's call in asking for an immediate moratorium so the remains of their loved ones can be left undisturbed and respected?
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- Dec/7/22 9:03:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is an incredible advocate and leader on the subject of missing and murdered indigenous women. I have the pleasure of watching her work and listening to her on the status of women committee.
This is deeply emotional. This is devastating. I cannot imagine not only having a family member murdered, but then knowing they are in a landfill and their family is not able to have their body back.
The answer to my colleague is that there has to be something done. Members cannot sit on the other side of this House as a government and say they are fully committed, but do nothing.
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- Dec/7/22 9:04:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are hearing some harsh truths tonight. We can hear the shaky voices. It is important to reaffirm our commitment and to continue to implement the national action plan. My colleague across the way talked about a broken system. I think it really will take transformational change.
What does she think are the root causes of violence against indigenous women and girls in Canada?
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- Dec/7/22 9:06:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today first to acknowledge the humility and the insight of the member for Peterborough—Kawartha, who, it is very clear, in preparing for tonight's take-note debate, has taken the learnings, perhaps from her committee or from her community's proximity to other indigenous communities.
I want to provide the hon. member with the opportunity to expand on some of the learnings from the committee work that she has done.
She referenced education and, I think, to the best of her ability, tried to perhaps help her colleague in presenting what was a very non-partisan and cross-party effort to address the connection between resource extraction and the violence against missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
For the benefit of this take-note debate and perhaps even for her Conservative caucus, given her insight and her humility, I wonder if she could reflect on some of the key learnings of that committee, things that perhaps she did not know about going into it and which may have helped aid her in providing the insights that she has so eloquently provided this evening.
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- Dec/7/22 9:09:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been a very big proponent of mental health. First nations have experienced this very differently from everyone else and they know this first-hand. The short answer to that question is there is a mental health transfer that is in the works. The sum of $4.5 billion was promised by the Liberal government for a mental health transfer, in particular for indigenous treatment and recovery. It is going to be different so we need to look at that.
There is a lot that we can be doing in terms of treatment and recovery and helping the trauma that is a result of a lot of past governments and a lot uneducated people, basically, would be the short answer to that.
I would love to see the $4.5 billion of mental health transfer help people who are suffering.
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- Dec/7/22 9:10:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that the land on which we gather is the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin and Anishinabe people.
Land acknowledgements are not intended to simply check a box or even state a fact. They are meant to set the tone with pre-colonial respect and recognition. I wish to pay homage to matrilineal societies that thrived in Wabanaki territory, like where I am from, where women decided who the chiefs were, who the speakers were, held them accountable and could remove them, and democracy was by consensus. Women were revered as life givers and two-spirited peoples were held in high regard for their strength and gender fluidity.
Tonight I am grateful for this essential take-note debate to further bring awareness to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirited peoples. However, I am devastated that as time passes, we continue to lose mothers, sisters, aunties, daughters, cousins and friends. It feels as though we cannot move beyond this point of awareness to action.
Through you, Mr. Speaker, to this House, to our government and to people watching at home, I say, no more. When will this stop?
Reconciliation is indeed a process. It is a journey, but the time it takes to heal wounds and to build bridges cannot mean more bright lights will be snuffed out as we iron out the details. It cannot mean that we will continue to stand idly by while families go without answers. It cannot mean that we refuse to do all we can to bring these women home.
Our discussion this evening was spurred by the latest loss of life of four important sacred women with value, with purpose, whose deaths must not be in vain: Rebecca Contois, 24 years old; Marcedes Myran, 26 years old; Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39 years old; and Buffalo Woman. Our goal tonight is to honour them by demanding action and accountability.
I want to acknowledge the strength and the incredible courage it took for Cambria Harris of Long Plain First Nation in Treaty 1 territory, the daughter of Morgan Harris, for her powerful speech delivered just outside these doors. She spoke truth to power and rightfully called out our collective inaction and indifference. Her plea to bring her mother home must be honoured. We must commit to deliver justice for those whose lives have been cut short.
I have mentioned many times in this House that I was an educator before coming here. I worked with indigenous students whose leadership and activism inspired me to fight for a better future where these discussions will no longer be needed. I remember clearly a time in 2010 when awareness in MMIWG had just started to grow. A viral campaign occurred and my students participated by taking photos with signs that said, “Am I next?” I love those students like they are my own children and it was gut-wrenching to think that we could lose them. Unfortunately, many of them know someone who has been murdered or who has gone missing. Imagine having to carry the weight of that reality around.
We know the statistics. Indigenous women make up 16% of all female homicide victims, 11% of missing women, even though indigenous peoples make up 4.3% of the population of Canada. According to the inquiry's report, they are 12 times more likely to go missing or be murdered. They are not numbers. They are human beings.
It is important to note that the current public data on MMIWG oversimplifies and under-represents the scale of the issue. It still demonstrates a complex and pervasive pattern of violence against indigenous women and girls who are often targeted because of their gender and indigenous identity. Violence against indigenous women and girls is systemic and a national crisis that requires urgent, informed and collaborative action.
The Sisters in Spirit initiative highlighted various systemic issues, including the impunity of many of the perpetrators. Their study found that nearly half of the cases involving indigenous women and girls remain unsolved and no charges were laid in about 40% of the cases.
It is now recognized that the high risk of violence experienced by indigenous women and girls stems in large part from a failure of police and others in the criminal justice system to adequately respond to or provide for the needs of indigenous women and girls and we see history repeating itself.
More than 2,380 people participated in the national inquiry. Expert witnesses, elders and knowledge keepers, frontline workers and officials provided testimony. The truths shared tell the story or, more accurately, thousands of stories of acts of genocide against first nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation. It is intended, rather, to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of life, of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.
As stated in the executive summary of the inquiry's final report:
The objectives of a plan of genocide would include actions aimed at the “disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.”
Sadly, we have met that threshold.
As the inquiry's final report explains, “the steps to end and redress this genocide must be no less monumental than the combination of systems and actions that has worked to maintain colonial violence for generations.”
The calls for justice are based on a solid foundation of evidence and law. A human rights based approach is critical in efforts to bring about the paradigm shift required in Canada's relationship with indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women and girls.
Exposure to violence must be seen as a systemic violation of the rights to gender equality and non-discrimination, requiring broad structural changes, such as policing practices or judicial restructuring, instead of as a symptom of service gaps requiring temporary solutions.
Families and survivors consistently refer to four general ways their experiences were rooted in colonialism across first nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives, as well as from the perspective of 2SLGBTQIA people. These four pathways that maintain colonial violence are historical, multi-generational and intergenerational trauma; social and economic marginalization; the maintaining of the status quo and institutional lack of will; and the ignoring of the agency and expertise of indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.
Justice for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is justice for all women, and this work is critical for any hope of reconciliation. Women are the ones leading the collective healing required to move forward. We need to tackle the disease that is poisoning our society, namely misogyny, racism, white supremacy and colonialism.
We all have a responsibility to do better, to end this cycle of suffering and to heal. Until the root cause of hate is truly addressed, the tree of reconciliation will never grow.
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- Dec/7/22 9:23:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the issues that would be very important in addressing the safety of indigenous women and girls is access to housing. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls actually mentioned housing over 200 times, yet Canada still does not have an urban, rural and northern, for indigenous, by indigenous housing strategy despite the government promising it over and over again.
The government's own national housing council is calling for an investment of $6 billion over two years dedicated to a for indigenous, by indigenous urban, rural and northern housing strategy. Would the member support that for budget 2023?
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- Dec/7/22 9:24:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I very much respect my colleague. Actually, earlier this evening, during a question she asked another member, I wrote that down to say this is something I want to push for and advocate for, that very tangible number. Of course, indigenous-led and for indigenous, by indigenous is so critical. I am happy to add my voice in asking for that to be included in our 2023 budget.
Again, to highlight some of the work that has been done in my own riding, we did see $18.6 million given for a friendship centre that also has housing options and also deals with intimate partner violence. It is going to have social enterprise for women. It is going to provide those opportunities. Those individual projects are going to have ripple effects in each individual community. I hope to see that across the country. I think it could also lead to some solutions.
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- Dec/7/22 9:25:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I start debate tonight, as other colleagues have done, I want to provide a bit of a warning at the top end of my speech, because what we are discussing here tonight is graphic and should not make anyone comfortable. It should make every person in this country deeply uncomfortable.
What we are talking about tonight are the horrendous murders of four indigenous women and countless others in our country, but I want to talk specifically about these four women and what the families have been going through, and then contextualize that with how much I really feel our country and our government has failed these families and what we need to do going forward.
The remains of these women are in Winnipeg-area landfills. That is what the Winnipeg police have expressed, I believe. I would like people to think about the refuse that they have produced. They should think about their kitchen trash bag or the smell of their garbage in the summer in their garages, and then think about the garbage they have produced being piled on top of these women. That is what these families had to go through this week. They were told by the Winnipeg police that it was not feasible to provide closure to them by searching the landfill for remains.
That really got me. When would it be feasible to provide closure to families? What would it take? Would it take it being the remains of a former male premier of Manitoba perhaps? Why are we just content to let these women's families sit like this? I cannot believe it, yet I can. I grew up in Winnipeg. I spent 25 years in Winnipeg, and I can believe it because the conversation we are having here tonight is something I have heard for the entire duration of my time on this planet.
I was eight years old when J.J. Harper was shot in Winnipeg by Constable Robert Cross. J.J. Harper was doing nothing wrong and was unarmed. He was just walking around and got shot for the crime of being a first nations man in Winnipeg. There were supposed to be all of these recommendations to make the police less racist in Winnipeg, and here they are today saying it is not feasible. Can anyone imagine? I cannot believe it. I am just going to say it. If it had been a man of upper-class society in Winnipeg, that type of a man, it would not have been okay to say it is not feasible.
The government is comfortable with its not being feasible. It is comfortable with it. Why? It is because for seven years first nations people have been tokenized, given platitudes, given promises and given nothing. That is fair to say because we are having the same debate again, six months after we had it the last time. This is a perpetual debate that we have in the House of Commons.
The government allocated $78 billion-and-something in 2017 to address homelessness, and this past year the Auditor General said that, even though homelessness under this plan was supposed to have been cut across the country by at least one-third, there were more homeless people in Canada on the streets than ever before. When the government announces funding for homelessness, which is the number one determinant of the cause of death in missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada and the number one thing that the report talks about, how can Liberals sit here with a straight face and talk platitudes? How are we having this conversation?
There needs to be action. This is not about a government going and tokenizing women. I will say it again: The government had an indigenous woman with her hands on the reins of power in the justice ministry, and it turfed her. The Liberals are content to give platitudes and photo ops on funding but never to deliver. They are not content to allow for independent first nations oversight of government funding to address some of these issues.
Some of my colleagues, particularly my colleague from Winnipeg Centre who called for this debate tonight, have some really concrete suggestions to address, in the short term, the pain and suffering that these families are going through, but there are so many more. First of all, she has called, and many of us across party lines have called, for the federal government to address the fact that saying that it is not feasible to provide the families closure and saying that we cannot do anything about those remains in that landfill is not good enough. I agree with her. That line normalizes remains being left in a landfill. That is what it does.
I know in my heart that if it were not a first nations woman it probably would have elicited a different response. The federal government needs to move on that. It needs to give closure to these families. If anything, it needs to give closure to these families.
We have also talked tonight about having independent oversight of government spending or lack thereof. It is not just about spending. It is actual outcomes on some of the big issues, like housing, education and changes in justice. There needs to be independent first nations oversight. Clearly, this is not working. We are here talking about women in a garbage dump, and we are still getting platitudes and no concrete plan.
It is my job to hold the government to account. There is nothing to celebrate here. There is only tragedy to mourn and make right. Also discussed tonight was the need to have a red dress alert. Why do first nations women not have some sort of tool available to let the public and those around them know that there has been an abduction or a missing woman, or some sort of effort to find them and to intervene early so that we are not talking about the feasibility of excavating a garbage dump for remains?
Frankly, we also need to address the issue of trust with police for those growing up in Winnipeg and growing up through the J.J. Harper case. There was a report issued in 2020 that I remember basically saying that nothing had changed, that the vast majority of people since the J.J. Harper shooting in 1988 who were on the receiving end of deadly force by police in Manitoba were indigenous persons. When a family is sitting in with police and they are being told that it is not feasible to find remains or find justice, can we blame them if they do not trust them?
This is particularly true when there is a government that is content to give photo ops and say thanks for the donation, and then fire a first nations indigenous woman from the justice ministry and hope that we are all going to go into holiday recess and forget about it. Then what? Do we have this debate again in three months? That is the cycle here. That is the cycle that has to end. Something has to be done to establish trust within first nations communities, first nations survivors and first nations women that we are going to do something here. Nothing has been done. We are having the same debate.
In closing, the last thing I want to say is that I want to disabuse anyone of the notion that it is up to the first nations communities, and first nations women particularly, to do the emotional labour and heavy lifting of getting the government to move on these issues. They have enough to do just to survive on a daily basis.
It is up to each and every one of us in this place, and at home listening to this tonight, to understand that the government has not delivered. It has failed, and we cannot allow it to keep tokenizing women in these communities and abdicating its responsibility to provide action.
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- Dec/7/22 9:36:59 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague, not only for her intervention but for sharing her thoughts as somebody who lived in Winnipeg for a long time and knows the history of racism we deal with as indigenous people and certainly indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people in the city of Winnipeg.
I have been asking across party lines whether members of Parliament will stand behind these families and support the call for a moratorium on any sort of usage of the Prairie Green Landfill until further investigation can occur. I think it is a simple answer. Of course. Of course they support that, because to treat loved ones that way, as the member explained, is unacceptable. The answer should always be yes.
I wonder if my colleague supports the family's call for an immediate moratorium on the use of the Prairie Green Landfill site.
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- Dec/7/22 9:38:15 p.m.
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Madam Chair, of course we should be providing closure for these families. I understand that there will be questions about logistics and this and that, but we have to understand how difficult it is for first nations and indigenous women in this country. Sometimes I think we prioritize our comfort over their discomfort, and that is why we are here.
I know my colleague has spoken about the need for an independent inquiry and assessment in this matter and said that it needs to happen because of that lack of trust in police. I agree with her. I cannot imagine being a member of that family and having the police just lay out a PowerPoint presentation for the family that is going through this, given the history and knowing the lack of trust. Of course.
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- Dec/7/22 9:40:56 p.m.
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Madam Chair, talk is cheap. We need action. For seven years, the government has talked, and it has spent but I am not sure on what. How many first nations persons across this country still do not have access to basic, clean drinking water? How many first nations persons have no hope of shelter?
I feel the government has tokenized first nations and indigenous persons. I feel the lack of seriousness the government has shown in seeing why their “spending” has not resulted in any better outcomes for first nations and indigenous women should be lighting on fire the hair of every person in this country regardless of how they vote.
The government does not get a free pass on creating action for first nations and indigenous persons simply by virtue of it being Liberal. They have failed, and they have to be held to account for it.
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