44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague from Cariboo—Prince George, who introduced Bill C-321, said he could go on about this particular topic for hours and perhaps years if we allowed him to. As I listened very carefully to his speech, it made me very emotional to hear the harrowing stories that have been told to him. Of course, we know that those things are difficult to hear and difficult to understand.
As I have said in the House before, I have been a family doctor. I graduated from medical school 30 years ago. It is difficult to understand, very carefully, what people have to put up with day in and day out. When someone works in an emergency room, they will, every day, see paramedics and nurses and, as we say in Nova Scotia, LPNs, and CCAs, support workers and other staff who work inside the hospital and have suffered violence. That is something that becomes very hard to understand. For those who are not interested in perpetrating violence, it becomes very hard to understand how someone could possibly have any interest in harming the person who is there to help them. For the majority of people around this country who are listening in this evening, I am sure that does not compute. However, it is important that we make it very clear to the Canadian public that this does happen and that it happens on an everyday basis.
Underlining that fact with some personal experience is something that is very important. We can all talk about numbers. We can talk about the percentage of paramedics in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Sixty-seven per cent of them were verbally abused and 26%, in 2014, had been subject to a physical assault. In North Bay, Ontario, 60% had endured violence, including sexual harassment and physical assault. We all know very clearly that this has no place in the workplace. The strange fact, though, is that it happens in the health care workplace, where health care is being delivered, which, as we have heard from multiple members, could be at the side of the road or in a hospital setting, a nursing home or the person's own home. We know very clearly that this happens.
I have heard the word “hero” used here this evening. It is heroic, in a sense, that the workers who endure this kind of violence show up to work again. It is inexplicable. There really are no words for it. If this type of violence occurred in another workplace, it would very likely be a career-ending injury for many folks. In the health care field, as strange as it is, perhaps owing to the fact that many health care workers are there because they have a heart for the work, they show up to that work again and again, in spite of being abused verbally, physically and, sadly, also sexually. Have I seen this happen? Yes, I have seen it happen, and that presents a very difficult situation. The verbal abuse endured by frontline medical staff in 2023 is beyond belief. People who believe that they can take their frustrations out on other people has, sadly, become some sort of weird, acceptable situation in our society. My friend and colleague from Cariboo—Prince George brought that forward in a very eloquent and elegant manner.
Understanding that, of course, there is frustration with the medical system, we know very clearly that those frontline workers are not in charge of the medical system. They are not the administrators of it. They are not the funders of it. However, those folks who are frustrated by the level of care they have received and the time they have waited still feel it appropriate to lash out at those frontline health care workers who, we know very clearly, are there to help and have gone into these professions with very good reason and a clear conscience.
We know, sadly, that in our society, many frontline health care workers, especially nurses and often paramedics, are females. We also know, sadly, that is a particular difficulty because certain individuals of our society feel the need and, perhaps the superiority, I do not know what goes through their minds, to lash out at females in our society. This appears to be something that happens much more regularly, and, obviously, this is borne out in studies. I have a daughter, Samantha, who is a paramedic. We have that kindred shared relationship to understand the things that she has seen and experienced. She is a tough cookie. She was a rugby player in university. However, we can all understand very clearly that having those things said and done to one certainly takes its toll over time. Once again, it has been said very clearly that that contributes to compassion fatigue, burnout and the reason why people begin to leave their profession.
Especially in today's day and age, when we know that there is a significant need for nurses, paramedics, physicians and any type of health care worker, it must not help them to think they are not being supported by their society. This is an epidemic, which is a bit of an overused word, but it is an epidemic of violence against frontline health care workers. For those who choose to work in these professions, it is important to understand that there are 338 of us in the House of Commons who want to support them and to say that the violence that they endure, sadly, on a regular basis is not acceptable, and that it needs to be a mitigating factor when perpetrators of such violence are brought to justice.
We need to get to the root causes, to understand what we could do as legislators to help with prevention, what we could do as legislators to help change this country so that the attitude is different. We know that those steps are all so important. Certainly as an interim step, allowing frontline health care workers to know that we are there, from all across this country, to support them is going to be a necessary and important step so that they know they are not forgotten.
I do not think it would be helpful to the House or those listening at home to continue to talk about the terrible cases we have heard about very clearly this evening. I will not belabour those points, other than to be very clear that I would challenge my colleagues in the House, not only those who spoke but also the folks who would have the opportunity to pass this bill on to committee and to perhaps make amendments there. I challenge them to make a bill here that, when it goes to committee, is even better. It is not that I want to criticize my colleagues, but let us not weaken this bill; let us strengthen it. Let us make it broader. Let us define those things that need definition. Let us not let perfection be our enemy and allow this bill to not get into the great laws of Canada. I think that is the challenge we have.
I spoke about another challenge in the House before. I believe that we actually have an opportunity here to do something. There are so many days when coming to the House of Commons can be very frustrating. Quite honestly, oftentimes, not much happens and not much gets done. There is a lot of talking and there are a lot of words, but there is not a lot of action. This bill is something that we could have as an actionable and effective tool to help reduce the violence against frontline health care workers. When we have an opportunity in the House of Commons to actually operationalize something, then we need to seize that opportunity with both hands and be able to move that forward so it becomes the law of this great country. My colleague from Cariboo—Prince George has captured a moment in time that is going to allow us, with the support of all of my colleagues, to do that here in the House of Commons. I hope that we are able to do that, because it is something that would be transformative.
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Madam Speaker, I am very happy to hear the support for this bill in the House today. I want to congratulate the member for Cariboo—Prince George for bringing it forward. There is great opportunity in this bill to further ensure that those who go out, as he indicated in his speech, to protect Canadians and to quite often stand in the way of harm would be given further protections in terms of the consequences for those who seek to harass or intimidate them. I must admit that, when listening to the debate in the House today and when reading the contents of the bill, the first thing that popped into my mind was what was happening in the middle of the pandemic. People were trying to survive, were falling asleep or being deprived of sleep. They were trying to enter Kingston General Hospital, in my riding of Kingston and the Islands, and were being subjected to harassment and intimidation by protesters, believe it or not, on the street.
I totally respect and understand that the people who choose to put their names forward and are elected to the House could be subject to that from time to time, but I completely disagree that anybody who is simply following the policies and legislation enacted by the various different levels of government should ever have to be subject to that. They are just there to do their job, as the member for Cariboo—Prince George pointed out so well.
Perhaps I will have time to expand a little further in the second hour of debate on this. I am hopeful that the discussion at committee will be a productive one, that we can perhaps identify some weaknesses in the bill, strengthen it and look for other opportunities to make it even better.
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The time provided for the consideration of Private Members' Business has now expired, and the order is dropped to the bottom of the order of precedence on the Order Paper.
Pursuant to order made on Thursday, April 27, I do now leave the chair for the House to go into committee of the whole to consider Motion No. 24 under government business.
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- May/2/23 6:45:31 p.m.
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Before we begin this evening's debate, I would like to remind hon. members of how proceedings will unfold.
Each member speaking will be allotted 10 minutes for debate, followed by 10 minutes for questions and comments.
Pursuant to order made on Thursday, April 27, the time provided for the debate may be extended beyond four hours, as needed, to include a minimum of 12 periods of 20 minutes each.
Members may divide their time with another member, and the Chair will receive no quorum calls, dilatory motions or requests for unanimous consent.
We will now begin tonight's take-note debate.
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- May/2/23 6:47:16 p.m.
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moved:
That this committee take note of Red Dress Day.
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- May/2/23 6:47:16 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Nunavut.
It was a monumental day today having all members of the House recognize the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and two-spirit transwomen, a Canada-wide crisis, because it is a crisis. How many tragedies do we have to endure before appropriate action is taken? We are seeing constant, unrelenting violence against our women, girls, two-spirit people and transwomen.
Rebecca Contois, Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Buffalo Woman, Linda Beardy, an eight-year-old girl in Samson Cree Nation: I send my love and sympathies to their families, but they deserve justice. Almost every week we learn about new and heartbreaking stories of sisters who have gone missing or who have been murdered.
We cannot let this be normalized. It is not normal because this is a result of vile human rights violations, something that the current Prime Minister likened to an ongoing genocide. I want to acknowledge our trans sisters and gender non-conforming relatives who face a heightened risk of violence, particularly with the rise of anti-trans hate and a woeful lack of funding and support.
Too often they are forgotten when we speak about this ongoing genocide. I want to say to our trans sisters that I see them, that they are sacred and they deserve to have space in every circle, even when they are forgotten.
Three years since it was announced, the federal government's violence prevention strategy to address the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls is mostly unspent, only 5%, just $37.1 million out of a fund of $724.1 million.
Not a single new shelter or transitional home has been built. How much longer do we have to wait for this life-saving money to get out the door? How many lives are going to be lost? How many women are going to disappear without action, without a safe place to go?
To make matters worse, we have learned that the Liberals are cutting $150 million from women's shelters in September. Over 600 shelters will have less resources to help people fleeing gender-based violence, rates of violence that we know have increased since the pandemic. The pandemic might have shifted but gender-based violence is on the rise and this government is turning its back on people needing safe places to go. That $150 million could be used to save lives. They need to be providing more resources, not less, because lives are at stake.
The solutions to the crisis are there. Listen to the national inquiry's 231 calls to justice, to families, survivors, advocates. Listen to the young people who are fighting on the front lines, who often do not even have space to speak at the table, young people who are being impacted by violence.
Families and survivors were clear today. They are calling for a Canada-wide emergency, to start work immediately on developing and implementing a national red dress alert system, to create a guaranteed livable basic income and immediately carry out prevention initiatives that honour the rights of indigenous women, girls, trans and gender non-conforming individuals, including but not limited to a right to health, a right to culture, the right to security and the right to justice.
This funding needs to be directed toward indigenous women, youth, children and indigenous-led and serving organizations.
It is time for the government to heed the call. This threat and this ongoing genocide deserve urgency. We are not disposable. People in the hundreds took to the streets in Winnipeg declaring that we are not garbage. We are not garbage. We deserve justice now.
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- May/2/23 6:52:29 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the member for Winnipeg Centre has been a tireless advocate for justice, for decency and for bringing our sisters home.
It is no secret that this prolonged and continuous genocide is persistent. It is persistent not only in the forms it has taken, such as violence against women or the results of poverty we are seeing, but it is also nefarious in the way the government operates. It is nefarious that it continues to limit the funding necessary to get to the organizations that need it most.
We have young people who are present with us today who need these kinds of resources. They need the support of their government to put that money into their pockets so they can do the work of community life saving.
Can the member speak about the importance of young people and their contributions to ending this crisis?
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- May/2/23 6:53:25 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as I mentioned, young people are on the front lines of this issue. They need to be supported. They need to be supported in this life-saving work. They need mentorship. They need to work with youth as peers and help each other stay safe.
We have so many kids who age out of care onto the streets. Do members know who is stepping up? It is other young people with common experiences. We need to immediately invest in places for kids aging out of care. We need to support youth organizations that are doing this frontline work to lift people up.
That is what we need. The government talks a good game, but it needs to start investing in youth-led initiatives that save the lives of other young people.
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- May/2/23 6:54:25 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my colleague's motion today mentioned the red dress hotline, something every party supported earlier today when asked to do so.
I want to make a link to how the government responds to something so important. We had a call many years ago regarding a three-digit hotline for mental health support, which the government took its time implementing, despite a clear deadline to do so.
Does the member from the NDP anticipate the Liberals will deal with the red dress hotline the same way they dealt with the three-digit mental health hotline?
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- May/2/23 6:55:07 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I think I just have to look at what has been going on so far. It has been almost four years since the national inquiry. In 2020, the government released $724.1 million to address the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. The money is there. How much has it spent? Only 5%. No new shelters and no new transitional homes have been built.
This system is already in place. All we need is the political will to put it in place. We have Amber Alerts for child. We have weather alerts. This system is already in place.
I have spoken to a minister across the way about this initiative. We were planning to set up meetings, but we do not need to meet for the sake of meetings. We need to meet with a tangible goal to have immediate action. There has been enough talking. The government needs to act now as it is costing lives.
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- May/2/23 6:56:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, thank you again for the speech and the advocacy that you are putting forward.
What is the role of allyship? It is a big question in my riding. We are neighbours to Kahnawake. We have started some partnership, but perhaps you could talk about allyship in advancing this work.
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- May/2/23 6:56:38 p.m.
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I just want to remind the hon. member she is to address questions and comments through the Chair and not directly to the member.
The hon. member has 40 seconds to respond.
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- May/2/23 6:56:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, whenever there is violence, it is everybody's problem. Nobody should ever ask permission to do something about violence. We are talking about indigenous people. We are talking about indigenous women and girls, transgender women and young people. Nobody needs to ask permission. It is about political will.
Not acting or finding reasons not to act at this point when the Prime Minister has recognized it as an ongoing genocide and our Parliament has recognized it as a Canada-wide crisis, is an excuse. It is an excuse. We need to stop with the excuses. The government needs to act now.
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- May/2/23 6:57:33 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, it breaks my heart to have to make this speech tonight.
Canada's genocidal laws and policies have remained strongly intact for over 150 years now, and because of that, we see the success of these policies by governments over those generations. The success of the policies in what we see in Canada today are so many, but I will name just the tip of the iceberg of some of them. They include the crisis of violence that we see against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, and the systemic discrimination that we continue to hear about, whether in law enforcement, the health care field, child apprehensions or the education system. Systemic discrimination strongly exists now.
There have been generations of a lack of targeted investment in indigenous people's well-being, including a lack of investments in housing, shelters and social programs that would improve our well-being. These include language revitalization, cultural revitalization and so many more social programs that we know could have better impacts on how we see indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
On the other end of the spectrum of those successes is the overinvestment this government has had, in the billions, in industry, which is well known to contribute to missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. The violence they experience from the resource sector is very well known.
Today, I had the tremendous honour to support the great work of my inspiring colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre, who hosted a media event with power. That power was shared with families of survivors of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.
I especially would like to acknowledge that Nikki Komaksiutiksak was at the media event. She is now an inspiring leader as the executive director for Tunngasugit in Winnipeg. During the media event, she shared again what unfortunately she has had to share over and over again, the loss of her sister, the late Jessica Michaels, originally from my home community of Chesterfield Inlet. Her life was tragically lost to violence on August 26, 2001. Nikki also shared the experience with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, which later published the “Calls for Justice”. There were 231 calls for justice announced in 2019.
I want to remind Nikki and all the other Inuit women who feel that there is no voice for them in this House of Commons that there is. They should feel free to approach my office on these matters. I will fight for their needs, for justice and to ensure that we are having more indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people celebrated for the beautiful people we are.
We need to see more funding and investments for indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people as well as for victims and survivors. We need to be the ones that help to stop the genocide against indigenous women. The House needs to take part in ensuring that we are doing better to protect indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, including ensuring that the red dress alert is implemented as soon as possible.
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- May/2/23 7:02:57 p.m.
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Madam Chair, my friend from Nunavut is also a member on the committee for indigenous and northern affairs. Some of the things we studied recently in the committee were not only the supports that are needed to end what is currently going on, but also the fact that the government could be working in a way that would allow indigenous communities to empower themselves. One way was to work on levelling the playing field between non-indigenous police services and indigenous police services.
In some cases now, depending on the community, one would have to get an RCMP or non-indigenous police service to go into a community to make a certain arrest, when the powers could be given to an indigenous police service that is currently doing the job in that community and that knows the community, the people and the background. Would the member feel that might be one acceptable piece in this big puzzle?
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- May/2/23 7:04:08 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I do enjoy working with that member as well on the indigenous and northern affairs committee.
Police services are also a very complicated matter. Unfortunately, they are used as a way to ensure that genocide happens against indigenous peoples. RCMP in Nunavut, for example, have very limited services, and I think the member brings forward a great solution. It is a great idea to make sure that it is indigenous peoples who are handling difficult situations in their communities.
Right now, as an example, in Chesterfield Inlet, from nine to five, RCMP will be available, but when the violence is happening after five and in the middle of the night, a phone call is diverted, not in Chesterfield Inlet, but all the way to Iqaluit, which is in a different time zone, and Iqaluit services do not always offer services in Inuktitut. That guarantee of response is not the same as it is in other parts of Canada, so I would definitely agree on needing to make sure we are empowering indigenous communities to deal with those kinds of situations.
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- May/2/23 7:05:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I thank the member for Nunavut for her speech. Nunavut is a lot like Nunavik in my riding.
This evening we are having a take-note debate on Red Dress Day out of respect for indigenous women and girls. They still live in fear. There are still indigenous women and girls going missing and being murdered. In northern Quebec, the suicide rate is high. There are no policies, despite the funding at the government's disposal. This raises serious questions. There is no nation-to-nation respect either.
What measures should the government take, besides commemorating missing and murdered indigenous women and girls?
That is my question for my colleague.
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- May/2/23 7:06:19 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I think there are so many different solutions, and the biggest one, which I agree with the member for Winnipeg Centre on, is that we have to lift indigenous peoples up. I think the red dress alert would be a major solution because I know that indigenous women are targets, and the reason they might be targets is that there is not enough of a quick response when it is discovered that there is an indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person who disappears or is missing. When those responses can be reported more quickly, more people will realize that indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people cannot be targets anymore.
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- May/2/23 7:07:11 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am wondering about this. Earlier in the policing piece, there was a lot of talk about introducing social workers to address difficult situations. I would like to hear the member's thoughts on the kind of training needed and who those community social workers should be.
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- May/2/23 7:07:40 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, hopefully, it would be Inuit, first nations and Métis who would be helping in the responses. Unfortunately, the social work services are also a very patriarchal system. They use the best interest of the child to apprehend children, so I cannot trust easily the social work system.
Hopefully, it would be Inuit elders, Inuit people and indigenous peoples, who we know can help during these situations. Indigenous peoples have very collective communities, and they know who are the helpers in their communities. Those are the systems where the federal government needs to do better in tapping into as resources.
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