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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 189

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, Lib.)
  • May/2/23 9:00:56 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to start by acknowledging that we are on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. May 5, Red Dress Day, is a day to reflect, mourn and recommit to our continued work together to put an end to this ongoing national tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. On Red Dress Day and every day, our hearts are with families and survivors as we mourn and honour missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Jaime Black, as the Minister for Northern Affairs reminded us, began The REDress Project, where we saw empty red dresses blowing in the wind from trees and hanging on lampposts. We wear red dresses on this day to support families and survivors and to honour all the lives lost and those whose lives have been ever changed by violence toward indigenous women and girls and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community. Canada's colonial past, along with sexism, ableism, racism, homophobia and transphobia, and the unacceptable actions and inactions of past governments, have created systemic discrimination. These systemic inequities must end for indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people to be safe wherever they live. For decades, families, survivors and communities have been demanding justice, healing and concrete actions to stop this tragedy. It has been that way since the death of Helen Betty Osborne in 1971. That was over 50 years ago. I remember that one of my first meetings here on the Hill, probably not knowing very much about this situation, was with Bernie Williams and Gladys Radek, who crossed this country seven times in their walk for justice. That was 20 years ago, and I learned much from these truly inspirational people about the need for justice, healing and concrete actions to stop this tragedy. It was the tragic death of Tina Fontaine that galvanized the nation and the long-standing calls for a national public inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We launched the national inquiry in 2016, and its final report in June 2019 recommended concrete actions to end violence through systemic, substantial and transformative change. We recommend that all Canadians read or reread “Reclaiming Power and Place” and the calls for justice to raise awareness, broaden understanding and then take action. The national inquiry called on all governments, federal, provincial, territorial and indigenous, to work together to build an effective and responsible national action plan. We were truly inspired by the work done with families, survivors and over 100 indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people to develop the regional, first nations, Inuit, Métis, urban, two-spirit+ and data components of the whole-of-Canada action plan to respond to the calls for justice. Incredible indigenous leaders like Diane Redsky and Sylvia Maracle helped to ensure that the action plan reflected the urban indigenous perspectives and the unique lived experiences of indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people from across the country. We know that much more work needs to be done. Budget 2021 invested $2.2 billion over five years. Building on that is more than $2.7 billion in funding to support housing in indigenous communities. Budget 2022 invested another $4.3 billion to support housing in first nations and Inuit communities. We are determined to continue our ongoing work in co-operation with our indigenous, provincial and territorial partners in order to put an end to this tragedy. As the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, I pledge to ensure indigenous-led, trauma-informed, culturally safe care for all first nations, Inuit and Métis across this country. We will fight for reforms in child and family services, indigenous policing, indigenous housing and all the social determinants of health so we can end this terrible tragedy.
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Context: House Hansard - 189 - May/2/23
Hon. Carolyn Bennett
  • May/2/23 9:06:53 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I thank the member for her ongoing advocacy and her always eloquent and heartfelt interventions in this House. I remember the terrible debate on the convoy and how diligent the member was in fighting for justice and fighting for the feeling of safety that had been lost in this town. I think we are fighting an ongoing tragedy across this country and it is an emergency. However, it means that everybody has to see themselves in the solutions. It means that everybody has to know to call out discrimination and deal with it every day of their lives, not just on May 5 or October 4, but every day of the year.
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