44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 2:46:37 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, transwomen, gender non-conforming and two-spirit people is a Canada-wide emergency. Relatives of lost loved ones, human rights advocates and survivors are calling on the government to take action to end this unrelenting violence. We are not disposable. Our lives are precious and we deserve justice.
Will the Liberals recognize this ongoing genocide as a Canada-wide emergency?
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/23 3:13:10 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations, and I hope that if you seek it, you will find consent for the following motion.
I move:
That, given that:
(i) on October 27, 2022, the House unanimously recognized that what happened in residential schools was genocide,
(ii) decades of insufficient action from all levels of government have failed to address the effects of this genocide, including the crisis of violence against indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people with the urgency it deserves,
(iii) families in Winnipeg and throughout the country continue to experience the tragic loss of loved ones to this crisis,
the House call on the government to:
(a) declare the continued loss of indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people a Canada-wide emergency; and
(b) provide immediate and substantial investment, including in a red dress alert system, to help alert the public when an indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing.
155 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/23 6:56:46 p.m.
- Watch
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.
103 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/23 8:40:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, what a pleasure it is to work with my hon. colleague on the status of women committee. We are in different political parties, yet we strive to find common ground on so many issues to fight for women.
Former Prime Minister Harper, at a time when we had to fight for a national inquiry, indicated in this House it was not on his radar when women were coming forward sounding the alarm around the ongoing genocide of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. That sparked my motivation to start, along with Rain Hamilton, the We Care campaign to fight for a national inquiry and to get allies on board to fight to put in place a national inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.
It is very nice to see the member from the Conservative Party supporting our calls for justice regarding a red dress alert. I encourage other members of her party to share her enthusiasm and compassion when it comes to trying to understand and address the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.
The crisis continues. One of the areas we know contributes to violence, which is something we talk about a lot in the status of women committee, is the need to implement a guaranteed livable basic income. All gender-based violence organizations have unanimously supported this call. If we want to deal with gender-based violence head on, then we need to implement a guaranteed livable basic income. That is something everybody seems to recognize.
We know there is a direct correlation between poverty and violence. We know that indigenous women and girls and trans women are some of the poorest in this country as a result of violent colonization and violent dispossession.
Does my colleague agree with me? Would she support a guaranteed livable basic income as a means to tackle gender-based violence in the country?
320 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/23 8:54:43 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Chair, I have the pleasure to work with my colleague on the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. She was talking about funding announcements.
I want to remind my colleague, with all due respect, of the announcement of cutting $150 million from shelters in September. We know rates of gender-based violence are increasing. Although the reasoning was emergency funding during the pandemic, the pandemic may be shifting, but the crisis of gender-based violence has been increasing and this cut is going to cost lives.
We talk about $55 million over five years. We know it is inadequate. I mentioned it to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. I know it is inadequate because people, indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, diverse-gendered individuals and trans women, continue to be murdered and go missing at crisis levels.
Just this week, we found out about a little child who had been murdered in Samson Cree Nation. Another woman in Sandy Bay, from the Roulette family, I found out has been murdered. This is a daily occurrence.
For the government to praise its investments makes me feel, as an indigenous woman, that we should be satisfied, when we clearly should not be satisfied. We are yelling in the streets of Winnipeg that we are not garbage. Can one imagine? This is not a time for celebration.
Although I really appreciate working with the member across the way on the status of women committee, I hope at the very least we can admit in this House the government and all governments have failed in investing to protect indigenous women and girls and diverse-gendered folks in this country. Can we please at least acknowledge that truth, because we are dying?
289 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
