44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2023 10:00AM
- Jun/14/23 12:46:18 a.m.
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I have received notice from all recognized parties that they are in agreement with this request.
All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will say nay. It is agreed.
The House has now heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.
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- Jun/14/23 12:47:02 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on June 5, I rose during question period to ask the emergency preparedness minister a question in regards to the devastating forest fires and wildfires raging across northern Alberta. I particularly asked the minister to recognize the complete devastation of one of the communities known as the East Prairie Métis Settlement.
Before I get too far into that, I want to speak directly to how important the work of reconciliation really is here in Canada. The government was clear that the most important relationship was to indigenous people, a nation-to-nation, government-to-government relationship that would hopefully begin the healing journey for many indigenous people who are caught not only by the traps of history and cycles in which we fall into, but also the cycles of natural disaster and jurisdictional loopholes that continue to plague indigenous communities like the East Prairie Métis Settlement.
I spoke about the important need to ensure that there was immediate temporary housing for the many families who have lost so much. I have a quote here from members of the community of the East Prairie Métis Settlement that they provided me, which has given evidence of what is needed right now in the community.
However, I want to reference the fact that when I asked the minister this question, he was not actually even certain as to which nation I was speaking of. He responded with the Métis National Council, and although I am a supporter of the Métis National Council, the Métis Settlement of East Prairie is not a member of the Métis National Council nor is any Métis settlement in Alberta. I also want to mention that Métis settlements, which are land-based communities, are only present in northern Alberta, and the minister failed to recognize this unique quality, despite the fact that the government's most important relationship is the nation-to-nation one.
I want to speak about how important it is, during a time of emergency and crisis, if we truly are in a nation-to-nation relationship, that our partner is truly there. This was not present in the response by the minister, and I want to make clear how important it is to ensure that we support indigenous communities when emergency strikes.
The minister has certainly heard of Jordan's principle. That principle says that when an indigenous person, in this case, Jordan, approaches a government, whether it is the provincial or federal government, it is that government that takes action on behalf of that person, who in this case was a child. Jordan died because of living in a jurisdictional wasteland and being tossed back and forth.
I am asking for a Jordan's principle approach to this natural emergency that is taking place in northern Alberta. We have 14 houses that were destroyed, 14 families who are now homeless in northern Alberta, and the community is asking for $900,000 to ensure that these families can continue to live without having to face the brunt of homelessness any longer. There is also a bridge, at $4.5 million, that was lost in that community. It is the only way in and out of that community. These are critical infrastructure projects that the province has neglected to deal with, because of the population being Métis and the fact that there is a jurisdictional battle currently taking place between the province and the federal government as to who is responsible for this community.
I am asking that the minister take his responsibility and his commitment to indigenous people seriously and work with the East Prairie Métis Settlement to temporarily house these families until something can happen and prepare the community to ensure that they can actually re-enter their home by assisting in the construction of a bridge. These are basic asks of any Canadian when disaster strikes. It is even more important that, as the federal government has the power to act on behalf of Métis people, confirmed by the 2016 Daniels v. Canada Supreme Court decision, it should use its power and responsibility to actually do the right thing. Will the minister do the right thing and help this community?
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- Jun/14/23 12:51:08 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach for raising this matter for further debate in this chamber.
Let me begin by acknowledging the devastating impact these wildfires have had on indigenous communities and Albertans across the province. I very much recognize, as the hon. colleague has previously raised in the chamber, that people of the East Prairie Metis Settlement have been among those who lost their homes. Our thoughts are with them and all affected Albertans in the face of this devastating loss.
First, I have a quick update on the current situation in the province. As of June 12, there are 82 wildfires burning in Alberta and 29 are out of control. Some 14,046 people are currently evacuated from their communities. Five indigenous communities in Alberta are among those reporting evacuees.
We are continuing to follow the latest developments in Alberta closely and have been working closely with the province to ensure it has the support it needs to deal with these immediate threats. To that end, on May 10, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness approved the request for federal assistance from the Province of Alberta, activating federal resources to help it combat the ongoing fires.
In response to this request for assistance, the Canadian Armed Forces have been deployed to provide firefighting support resources, airlift resources, including the evacuation of isolated communities, and engineering support. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which is a Natural Resources Canada supported entity, is also coordinating the movement of firefighters from other provinces and international partners.
Employment and Social Development Canada has been supporting impacted Canadians with enhanced Service Canada hours, outreach to evacuees and deployment of mobile units to evacuation centres to support applications for services such as employment insurance.
The Public Health Agency of Canada's national emergency stockpile has been engaged and has shipped requested supplies. PHAC is standing at the ready to provide additional supplies if required.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has been working with the Province of Alberta and telecommunication service providers to keep people connected.
Other departments involved in supporting emergency response include Public Services and Procurement Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Transport Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Indigenous Services Canada's emergency management assistance program is also supporting the response and recovery efforts for Alberta's on-reserve indigenous communities currently experiencing the devastating effects of these wildland fires. Such efforts include resource coordination, evacuee supports and recovery support for repairs to on-reserve community infrastructure.
With respect to an issue that I know is important to the member, I recognize, as my hon. colleague is likely already aware, that negotiations regarding a reconciliation agreement with the federal government and the Metis Settlements General Council are ongoing. While this work is being led by the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, these important conversations are helping to strengthen our government-to-government relationship with all eight Métis settlements in Alberta.
When the cost from a natural disaster exceeds a province or territory's ability to respond on its own, the federal government can provide assistance through the disaster financial assistance arrangements. This can help with up to 90% of eligible recovery costs and can include uninsured damage to principal residences.
Let us not forget that the current wildfire risk remains extremely high. Our government will continue to work with all partners, including provinces, territories and indigenous communities, to help keep their communities safe in the immediate term and to be an effective federal partner into the recovery.
I thank my hon. colleague for his excellent advocacy on this critical issue.
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- Jun/14/23 12:55:06 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for highlighting and giving fact to the reality that this is truly something the federal government has a role to play in, not just the province. I am encouraged by his words citing the disaster recovery assistance program.
Will the parliamentary secretary work with me and the East Prairie Metis Settlement to ensure that the community has the kind of capacity and support required to access that program in a timely manner and to ensure it does not have any families left out in the winter? These are reasonable requests and ones that I am happy to support the government to try to achieve as the government continues its work on a nation-to-nation and government-to-government relationship. It is one that I invite the minister to share with me.
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- Jun/14/23 12:55:54 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the people in the East Prairie Metis Settlement who have lost their homes are going through the unimaginable right now. While the federal government generally provides disaster assistance directly to provinces and territories, we can cover up to 90% of eligible response and recovery costs. While there are no final costs yet, we know the damage caused by Alberta's wildfires is already significant, and we are prepared to work with all partners to ensure that all communities are supported.
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- Jun/14/23 12:56:28 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising tonight in Adjournment Proceedings, at a later time than usual, with it being just about one o'clock in the morning, to follow up on a question I asked in question period on April 27. Just before Earth Day, the Government of Canada approved a massive nature-destroying project, a controversial one that has been fought by British Columbians since 2013 when it was first put forward. It is called the Roberts Bank terminal expansion.
I asked the hon. Minister of Transport how it could be justified, with the opposition and the clarity the environmental impact assessment, itself, found, and it is very rare to get such strong language from an environmental assessment review, that there would be significant and irreversible adverse effects that threaten the survival of a number of species. Still, as the Minister of Transport explained, the project was approved because it had 370 binding conditions, and somehow this devastating project was going to be magically purified through those conditions.
I also included in my question my favourite of the conditions, number 14.7.1, which requires that they paint the cranes to be used at this massive port expansion in a colour that is compatible with the surrounding landscapes. The minister responded that there were other conditions as well. I have gone through all those conditions, and there is no doubt that this project threatens the survival of numerous endangered species. The Fraser River estuary is rich in biodiversity, and the environmental assessment points to numerous endangered species with 102 species at risk.
The findings of the environmental impact assessment were so strong that many people did not think the Government of Canada would approve the project. The Minister of Transport responded to my question that day, April 27. I do not think the Minister of Transport knew what an obscene and grotesque thing he was saying because I do not think that those at the ministerial level actually read the environmental assessment report to know how bad this thing is. It is a $3.5-billion project, and it is going to add $3 billion in added GDP, so what are a few species when we really come down to it? This is an absolute violation of everything the government says it stands for.
The Minister of Transport, in the aforementioned obscene thing, said, “the economy and the environment go hand in hand.” No, the economy goes to the bank. The species at risk go to their graves. This will cause species at risk to go extinct.
Besides the very endangered southern resident killer whales, besides the endangered salmon and so many species, I want to mention one in particular because it is so clear that it cannot be moved somewhere else. One of the conditions says that the people are going to find places in mud flats to create more food for this particular species, the western sandpiper. It has a very interesting, almost hairy tongue that manages to get into something called “biofilm” and gets all its nutrients from that. Over 3.5 million western sandpipers, which makes it look like it could not be endangered, but that is the whole global population, stop at some point every single year on Roberts Bank. The biofilm is specific to that area. People cannot move it around. Experts say they cannot move this bird around, so “endangered” mean nothing to the government when its eyes are flashing with dollar signs.
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- Jun/14/23 1:00:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her questions regarding the Roberts Bank terminal 2 project.
Canada's transportation network is essential to the transportation of approximately $1.2 billion in goods between Canada and international markets.
However, congestion is a major problem on Canada's west coast because there is no redundancy in the system. Recent supply chain disruptions such as floods, fires and pandemics have shown the results of insufficient transportation capacity, higher prices, lower business competitiveness and ports congested with vessels and containers. Port backlogs affect the entire supply chain. This hurts all Canadians, including families who need to pay for more goods, businesses whose deliveries are often late and local communities who must cope with vessels at anchor.
There will be more congestion if we refuse to build new transportation infrastructure. That includes more container handling capacity required to support Canadians, including the millions of new residents that we plan to welcome to our country in the next few decades.
Roberts Bank terminal 2 is expected to increase the Port of Vancouver's ability to handle containers by about 50%, addressing critical container handling capacity issues while also helping Canadian businesses gain access to growing international markets. In addition, Roberts Bank terminal 2 is expected to support more than 1,500 jobs at the terminal, potentially 15,000 jobs off the terminal and countless more jobs across the country in manufacturing, retail and agriculture.
The Government of Canada takes its environmental responsibilities seriously. The positive environmental assessment is based on a strong, scientific assessment carried out by an independent review panel and comprehensive consultations with local communities and indigenous groups.
Consequently, the project is subject to 370 legally binding conditions that protect the environment.
The conditions include protections for marine mammals, including for Southern Resident killer whales. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will be required to ensure that the project does not increase underwater vessel noise in the Salish Sea, an important part of minimizing disruptions to the whales.
These conditions rely on the existing and planned work by the Government of Canada, including all the protection measures in place to reduce the impact of marine traffic on the southern resident killer whales. The announcement in budget 2023 of $152 million to protect endangered whales shows our commitment to doing this important work.
The other conditions imposed on the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority include more than 100 measures to protect the local fauna, as well as develop and implement an adaptive management approach to prevent any adverse impacts on migratory birds. They also set out the requirement to use emissions free handling equipment and to provide enough provisions to the ships when they are docked at the terminal.
With these strong measures, the Government of Canada is committed to protecting the environment while ensuring that projects critical to Canada's economy, workers and businesses can proceed in a responsible manner.
Approval of Roberts Bank terminal 2 is an important step in securing Canada's supply chains for the future.
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- Jun/14/23 1:04:38 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to know what to say in the face of the list of what jobs are going to be created. Let me just perhaps talk about the people in British Columbia worried about jobs. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says that this approval of Roberts Bank threatens jobs because the way the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority wants to operate it is automated. The union thinks it is going to wipe out jobs.
By the way, let us look at the other alternatives. There was another proposal from Global Container Terminals for half as much footprint and less environmental damage. It was not great, but they decided to go with the Roberts Bank, the biggest and most damaging project.
It just puts such a lie to all the fakery, God damn it, the fakery of saying, “We care about whales and we cares about species.” They approve this? They are causing extinction, and they cannot reverse it.
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- Jun/14/23 1:05:41 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps to protect the marine environment while supporting economic growth. This includes Canada's oceans protection plan, which is providing over $3.5 billion to protect Canada's coasts and waterways. The budget also announced the renewal of Canada's whale initiative, committing $152 million to the protection and recovery of the endangered Southern Resident killer whales.
We look forward to continued collaboration with Indigenous groups, marine stakeholders and communities to reduce the risks vessel traffic poses to the marine environment, while balancing our commitment to the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.
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Mr. Speaker, I am back to continue following up on advocacy for the Canada disability benefit in the early morning hours as it comes back up for debate.
I would like to start by reading an email from a constituent with a disability that I received earlier this evening:
I was once extremely proud of being a Canadian, but that pride has been crushed under the boot of poverty. It has been absolutely demolished by the Liberal Party and years of suffering. We do not want platitudes, we don't want condescension, we don't want empty promises or assurances that we “just have to be patient”. People have died. People are dying, and still they don't show any care in the world for our wellbeing.
For my part, I will reiterate what I have said in this House before. It is that if the governing party were serious, it would have done what it did with child care when it was serious. It put funding forward first, then agreements with provinces and territories, and then came legislation.
Of course, with the Canada disability benefit and people with disabilities, it was the opposite.
All that being said, this is still a milestone we are at today. Bill C-22, the Canada disability benefit bill, will finally be back up for debate, having come back from the Senate, and it is my hope that parties will agree to support unanimous consent for it to move forward more quickly.
We are going to need to continue to push, though, first of all for the amendments from the Senate to be supported, including one that would prioritize people with disabilities ahead of the insurance industry. The government's response should be public shortly after I finish this speech.
We need to continue to push for strong regulations once Bill C-22 passes into law, hopefully within a matter of days. It would make most of the decisions about the benefit. We are going to have to continue to push for the government to budget the benefit, which it has yet to do.
With my remaining time tonight, I just want to thank the people and organizations that got us to this point. Any progress made on the Canada disability benefit is because of them.
First are the federal organizations: Disability Without Poverty, with people like Rabia Khedr, Michelle Hewitt, Clare Li, Sabrina Latif, Al Etmanski and the rest of their team; the March of Dimes, with Amanda, Victoria and their team; Inclusion Canada, with Jeff Ferguson and the rest of the team; the MS Society, with its strong advocacy from Julie Kelndorfer and others; StopGap Ottawa with Kenzie McCurdy; Citizens for Public Justice, with Natalie Appleyard; Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, with David Lepofsky; Leadnow, with Ellen Trottier, Jesse Whattam and Shanaaz Gokool; Spinal Cord Injury Canada, with Bill Adair; Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network, with Rebecca Pauls; Canadian National Institute for the Blind; La Société québécoise de la déficience intellectuelle, with Samuel Ragot; and Michael Prince and Vincent Calderhead. They all pushed, among so many others.
In my community, there is Extend-A-Family, with Al Mills and their team; KW Accessibility, with Edward, Ron and team; Bridges to Belonging, with Donnamarie Dunk; Independent Living Waterloo Region, with Janet, Sheri and others; The Social Development Centre, with Aleksandra Petrovic; and Christian Horizons, with Janet and Dave and team; and people with disabilities in my community and their allies, like Michael K, Alex Y, Mike Ashkewe, Rebecca Munzy, Marina Wahab, Anne Jensen, and Lorna Aberdein.
We are here because of all of you.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Kitchener Centre for his continued advocacy on behalf of Canadians with disabilities.
All of us are working hard and working together to make sure we restore the pride the member had mentioned, and restore financial security for Canadians with disabilities.
I would like to especially acknowledge the work and advocacy of the hon. Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. The minister has been working tirelessly throughout her career to promote the rights of persons with disabilities.
I assure my colleague that we share his sense of urgency in seeing Bill C-22 passed into law. We are doing everything we can to ensure it is passed before the summer recess. We are working with all parties to get it done.
The passage of Bill C-22 will be a major milestone in our strong and unwavering commitment toward creating a barrier-free Canada. That work began in 2015, with the appointment of Canada's first-ever minister responsible for persons with disabilities.
In 2016, Canada became the 20th country to sign the Marrakesh Treaty, and did so with the support of all provinces and territories.
In 2018, Canada acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In 2022, Dr. Laverne Jacobs was elected to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was the first time that a Canadian has held a seat at this important international table.
In 2019, the Accessible Canada Act came into force. The passing of this landmark legislation has undoubtedly been one of the most significant achievements for disability rights in the history of our country. The act has been the foundation for National Accessibility Week and for the establishment of Accessibility Standards Canada.
In October 2022, we released Canada's first-ever disability inclusion action plan. The action plan has four pillars: employment, accessible and inclusive communities, a modern approach to disability and financial security.
Throughout all of our consultations we kept hearing the same thing, that financial security is by far the most urgent priority for persons with disabilities. It is through the pillar of financial security that we will create the historic Canada disability benefit to help significantly reduce poverty and improve financial security for hundreds of thousands of persons with disabilities. That is why we need to get this legislation passed quickly.
I would once again like to thank the member opposite for his question, his continued advocacy and his teamwork.
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- Jun/14/23 1:13:10 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the words from the parliamentary secretary, and his advocacy within the governing party caucus, as well as the minister's work to get to this point.
Let us be clear. The words he shared were that the Liberals would do everything they can to move as quickly as possible, but the way to do that is to ratify every single one of the Senate amendments and get it passed here so it does not have to go back to the other place again.
Will he commit to doing so here, which we are going to learn about literally in a few minutes' time?
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Mr. Speaker, the passing of Bill C-22 will be a major milestone in our strong and unwavering commitment toward creating a barrier-free Canada.
I assure the member for Kitchener Centre that we share his sense of urgency in seeing Bill C-22 passed into law. We are doing everything we possibly can to ensure Bill C-22 is passed before the summer recess. We are working with all parties to get it done.
Again, I thank the member for his question and his advocacy.
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- Jun/14/23 1:14:18 a.m.
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I want to thank everyone for all their hard work today.
The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly the House stands adjourned until later this day at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).
(The House adjourned at 1:14 a.m.)
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