44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 19, 2023 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, as someone from Nova Scotia, who represents indigenous communities, I have heard, loud and clear, not only from our provincial leaders but also indigenous leaders that this is an important thing for us to make that transition to clean energy. We have heard from Membertou Chief Terry Paul, who has talked to us about the importance of EverWind and hydrogen moving forward with all of the things that we need to make a better future for our future generations.
I am kind of astonished to hear that the member would stand up and say that there is not anything that looks at indigenous consultation, when economic reconciliation is indeed part of this legislation. Therefore, I am wondering if the member has read the legislation and, if so, can he tell us just one provision that he is against?
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Mr. Speaker, like I said earlier, it is interesting because what I laid out is the fact that the bill does not mention the duty to consult and it does not mention the Crown's responsibility. It is silent on that part of the legislation. As a first nations individual, the member should know that. That should mean as much to him as to anybody else.
The duty to consult is on the Crown. You have bypassed it. You have not given water to the people who needed it and asked for it eight years ago. You have failed indigenous people on every front in this country. You have failed them. You completely failed them.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the passion from the member for Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook. However, I do have a real question related to the bill despite all the rhetoric we heard about the former member of Parliament. It is related to the new licensing regime for exploration, which is capped at 25 years.
Part of the bill talks a lot about empowering indigenous Canadians or using the consultative processes with regulators in conjunction with indigenous Canadians to respect their inherent rights. What the bill does not explicitly outline is if an indigenous resource company has a licence will the government take it away after 25 years?
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about indigenous people. As my colleague just said a little while ago, indigenous people have been consulted. They will be consulted as we move forward. The chief spoke with the Atlantic caucus a couple of weeks ago and it is 100% in favour of this.
The licences going to 25 years is good. It was lifetime before and if nobody moved on it, then there was no progress. This is important to ensure that we move forward. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are excited, are in favour and are asking the Conservative Party of Canada to vote with us to move and improve the economic situation in Atlantic Canada today, not tomorrow.
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Mr. Speaker, is the member aware that the bill would give federal cabinet the power to cancel a petroleum drilling project on a whim at any point, overreaching provincial jurisdiction and disrespecting indigenous interests?
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- Sep/19/23 2:08:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like everyone to listen up as I share the wisdom of Nodin Outten-Joseph, a graduate from Kapapamahchakwew Wandering Spirit School in my community. Nodin is a national winner of the Your Voice is Power competition for his work on coding to make music.
He stated that his work “Represents the need for the voices of Black and Indigenous Peoples to be listened to by those in positions of privilege and power”, so we should listen up.
About his experience, he said, “As I crafted the elements of my song I learned that in the act of responsibly interweaving Indigenous language into music, the music itself becomes a vehicle for activism and an intrinsic creator of equity”.
He said that his music includes a profound power found in diversity, as well as a desire for the destruction of colonial structures and world views. This is a destruction that does not end in death, but in rebirth.
I would like to congratulate Nodin. I thank him for his strong voice and power.
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- Sep/19/23 2:49:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a heart-wrenching issue and is part of our sad reality of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
I had the opportunity in Ottawa yesterday and in Winnipeg last month to meet with the family members, along with members of the Assembly of Manitoba Chief as well as the Long Plain First Nation chief. I understand the deep frustration that exists with families and communities.
Our approach must be victim-centred, trauma-informed and indigenous-led in order to support healing, and we look forward to working with the families to reach that end.
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- Sep/19/23 2:50:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we look forward to working with the opposition and all parties to implement the red dress alert. We know that it will save lives. It is so important in order to address the national tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We will continue to work to ensure that women and indigenous women are protected across the country.
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- Sep/19/23 3:10:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying the price of a housing crisis, a mental health crisis and now the climate change crisis, yet the Liberals think that now is a good time to cut up to $7.6 billion in indigenous services. We have seen this devastating austerity from Liberals and Conservatives in the past: cuts that will hurt indigenous peoples, families and communities.
Which programs are the Liberals targeting: housing, health, education, or Jordan's principle, and why are the Liberals not going after the billionaires to recoup the money they owe Canadians, instead of making cuts on the backs of indigenous peoples?
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- Sep/19/23 3:10:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, after a decade of entrenching poverty for first nations, a newly elected Liberal government got to work on reconciliation. First nations community services have increased by 156% since then. That is for things like school, water and health services. I have been clear and so has the government: Programs and services for indigenous peoples will be protected.
Reconciliation is good for Canada and for our economy, and it is something that the leader of the official opposition has never understood. Indeed, under the Harper government, first nations organizations faced a—
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- Sep/19/23 9:39:30 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I too want to join the chorus of my colleagues in the House today in sending my condolences on behalf of the communities of Edmonton Griesbach, as well as many communities in Alberta, to the family of Mr. Nijjar, who was ruthlessly murdered outside of a B.C. temple. This is an egregious attack on safety, security and the feelings of dignity that Canadians expect when they come to Canada, when they become Canadian.
Turtle Island, this place, my ancestors, the indigenous people of this land, by way of treaty, have made commitments to share this place, to have a peaceful place and to have a place we can all call home.
The troubling news delivered by the Prime Minister just yesterday, that a fellow Canadian, a member of our community, a member of our country, could be so ruthlessly gunned down and to have alleged connections confirmed by our intelligence agencies to the Indian government is truly heartbreaking. It is heartbreaking not just for Canadians who value our systems, our safety and our institutions but it is heartbreaking for the world that we have come to a place where human lives can be so easily taken because of political dissent, because of an opinion that someone might hold.
I want to be able to put my words into some context for those who may feel blindsided, who may feel as though this has come, figuratively, out of nowhere.
My friends, this is not a new instance for many of the diaspora community members who know India.
In the last eight years alone, India has gone from a vibrant, diverse and populous democracy, a beacon of how large and successful democracies can be, to a deteriorated state in which majoritarianism has directly eliminated and is trying to eliminate the rights of Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits and Christians right across India. This includes lynchings, killings, shootings and unprecedented violence against community members simply for who they are.
I am troubled by tonight's debate because the chorus of my colleagues from the Liberal bench, the Bloc Québécois, the Green Party and New Democrats has come together at a time when our country needs us to, to dwell deeply on the concerns of many Canadians, on the concerns of their safety. Absent, of course, are Conservative colleagues, who very often in this place speak of other foreign governments and their interference in our democracies.
However, they are now silent. When a Canadian has been gunned down, they have no words, not even words of sympathy for a fellow Canadian who has been killed. Shame.
I call on the Leader of the Opposition to make his truth known to Canadians, make the truth known of his party's close affiliation to that of the Prime Minister of India, of Modi's BJP government. It has been said that the former prime minister, a Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper congratulated and celebrated Mr. Modi and his government. These are the reasons why we hear silence today. My friends, these are the reasons why we are hearing silence at a time when we must come together to protect our institutions and to protect Canadians.
I now want to speak about some of the partner organizations here in Canada. They should continue to do their work, continue to do what is right, continue to speak truth to power, because here in Canada, we will continue to protect them. We will continue to fight every single day so that their rights are protected, so that their dignity is protected and so that their security is protected.
New Democrats stand for that. Canadians expect that. We will continue to fight for that.
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- Sep/19/23 9:53:50 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I really enjoyed the speech the minister just gave, and in particular, how he referenced that, unless we are of indigenous descent, we have all come here over the last few hundred years. As a matter of fact, I am a first-generation Canadian, as both of my parents came from Europe after World War II.
I think people have always sought to come to Canada because they are looking for a place where democracy is supreme, where we have the opportunity to thrive and where we have the freedoms that come with being able to express ourselves. Therefore, when we have a potential attack on that democracy and those freedoms, it seriously calls into question how we can see ourselves as Canadians moving forward and what we can do in order to protect that. Could the minister comment on that?
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- Sep/19/23 9:56:09 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the minister is absolutely correct in indicating that multiculturalism and those of us who are immigrants helped build this country. We are equal partners in the sense that we make contributions while we also face challenges. We, of course, are living here on the lands of indigenous peoples, who have allowed us to be here as settlers.
What is troubling me the most in this debate tonight is the fact that the leader of the Conservatives and the Conservative caucus want Canadians to believe that they are friends of the immigrant community, yet they are entirely silent. When the life of a member of our community has been lost, potentially at the hands of a foreign government, how is it that the Conservatives are silent in this debate? We know that foreign interference is a real threat in this country right now. Where are they for the immigrant community, who are Canadians here in Canada and have made Canada their home? When their lives are being threatened by a foreign government, why are the Conservatives not here to speak up and to challenge the Indian government, which may well be involved in the loss of life of a Canadian?
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- Sep/19/23 10:16:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, as the leader of a much smaller opposition party, for me it is a moment for solidarity. I really appreciate the fact that I am able, through great good luck, to immediately follow my friend from Burnaby South, the leader of the New Democratic Party, to echo his words that we need to show solidarity, and that every Canadian from every ethnicity and every part of the world who has found their way here to our country needs to feel welcomed and know they are valued. Of course we recognize that we are on lands that we have stolen from indigenous peoples. The majority of the Canadian population came from somewhere else.
I have found the speeches from colleagues and friends about their own journeys and their families' journeys to these shores to be very moving. We do unify as Canadians. I just want to thank the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party for his words.
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