44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2024 10:00AM
- Jun/13/24 11:58:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am rising to speak to the question of privilege raised by the hon. member for Winnipeg Centre regarding the recent comments made by the hon. member for Saskatoon West.
I understand you are currently considering this. I would like to urge you to give this question strong consideration. While the member for Saskatoon West has appropriately apologized for his original statement, I believe the member for Winnipeg Centre has raised an important, unresolved issue with respect to how the record is modified in this place.
Specifically, when speaking of an indigenous person, the record was changed from “because of his racial background” to “regardless of his racial background.” This fundamentally alters the meaning of what was said. As the Speaker recently stated, “it is understood that the revisions should not alter the substance and the meaning of the members' statements in this House.”
As the member for Winnipeg Centre has noted already, from time to time members seek unanimous consent of the House to correct the record. This was not the case here. It would seem to me that this would be an appropriate option that would actually follow the practices of the House. For this reason, I hope you give this question of privilege appropriate consideration.
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- Jun/13/24 2:30:03 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, for decades, Liberal and Conservative governments have ignored indigenous people's needs. As a result, the infrastructure gap is at billions of dollars. The Liberals committed to closing the gap by 2030, but they have committed less than 1%. This is just pennies.
Indigenous peoples deserve the same housing, roads and clean water as others. When will the Liberals follow through on their promises and close the gap so that indigenous peoples can thrive?
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- Jun/13/24 2:30:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member that this country has had a deplorable history of depriving indigenous communities of the things that they need to thrive.
In fact, since we have taken office, spending on indigenous infrastructure and priorities has increased by 185%. It speaks to the lack of effort by those Conservatives, when they were in government, to actually prioritize the needs of indigenous children. We will keep working to close that gap.
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- Jun/13/24 2:59:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Kebaowek First Nation, part of the Anishnabeg Nation, is a community in my riding that has made a number of demands to which the Bloc Québécois and 140 municipalities have added their voices. It is calling for a thorough investigation and compliance measures in consultation with indigenous peoples, which was not done in the Chalk River case. It is also calling for transparency.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories knew as early as February that they were dumping toxic water, but did not report it until the end of March.
How can the federal government trust a laboratory that has problems with contaminated water and transparency to manage a nuclear waste dump on the Ottawa River, which flows right here beneath Parliament Hill?
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- Jun/13/24 4:53:12 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the Kivalliq Hydro-Fibre Link project of the Nukik Corporation made some great submissions in the federal budget, in both 2023 and 2024. One of its recommendations was to increase the investment tax credit from 15% to 30% for indigenous- or Inuit-owned transmission intertie projects in development.
I wonder if the member can explain why the Liberals are only giving lip service and not actually listening to great recommendations by indigenous corporations so that they can be more engaged in combatting climate change.
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- Jun/13/24 4:54:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have much respect for the hon. member for Nunavut. In budget 2024, we put in place, I believe, a $5-billion indigenous loan guarantee, which I think is transformational. I know it was applauded by indigenous organizations and indigenous groups across the country, and it continues the path of reconciliation and a nation-to-nation conversation.
I have, again, much respect for the hon. member for Nunavut.
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- Jun/13/24 6:59:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are talking about the government's budget, but what about indigenous people? We know very well that many communities do not even have water. Is there anything for that in the budget? Climate change is also a big problem. People in these communities are even experiencing food insecurity.
Seniors aged 65 to 74 have also been forgotten. Is there anything for them in the budget?
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- Jun/13/24 7:01:31 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I want to thank the member for speaking so much to indigenous issues and expenditures for Indigenous Services. Unfortunately, as the member knows, because there has been underinvestment for decades, including in this budget, with upwards of a $425-billion infrastructure gap, these expenses that we are going to see are only going to address 1% of the infrastructure needs for indigenous peoples. If the Prime Minister does say that there is no relationship more important than that with the first nations, Inuit and Métis, why has the Liberal government spent so little to improve indigenous people's lives?
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- Jun/13/24 7:02:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that there have been decades of underinvestment in our indigenous communities, and it is something that we must continue to invest in and support. We will continue to make those investments. We are going to make sure that we are doing it with each community, making sure that we get this right, and we are committed to doing so.
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- Jun/13/24 8:34:12 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to thank my colleague with the NDP for his excellent speech. He highlighted that it has been thanks to the NDP that we have been able to get so much more for Canadians. Our small and mighty party has indeed gotten a lot more, including extending Jordan's principle and the Inuit child first initiative.
I wonder if the hon. member can share with us what an NDP government would do for indigenous peoples much more than what we see from the Liberals.
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- Jun/13/24 8:34:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to say qujannamiik to my colleague from Nunavut, who has been an extraordinary advocate for Nunavut and for indigenous peoples. She, as we know, was granted the award for best constituency politician because of that.
As she is well aware, an NDP government would take a strong approach, a robust approach, of reconciliation with indigenous peoples.
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- Jun/13/24 8:56:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 35,000 homes on reserve have either been renovated or built anew because of actions taken by this government.
Is it good enough? No, it is not good enough. However, I have worked with the member before on the public accounts committee. I do respect him and I know he takes these issues seriously. In fact, I would hope that he takes them so seriously as to go back to his caucus and ask for their leader to put forward a serious vision on housing that includes a vision on indigenous issues and a reconciliation agenda, not just in terms of the housing challenges that we find on reserve but also in the urban situation as well.
Our government is doing that. We have an urban, rural and northern housing strategy that we have worked on that is moving forward hand in hand with indigenous peoples, and in fact is led by indigenous peoples.
I would also note, and it is not an irrelevant point, that the Leader of the Opposition said something years ago, and I wonder if he still feels this way. He probably does. He said that if indigenous peoples wanted to see a better outcome, then they should work harder. Those are the words of the Leader of the Opposition, someone who aspires to be prime minister. That is unacceptable.
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- Jun/13/24 9:01:59 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I am quite disappointed that, in a 20-minute speech on housing, the member never mentioned anything with respect to the needs of first nations, Métis or Inuit.
The Auditor General reported at one point that the need for housing just for first nations is at $135 billion, yet the government only budgeted $4 billion over seven years. This will keep indigenous peoples completely marginalized in overcrowded and mouldy housing units.
I would like to give the member an opportunity to talk more about how the Liberals plan to meet the housing infrastructure needs, because the gap is so huge. What will the government do not only to acknowledge that more needs to be done but also to go beyond lip service and actually make sure that indigenous peoples are getting the housing they need so they can thrive?
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- Jun/13/24 9:03:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me say that the member has contributed enormously to this discussion of housing and infrastructure, in particular with respect to her community, the challenges that we find in the north and the challenges that are experienced by indigenous peoples across the country.
I pointed out just a few minutes ago, perhaps the member did not hear me, what the government has done and said that more needs to be done. We see a situation that is not acceptable in Canada. She pointed to the infrastructure gap. There are initiatives in place to help address that gap, but it cannot be met only by government. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is taking more of a focus when it comes to these kinds of issues, namely, addressing the gap and the required investment that would have to take place to incent the private sector to be part of the solution. I think that can move forward. I think it is moving forward because of a different vision articulated by the Infrastructure Bank. I know the Conservatives do not like the Infrastructure Bank, but if we look at what it has carried out recently with respect to a policy vision, it does offer a constructive approach to the matter raised by the member.
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