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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Sep/16/24 7:13:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said in my remarks, the loss of lives of these members of communities, friends and family is truly tragic. Canada must do better. We, as a government, are committed to doing better. We want to work with members on all sides of the House to do so, to find meaningful solutions and to move forward to end the systemic racism that we have experienced in this country and that indigenous people continue to experience. We are deeply committed to moving forward, so that tragedies like this do not continue to happen.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Ms. Jennifer O'Connell

Sep/16/24 7:18:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is incredibly ironic that members of the Conservative Party often criticize the spending and funding of indigenous-led programming, then actually criticize, saying we are not doing enough, and then vote against providing funding that actually goes to help these communities. It is also interesting to note that Conservatives vote, time and time again, against providing funding and support. Instead of recommending programs that could also help, Conservative members talk about waste in these programs or say that these programs are not being delivered. I have met with several communities where progress is being made. There is, of course, more to be done. However, let us not forget the fact that the Conservatives did not even want to look into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, which is shameful. We must all work together to produce better outcomes for indigenous people in this country. It is shameful when Conservatives continually vote against that work.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mrs. Laila Goodridge (Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC)

Sep/16/24 8:02:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I welcome my hon. colleague back to this chamber as another young mom in this place. It is so wonderful to see people being able to find that space of both having a family and doing this job, and doing it so well. One of the pieces that the member alluded to in her speech was with regard to first nations communities that are sick and tired of the lack of support they are receiving as drugs come into their communities. We are talking about isolated, remote communities that are pleading with the government that is failing them. The Liberal drug policies have failed over and over again. In fact, just over a year ago, first nations in my riding of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake were part of the call for the government to change and basically calling for this to stop. I am wondering if the member could comment on her thoughts regarding the drugs coming into some of these communities and how we could do better to support those communities.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Mr. Sébastien Lemire

Sep/16/24 8:30:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I believe that one of the key words is trust. We need to trust the first nations themselves. The Government of Canada has too often shown a paternalistic or colonial attitude toward first nations. Let us not forget that the Indian Act is still in force. As a result, first nations are not allowed to achieve self-determination, and problems often arise because of cultural differences. The lack of respect that white communities may show towards indigenous communities too often can lead to problems. I would ask that we look at what is being done in indigenous communities, learn from their traditional knowledge and trust them with self-determination. Doing this also means committing the necessary funds and adopting budgetary policies over five or ten years, particularly in relation to fundamental issues such as housing, education, police and correctional services and so on. Communities must be able to take charge of their own destiny in a sustainable way. If they hire a resource but no longer have the money to pay for it after six months, but the money might arrive in three months, in the next budget, that does not work. Predictability is needed to enable communities to develop their own knowledge, expertise and leadership. I am convinced that we will see a net improvement, statistically speaking. However, the biggest improvement will be in the heart of communities.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Ms. Sylvie Bérubé (Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, BQ)

Sep/16/24 9:29:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are taking part in a very important emergency debate this evening at a time when six people have died and violence is on the rise. I would therefore like to know what solutions a Conservative government would propose. I would also like to know if such a government could build good relations with indigenous communities and implement the recommendations of the report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that have not yet been implemented.

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Context: House Hansard - 336 - Sep/16/24

Ms. Emmanuella Lambropoulos

Sep/16/24 9:47:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that any initiatives that bring the communities to the elected officials to let them know what exactly their communities need are going to be beneficial, and that is the key. It is really about communication. Indigenous-led initiatives are the ones that are going to make a difference within their communities. Here in Ottawa, we do not necessarily know what people in their communities back home are needing, and obviously we are not necessarily responding to all of their needs right here in Ottawa. We need to hear from them. We need to make those channels more readily available, so any initiatives that make that communication easier are going to be beneficial.

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