- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Lethbridge
- Alberta
- Voting Attendance: 62%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,565.29
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Madam Speaker, it is truly a pleasure to have the opportunity to stand in this place to speak to Bill S-219.
As mentioned, the bill calls for national ribbon skirt day to be declared as a part of our commemorative activity on January 4 of each year. It is an opportunity for so much more than just giving importance to a piece of clothing. It is what that piece of clothing or that article points to. It is what it symbolizes. It is what it represents. It is the power within, so it is that I wish to speak to today.
I believe that to gain an appreciation for the bill, we really have to understand a bit of history. There is a recent past, there is a distant past, and then there is today and a way forward. If members will bear with me, I would like to just go through a few of my reflections on those items.
A few years ago there was a young girl by the name of Isabella Kulak. She was a young girl from Cote First Nation, which is in Saskatchewan. She was a riveting young woman and continues to be, and she wore a ribbon skirt to school one day. Unfortunately, an educator commented negatively and told this young women that it was an inappropriate item to wear on what was called “formal day”.
This girl, who was about eight years old at the time, I believe, was berated and shamed in front of her peers and her teachers, which is devastating for a young girl to experience, especially not just the action of the berating and the shame but the fact that it was so deeply attached to her culture, her history and her way of life. The fact that she would be attacked on that, of course, had an impact on this little girl's heart. Her parents very bravely took this story and, with courage, shared it on social media. From there, it spurred a movement.
It captured the attention of not just a few within her city or neighbourhood, but it actually managed to capture the attention of a country and a nation. What is so powerful, and why I am perhaps brought to tears a bit with this story, is that this young girl demonstrated courage and, supported by her parents, she was able to draw attention to something that is so important in our country right now, which is the disadvantage indigenous folks find themselves in and the fact that there are still these persisting inequalities within Canadian society.
As much as it is a ribbon skirt, it is so much more that we would be commemorating through the bill before us and its call for January 4 to be declared national ribbon skirt day.
I wish to share the words of Isabella with the House today and with the Canadian public. She wrote a letter to the Senator from whom the bill originated. Isabella wrote:
My name is Isabella Susanne Kulak and I would like to start off by telling you what the ribbon skirt means to me. The ribbon skirt represents strength, resiliency, cultural identity and womanhood. When I wear my ribbon skirt I feel confident and proud to be a young indigenous girl.
When I was 8 years old I was gifted my very own ribbon skirt from my auntie.... I wore it with pride and honour to my traditional ceremonies and pow wows. On December 18, 2020 it was formal day at Kamsack Comprehensive Institute where I attend school, so I chose to wear my ribbon skirt just like my older sister Gerri. When I got to school a teacher assistant commented on it and said it didn’t even match my shirt and maybe next formal day I should wear something else like another girl was wearing and pointed at her. Those words made me feel pressured to be someone I am not. I eventually took off my skirt as I felt shamed.
Today I no longer feel shamed and I feel proud and powerful enough to move mountains because I know that people from around the world are standing with me. I am very grateful to be Canadian, to be Indian and to represent my people by wearing my ribbon skirt proudly! Thank you to Senator McCallum and to all the people who supported me from around the world, from Canada and from all the First Nations across the nations of the earth.
Sincerely Isabella
It is so important to read her words into the record. I could stand here and talk about the importance of this day or the significance of the skirt, and I will comment on that to some extent, but what is so much more important are the words of this girl who initiated the movement.
To Isabella and many indigenous women across this country, the ribbon skirt serves as a powerful declaration of what it is to be female, what it is to hold a feminine spirit: the strength, the power, the beauty, the resilience, the ability to give and maintain life. These are all parts of what it celebrates.
The ribbon skirt is about indigenous culture, tradition, history and a way of life. The skirt's meaning, yes, does vary from person to person and, of course, the way that it is put together and the colours that are used also vary from person to person. It is meant to be just as unique as the individual who wears it. Because of Isabella, other young girls and women of all ages are now once again able to wear the skirt as a declaration of their power, their resilience and their cultural identity. That is something that is incredibly powerful.
I would like to talk about the more distant past, and it is again with some sorrow that I do because Isabella's actions are particularly powerful when considered against the backdrop of what has happened in this country. In 1885, the potlatch ban was put in place. It actually prevented indigenous folks from being able to wear ribbon skirts. The fact that this eight-year-old girl bravely put one on and wore it to school is profound. Ribbon skirts, along with ceremonial items, were outlawed in that original ban. For us as a culture to once again be able to embrace that and say with a united heart that we accept them and celebrate them is so important today.
While national ribbon skirt day is an important opportunity to celebrate indigenous women and their incredible strength in the face of colonialism, more has to be done. It is one thing to commemorate culture, history, a way of life and the power that is within women, but it is another thing to take concrete action. In this place, we have heard the government talk a lot about missing and murdered indigenous women and, in fact, three years ago a report was done. It is significant. We are missing an integral part of our population in this country. What action has been taken?
Further to that, we have folks in this country who are living without potable water. The members opposite enjoy talking about throwing money at the problem, but getting it resolved has not happened. We have a housing issue in this country. Up north, there are 15 people living in a household. There is mould growing up walls. There are conditions that are not okay. What are we doing about that?
Furthermore, there are so many mental health concerns that have been expressed by indigenous communities. They are asking for assistance. They are asking for treatment with regard to addiction. These folks are also asking for a commitment to moving forward in reconciliation. It takes so much more than just promising funding or delivering good talking points.
As much as this bill is about the ribbon skirt, as much as it is about the courage of Isabella, as much as it is about celebrating culture, history and identity, it is also about calling this place to a way forward, a way forward that allows for economic prosperity among indigenous folks in Canada and allows us to move forward truly reconciled and united toward a vibrant future.
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- Feb/10/22 5:01:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the primary responsibility of the Prime Minister is to unify this country, to bring it together for people from all parts and all corners: the French, the English, the indigenous, the non-indigenous, those from the east, those from the west, etc. The purpose of the Prime Minister, first and foremost, is to bring us together around a unified vision. This is what ensures our prosperity as a nation.
It is dumbfounding, then, that our Prime Minister would look to do the exact opposite. Why would he look to stoke the flames of division, fear and worry? Why would he look to pit friends against one another, neighbours against one another, family members against one another? Why would he look to even wedge his own caucus members against one another? We know this is true because there have been a few brave members from across the aisle who have come forward and have exposed the Prime Minister's strategy, which is to divide Canadians and to create wedge issues.
At the point of that are vaccines. Rather than using them as a tool, which is what they are meant to be, he has used them as a weapon. That is incredibly sad. The Prime Minister has used vaccines to pit one group against another, so instead of acting as Prime Minister, instead of being a statesman, he has been a gamesman. Instead of showing statesmanship, he is simply showing gamesmanship. It is divisive, it is exploitive, it is cold, it is cruel, it is calculated and it is wrong.
Canadians have sacrificed so much. Over and over again, they have been asked to reorient their lives, to adjust and to follow the ever-changing rules and regulations, and, to their credit, they have. Now they are watching as other countries around the world, such as the U.K., the Czech Republic, Israel, Switzerland, Ireland and Denmark are opening up. They are watching as Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as the United States, are opening up. They are saying, “Wait a minute. We followed the rules and we did what we were told to do. Why is the Prime Minister not making good on his promise? Where is the plan? Why is Canada not able to open up?”
We do not have to look any farther than outside those doors to see the impact that the Prime Minister is having with his abdication of leadership on this issue. This country is in chaos. Canadians are pleading for help. They have done their part and now they are asking that the Prime Minister do his. Is it any wonder, then, that these individuals do not trust the government, that they have big questions about whether follow-through will actually take place?
Out of one side of his face, the Prime Minister says one thing and then out of the other side he says another. Sometimes he contradicts himself within the same sentence. Canadians have lost trust, and with that lost trust, hope is also waning, but that is not their fault, as the Prime Minister would like to point out. No, that is the Prime Minister's responsibility. He is the one who broke their trust.
People are desperate. They are desperate for hope, desperate for leadership, desperate for a future. Their ask is not out of this world. They are just asking the Prime Minister to do what he promised he would.
Canadians are absolutely incredible. I love this country and I love representing the people of it. As Canadians, we persevere because that is who we are. We are incredibly adaptive. We are innovative. We are creative. We find solutions. We solve problems. We are tenacious. We are resilient. We are courageous. However, hope and confidence are waning because of the trauma, the pain—two years' worth—the isolation, the lockdowns and the ever-changing goal posts.
I have received thousands of emails and phone calls. I will share a few.
James contacted me. He is a university student and he wrote to me to say this:
Following this summer, much of learning has been disrupted, from cancelled classes, in-person social experiences and now completely remote learning. This has taken a serious toll on the way I view education. I used to look forward to going and participating in class and now I dread spending hours of time a day watching pre-recorded videos alone. I plead that you will consider the harmful effects that these mandates can have on all the people of Alberta and Canada.
There is a plea being made by the people of this country. Domestic violence is up. Opioid use is through the roof. Cancer is being undiagnosed because people cannot get in to see their doctor in time.
Maria wrote to me. She works with adolescents in mental health, and she wanted to make sure I understood that she has seen a drastic increase in young people with mental health issues. She said, “It is extreme.”
I had a desperate call from a mother just a little while ago. Her child is suffering from an eating disorder, and for a year and a half they waited to see an expert. They waited for help while their daughter wasted away.
There have been cancelled surgeries and treatments, and there has been isolation that has taken a significant toll on our elderly. I talked to a nurse who shared with me that the number of euthanasia requests has gone up, and the number one reason she is noticing is isolation and loneliness. No one should be put in a place where they are choosing to end their life because their government is dictating to them that they cannot see anyone, that they cannot be in contact with other human beings.
There are countless emails I have received with regard to loss of livelihood from postal workers and truckers. A health practitioner wrote to me and said this crisis has been exacerbated by “imposing lockdowns, separating families and support systems, enforcing vaccine passports, segregating people and making it socially acceptable to regard vaccine-free citizens as selfish, uneducated, irresponsible murderers. These are just a few of the things I have been called in the workplace. Recent comments by our Prime Minister simply fuel the hatred and the intolerance toward individuals like me.
The Liberals will try to slough this off by saying that the majority of what we are talking about today is the responsibility of the provinces, but make no mistake: The federal government has a significant role to play.
Language is powerful. When the Prime Minister decides to demonize a certain section of this society and a certain portion of our population, that is wrong, and he incites violence.
Travel by plane, train or public transportation requires vaccination. Many public sector employees are working from home, yet they lost their jobs because they did not choose to be vaccinated. Truckers and other essential service workers stay in their trucks. Please tell me the science behind that decision. How are they spreading the virus? The Prime Minister likes to use science, but only when it serves his desire to hold power. If it requires him to grant people their freedom, then he wants to ignore it altogether. That is wrong.
Dr. Tam has said that all public health policies need to be re- examined. She said that we need to recognize that this virus is not going to disappear and that we need to address the ongoing presence of the virus in a more sustainable way. The World Health Organization has advised that vaccine passports should not be required to enter or exit a country.
Why is the Prime Minister ignoring the science? It is time for leadership. It is time for action. It is time to put together a plan. It is time to be compassionate toward the Canadian people.
Even today, during QP, the member for Eglinton—Lawrence said, “It is important more than ever to ensure that the Canadian public is informed about the ways in which we are going to get out of this pandemic”. I sure hope his colleagues across the aisle agree with him on that. It is time for a plan. It is time to restore hope. It is time to move forward into the future. It is time for the Prime Minister to make good on his promise.
Canadians are waiting.
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