House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2008, with 29% of the vote.
Aboriginal Affairs May 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, there are no human rights for first nations children residing on reserve. They do not receive health care services.
Last year this House unanimously voted for Jordan's principle to ensure first nations children would receive the same health care services as other Canadian children receive. Jordan's principle is supposed to be implemented nationally, but the Conservative government is only working with one community. Why?
Aboriginal Affairs May 29th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the government talks about human rights for first nations and yet first nations children residing on reserve do not receive health care services.
Petitions May 26th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to present the following petition on behalf of a number of Canadians from the Sandy River and Black River First Nations who recognize that the right of health care for Canadian children should be universal.
The petitioners recognize that first nations children residing on reserves do not have the same access to health care services as all other Canadian children. They acknowledge that as a result of interdepartmental and interjurisdictional conflicts, critical health services continue to be delayed and denied to first nations children.
The petitioners therefore call upon the Government of Canada to address this ongoing travesty of justice and adopt Jordan's principle, which would ensure that health services would be provided to children within a timely manner.
Petitions May 26th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present two petitions today.
The first petition is on behalf of a number of Canadians from the Sandy River and Black River First Nations who have recognized that the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by an overwhelming majority and the government voted against it. Shamefully, this is the first time in history a Canadian government has voted against a major international human rights agreement at the UN.
The petitioners call upon the government to reverse its position and fully ratify the declaration and implement all the standards therein.
Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan to elaborate on a point that she made. She talked about the long process that was engaged in to get to this point, that the Tsawwassen First Nation entered into the tripartite B.C. Treaty Commission process in 1993 to negotiate a treaty. Would the hon. member elaborate on this historical piece in which this community has been long seeking a land base of its own?
Tsawwassen First Nation Final Agreement Act May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary a question on the issue the member raised around band membership.
I am not that familiar with B.C. and its treaty making process. Was it up to the band itself to accept membership? Did people come in under Bill C-34? Could they possibly have been on a registry at the federal government level or did they have band membership status? Was it a decision of the band itself?
Film Industry May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I remind her that we are talking about legislation here and if Canada has the privilege of having two films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, it is because we on this side have always encouraged our filmmakers.
Mr. Cronenberg said it yesterday, with the new Conservative amendments his acclaimed films would have lost the assurance of tax credits that are necessary for private sector financing.
Why is the heritage minister refusing to recognize that the amendments would damage a thriving Canadian film industry?
Film Industry May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of the contributions of their artists nationally and internationally. Yesterday, at the heritage committee, David Cronenberg, one of Canada's world renowned film directors and recipient of the Cannes Film Festival's lifetime achievement award, said that the amendments proposed in Bill C-10 would be a serious blow to Canadian productions and drive filmmakers out of the country.
Why is the minister still refusing to stand up for Canadian artists and remove the amendments from Bill C-10?
Committees of the House May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I am also perplexed by the speech from the other side. It fails to take into account the overall picture that first nations face. It also fails to take into account a strong, comprehensive knowledge of the historical background to this whole situation.
I will not to get into a history lesson, as the member opposite can do that for herself, but there is a whole structure of colonization that has had an impact for many years. I understand what she is saying. I understand the goodwill in terms of saying, “We are doing this and we are doing that”, but addressing the root issues is a significant part of it.
An earlier mention was made that we were not debating Tsawwassen. The government could have put Tsawwassen on the order paper at any time and chose not to.
The comment and question I have for the member is this. She said, “We will put the tools into the hands of first nations people themselves”. I would like to add to this very issue the first nations family violence prevention program. Manitoba has a federal commitment. I will quote the First Nations Women's Council, which said, “The commitments to improve the INAC family violence prevention program in June 2006 have fallen short, to say the least. Women's leadership and women's recommendations for real life solutions have been ignored—
Committees of the House May 15th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for London—Fanshawe for participating in this debate.
I agree that there is a particular hypocrisy by the federal government which is quite dumbfounding sometimes. When the parliamentary secretary speaks in such a derogatory manner about chief and council it is quite stunning, because the government moved forward with specific claims legislation in which the government refused to implement a ratification process for community members, deeming chief and council with the supreme and sole responsibility to make decisions for the communities. It was a funny statement.
I would like to get back to the member's speech. I really appreciate that she mentioned the Sisters in Spirit. The Sisters in Spirit campaign is about the missing and murdered aboriginal women. There is an extraordinary number of missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada. The per capita rate if it were non-aboriginal Canadians would be about 180,000 murdered and missing women which would be completely unacceptable to Canadians.
Does the member think that the efforts by the government have been consistent on women's issues to what it claims in its matrimonial and real property legislation?