Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in relation to “Building the Pipeline: Increasing the Participation of Women in Non-Traditional Occupations”.
House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2015, with 38% of the vote.
Committees of the House December 2nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the sixth report of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women in relation to “Building the Pipeline: Increasing the Participation of Women in Non-Traditional Occupations”.
Mr. Speaker, the government has said repeatedly that the Native Women's Association of Canada is supportive of its plan. That is not true. Let us set the record straight.
On November 9, 2010, the Native Women's Association of Canada made the following statement:
NWAC originally sent out a press release saying that we were supportive of a decision being made about the $10M allocation of funds from the Department of Justice Canada on the issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. However, at closer inspection, NWAC and Sisters In Spirit have serious concerns of how this money is allocated...
This quotation makes clear that NWAC does not support the government's plan. The Conservatives are ignoring aboriginal women and further marginalizing them. This can be clearly seen with the government's refusal to continue the Sisters in Spirit initiative. The government does not actually care about aboriginal women. They are just a pawn in a Conservative shell game.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for responding to the very important matter of funding decisions regarding the $10 million promised in budget 2010 to address the issue of violence against aboriginal women.
On October 1, I asked the Minister of Justice to tell the House when we could expect to see a plan set in place for the investment of the $10 million promised in the budget. By October 1, it had been more than seven months since the money was promised and the government had yet to disclose a plan. Again, not surprisingly, I was told by the minister that the government would reveal its plan in due time.
Well, we have all read or at least seen parts of the recent research from the Sisters in Spirit initiative, which shows that nearly 600 aboriginal women have gone missing or have been murdered. This number of missing or murdered aboriginal women is the equivalent of more than 19,000 women in the non-aboriginal community.
While it was reassuring that the government seemed to have finally noticed the importance of this issue, it now appears the government's announcement was more of a political diversion than concrete action.
Organizations on the ground have had the solutions necessary to start addressing the issue of violence committed against aboriginal women for quite some time. All that was missing was the funding and the political will from the government to act responsibly.
We need action to stop the overwhelming violence being experienced by aboriginal women. However, when the government finally did make its funding announcement in Vancouver on October 29, more than 40% of the money was dedicated to groups other than aboriginal women.
While we can all see the value of instruments and investments announced in Vancouver, the funding for them should have come from moneys other than those promised to aboriginal women. For example, $4 million of the $10 million promised to address violence against missing and murdered women went to the creation of a national missing persons database.
This creates significant concerns because such a database does not focus on aboriginal women alone, but rather will track both men and women from across Canadian society. While this is also necessary, aboriginal women are at the greatest risk of experiencing violence and should therefore have a specific database, such as the one developed by Sisters in Spirit. That information is already available and must be acted upon.
I also wonder about the way missing persons reports will be filed. In my conversations with Sisters in Spirit, it was revealed that part of the issue related to the fact that police reports did not indicate the ethnicity of the women. Police only report if the subject is white or non-white. This is extremely problematic. Had the government consulted Sisters in Spirit, it would have learned about the problem and could have ensured that ethnicity was addressed in the database.
We have also learned from Sisters in Spirit and from the Native Women's Association of Canada that they were not consulted by the government. How could the government make plans concerning the well-being of aboriginal women without consulting the largest group in the country?
Why did the government fail to consult with aboriginal women before making a funding announcement? Why has it managed to fund something that it will not address the issue facing women in our communities?
Petitions November 29th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from those who support the Native Women's Association of Canada.
The Sisters in Spirit campaign has identified nearly 600 missing and murdered aboriginal women whose cases go back as far as 1970. The equivalent number in the whole Canadian population would be 18,000 missing or murdered women.
These petitioners believe that the research conducted by NWAC has convinced Canadians that violence against aboriginal women must be stopped and that we need to find the strategies, resources, and tools to stop women from disappearing. They call upon Parliament to ensure that NWAC receives sufficient funding, as was promised, to continue its important work protecting women through its Sisters in Spirit initiative and to invest in initiatives recommended by NWAC to help prevent more women from disappearing.
Petitions November 29th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions to present today.
The first petition is from a group of Canadians of all ages and from all walks of life. They state that they genuinely support and value the contributions of our veterans. They regard a veteran as a veteran, regardless of where or in which deployment the veteran may have served.
These petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to extend the mandate of veterans hospitals and include veterans who have served in conflicts and peacekeeping operations since 1953, to eliminate the clawback of veterans pensions, to eliminate the reduction of veterans pensions at age 65, to change the widows benefit to a non-taxable benefit, to create a veterans advisory panel that will provide input on the selection of future ombudsmen for Veterans Affairs, and to ensure that Veterans Affairs Canada remains as a stand-alone department.
Petitions November 24th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, my second petition has to do with those who drive the buses in our country.
Petitioners are extremely concerned with the increase in violent assaults against public transit, school bus, paratransit and inner city bus workers across Canada. Almost 40% of Canadian bus operators have indicated that they have been physically assaulted in their career. In 2008 alone, 2,064 assaults were reported, which is an increase of 438 cases from 2007. These assaults not only jeopardize the operator but they also jeopardize passengers because the operator must be able to provide safe passage for those entrusted to his or her care.
The petitioners request the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada to amend the Criminal Code to recognize the growing incidents of violence against public transit, school bus, paratransit and inner city transit operators affecting their safety and that of the travelling public in Canada in the same fashion that peace officers are recognized in the Criminal Code.
Petitions November 24th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions.
The first petition is addressed to the Government of Canada by Canadians of all ages and from all walks of life who genuinely support and value the contributions of our veterans. They regard a veteran as a veteran, regardless of where or in which deployment that veteran may have served.
The petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to extend the mandate of veteran hospitals to include veterans who have served in conflicts and peacekeeping operations since 1953.
On the claw-back of veterans' pensions, eliminate the reduction of veterans' pensions at age 65 and change the widow's benefit to a non-taxable benefit.
They also ask that a veterans advisory panel be created to provide input on the selection of future veteran ombudspersons and ensure that Veterans Affairs Canada remains as a stand-alone department.
Petitions November 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from supporters of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who understand that as part of the Sisters in Spirit campaign, NWAC has identified nearly 600 missing and murdered aboriginal women whose cases go back to 1970. The equivalent in the whole Canadian population would be 18,000 missing or murdered women.
The research done by NWAC has convinced Canadians that violence against aboriginal women must be stopped and that we need to find strategies, resources and tools to stop women from disappearing. They call upon the Parliament of Canada to ensure that NWAC receives the funding it was promised to continue its important work protecting women through its Sisters in Spirit initiative, and to invest in initiatives recommended by NWAC to help prevent more women from disappearing.
Petitions November 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions today.
The first is addressed to the Government of Canada by petitioners of all ages and walks of life who genuinely support and value the contributions of our veterans. They regard a veteran as a veteran, regardless of where or in which deployment he or she may have served.
These petitioners call upon the Government of Canada to extend the mandate of veterans' hospitals to include veterans who have served in conflicts and peacekeeping operations since 1953, end the clawback of veterans' pensions, eliminate the reduction of veterans' pensions at age 65, change the widows' benefit to a non-taxable benefit, create a veterans' advisory panel to provide input on the selection of future veterans' ombudspersons, and ensure that Veterans Affairs Canada remains as a stand-alone department.
Childhood Cancer November 22nd, 2010
Mr. Speaker, today it is my privilege to tell the House about an incredible young woman of determination and great courage.
Stephanie Simmons is a 16-year-old grade 11 student at Clarke Road Secondary School in London, Ontario. She is also a childhood cancer survivor who has battled cancer since 2004, and understands the physical and emotional impact of the disease on individuals and their families and friends.
It is Stephanie's goal to convince Canada Post to create a commemorative stamp to promote awareness of childhood cancer in honour of the many children who have faced the disease. Today, more than 10,000 Canadian children live with cancer. Each year, 1,500 cases are diagnosed.
Stephanie's own words are the most powerful argument:
...Sometimes I wonder if there are ten thousand kids just like me...how is it that we don't hear more about kid's cancer?
...I would love to honour and thank all the survivors that have come before us, their strength and determination to beat their disease inspires all of us current warriors to dig in and keep fighting....
But mostly I want to honour all the brave warriors that have lost their battle. I want these heroes and their families to know that they have not been forgotten.....