Bill C-369 (Historical)

An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)

This enactment amends certain Acts to make National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, observed on September 30, a holiday.

[Marie Wilson]

I am coming to a conclusion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yet I note that in the bill you are considering, Bill C-369, it is also being referred to as National Indigenous Day. I just want to take my remaining minutes to clarify our TRC intentions to this specific call to action.

There is a flow and pattern to our 94 calls to action, and 80 exists in the context of those surrounding it, those that are talking about identification, documentation, consecration, protection and remembrance. More specifically, some of them are about missing children and burial information and about memorialization and commemoration through national, provincial and territorial monuments and markers and an annual day of remembrance.

Of all the days that are already familiar to Canadians, the national day of truth and reconciliation envisioned by the TRC would have most in common with Remembrance Day. It would be a solemn day for all Canadians to remember 150,000 children who attended and suffered, and thousands who died in Canada's own state-sponsored facilities. As we have said, to ensure the public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

As a final point, let me offer some distinctions between the purpose of a national day for truth and reconciliation, as we've proposed it, and National Indigenous Peoples Day as it already exists.

[Marie Wilson, Former Commissioner, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, As an Individual]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Let me begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on traditional Algonquin Anishinabe territory, and say how grateful I am to be here today. I want to point out what is perhaps obvious, which is that I'm still wearing a poppy today. With no offence intended to the protocols of the Canadian Legion, I did it intentionally because, as you will hear, I want to focus our attention on remembrance.

The work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was officially over three years ago, and it was the honour of my lifetime to serve as one of its three commissioners. While I appear before you today as an independent party, I want you to know that I have reviewed my thoughts for today with both of my commissioner colleagues: our chair, then Justice but now Senator Murray Sinclair, and Chief Dr. Wilton Littlechild.

I have also reviewed them with Dr. Barney Williams, the TRC elder who was a member of our survivor advisory committee. I wanted to make sure we are all still on the same page of understanding the issues before this committee as they relate to our TRC findings and calls to action. I want you to know that indeed we are. While I do not speak for them, I am assured that we are still of a shared opinion, beginning with this reminder of what we said at our official closing and what we have each said repeatedly ever since, which is that the long-term work of reconciliation has barely begun.

It's clear from private member's Bill C-369—and I want to thank Madame Jolibois for bringing it forward—and also from the convening of this committee to carefully consider it, that you are devoting efforts to following through on some of our TRC conclusions that fall to the federal government to enact. In that light, and in the spirit of reconciliation, I am indeed very pleased to be here today. I hope you will find my comments useful to support you in your work and to help you in your deliberations.

I want to begin by having all of us remember what brought us into this room today: the historic thing that happened in Canada early this century. Indigenous residential school survivors took the federal government and the churches that ran those schools to court. A massive legal settlement that supported the survivors' case included the obligation to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the first national TRC in the western world and the first to focus on harms to our nation's own children.

After six and a half years of work, our 10-volume TRC final report, informed by official government and church records, documented the history of the so-called Indian residential schools. We reported that they were built on a foundation of attitudes: a belief that indigenous people were inferior; that their cultures and identities should, could and would be extinguished; and that the fastest and cheapest way to do that was to put their children in residential schools, far from parental influence and cultural teachings.

What price does a country pay for such attitudes? Almost 7,000 residential school survivors made statements to our TRC, recording the harms and heartaches of their school days: family rupture, fear, humiliation and abuses of all kinds. The most definitive harm was death itself. So many told us they spoke for the voiceless, those they had seen die and those they knew to have died or disappeared—their schoolmates, friends and siblings.

A few years ago I visited the burial ground of Regina Industrial School, one of Canada's earliest Indian residential schools. Those graves were unmarked and the cemetery overrun. I still remember the overwhelming feelings. What if the children lying here were my ancestors? What if the children and grandchildren in my life were taken away by government agents, police or religious leaders, with promises of good education, only to end their shortened lives in such an abandoned field? Let me be sure you understand that this is not the only such residential school graveyard in our country.

We know for sure that 3,200 indigenous children died at those schools—highly disproportionate for Canadian children. A thousand others were sent home in the latter stages of illness, or to “Indian” hospitals, to die there within the first year.

All told, likely double that number died. It was closer to 6,000 or more, because so many others were only partially documented: a first-name child here, a no-name child there, sometimes a home community reference for another and only maybe the gender of the child. Some were sick, some died in fires in condemned school buildings, and some drowned or froze to death trying to run away from school horrors. Too frequently, no cause of death at all was even noted. Countless indigenous children lie in school cemeteries long since abandoned. Some are in mass graves and some were buried before parents were ever told of their passing, the cause of death or the gravesite location.

Our TRC created the national residential school death register, the only national effort ever made to record all the names of all students who died and to locate their graves. We are nowhere close to finding them all. As we have said in our report, that will require much more research, analysis and resources. As well, we say that reconciliation on this front also needs ongoing education and continual remembrance that this loss of life happened on our own soil as a result of our own laws and policies.

A few years back, a farmer came across what appeared to be four burial sites at the edge of a field. There is both remembrance and reconciliation in what happened next. The church that ran a nearby residential school and indigenous spiritual leaders collaborated in a traditional sending-home ceremony for the little souls in these newly found graves, as well as for so many other former students from that school.

We have a very long history of noting the names of the fallen on public monuments to victims of war. Learning the names of the deceased makes it real, transforming them from statistics to somebody's relatives and helping us relate to the enormity of the tragedy. Even more powerful is the experience of hearing those names aloud.

That day, they were children's names. They didn't go to war. They went to school.

In the midst of such a reverent ceremony, I got thinking about Remembrance Day. My grandfather was a soldier in World War I. Several of my uncles fought in World War II, and my father served the final year of that war here in Canada. All of that influenced our family culture. I spent many bittersweet childhood days gathered around public cenotaphs learning about Remembrance Day in school. My husband and I have raised our children and grandchildren to do the same: to learn about those wars and others since, to learn to honour the fallen, and to learn to remember, lest we forget.

For me, the comparisons are obvious. Our Truth and Reconciliation Commission motto was “For the child taken, for the parent left behind”. As a country, we understand fully the heartache of a mother who has lost a son or daughter to war. We make great efforts to bring home with dignity and ceremony anyone lost, and to honour the parent left behind. Each year, as we did recently, we honour a Silver Cross Mother to represent all grieving parents. We mark Remembrance Day in a national ceremony in all our schools and at monuments throughout the country in honour of all veterans, living or dead. We acknowledge, collectively, those never found with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

When have we ever demonstrated such reverence for residential school children, also lost in a state-sanctioned context of proven harm? We have failed to keep any track of them, much less bring them home in ceremony. We have shown unceremonious disregard for any parent left behind. How many days have we ever gathered together nationally to remember thousands of children who died on Canada's own soil? As for the missing in circumstances still unknown, where is our national monument to the unknown child?

As I have said in other contexts, we are a country still learning to remember. Indeed, we are a country with much still to learn about many things, especially about each other. The 94 calls to action of our Truth and Reconciliation Commission are all about that, and some of them specifically about the missing children.

In this committee's discussions to date, specific reference was made to TRC call to action 80:

We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Specifically, this call is for a national day for truth and reconciliation.

[Alania Sanregret, Program Manager, Bonnyville Friendship Centre]

The Bonnyville Friendship Centre is located within the town of Bonnyville in Alberta. It was incorporated under the Societies Act on January 30, 1975. In accordance with our mandate, we are dedicated to bridging the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous community members culturally, socially, economically and recreationally by promoting communication and understanding among all people.

The Bonnyville Friendship Centre consistently provides programs and a broad continuum of services that assist people in the community. According to the 2017 municipal census, the population of Bonnyville is 6,422 people. That is the town of Bonnyville. The Municipal District of Bonnyville, which we also serve, has a population of 11,660 and incorporates first nation communities of Treaty 6 territory as well as the Elizabeth Métis Settlement, and we do stretch our services out to a number of other settlements.

The Bonnyville Friendship Centre creates a healthy, positive and productive community by working together to empower families and individuals through innovative and cultural services. Therefore, on behalf of the board and staff of Bonnyville Friendship Centre, I, Alania Sanregret, program manager, and Pauline, our assistant executive director, have taken the honour and opportunity to be speaking on the proposed Canadian Heritage Bill C-369.

We recognize that we are gathered here today on unceded traditional territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people, and we would like to thank Georgina Jolibois for introducing Bill C-369 and beginning this conversation regarding honouring the indigenous people of Canada.

Our friendship centre utilizes every opportunity to celebrate and promote indigenous culture in our community. We celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21 every year by hosting a free community event that highlights our cultural strengths, resiliency and the knowledge of indigenous people. We host approximately 1,000 community members every year, bringing in indigenous dancers, drummers, Métis fiddlers and speakers.

In addition to the cultural activities, we share a spiritual component in which our local elders coordinate a sacred pipe ceremony where prayers are offered for prosperity for our community in the upcoming season. The date that has been chosen for National Indigenous Peoples Day is June 21, and that is the summer solstice celebration, which has been a celebration of indigenous people across Canada since before the rivers began.

Our pipe ceremony is held seasonally in our centre, and it's another way our centre calls attention to our cultural strengths. Attendees are dignitaries, schoolchildren, teachers, agency partners and residents of the town and Municipal District of Bonnyville. Even though June 21 has not been recognized as a statutory holiday, our agency in Bonnyville grants the staff a day in lieu in order to facilitate the work that is done on that particular day.

We do have some reservations about the bill.

To show appreciation and to honour indigenous people of Canada, declaring a statutory holiday will provide an opportunity to celebrate and educate through honouring both the tragedies and triumphs of indigenous people in Canada.

However, should June 21 become a statutory holiday, schools would be closed. We celebrate on June 21 regardless of whether it is a school day or not. We greatly value the opportunity to expose indigenous culture to children and youth in Bonnyville who may not have ever learned anything about indigenous culture. We believe that June 21 should be reserved for the celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day to ensure that youth are encouraged to take part, and that an alternate day would be optimal for a statutory holiday to honour indigenous people. We believe that if June 21 becomes a statutory holiday, we may miss out on the opportunity to involve our young community members in our traditions and celebrations.

As well, funding for this event from Canadian Heritage as well as Alberta Indigenous Relations takes into consideration the number of participants as well as the date, depending on who we're applying to for our funding. If involvement declines, we may consequently have a decrease in funding, which would then lessen the impact we have on the community.

We support Bill C-369 and the creation of a national statutory holiday to commemorate the impact that indigenous people have had on the formation of Canada. However, we propose that we keep National Indigenous Peoples Day as a celebration and choose an alternate day for the proposed Bill C-369.

We presently celebrate Victoria Day as a statutory holiday to recognize the ruling monarch when Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. Would it not be pertinent to allocate a similar regard to our country's indigenous people, to celebrate and share the strong and profuse culture and traditions of indigenous people in Canada?

We recommend that this committee continue to consult indigenous people during this process and that Canadians use this conversation to learn and celebrate the history of indigenous people in Canada.

In summary, celebrating indigenous people on a statutory holiday will honour Canada as a nation by recognizing the lives and the culture of indigenous people past, present and future. Much needs to be considered when designating a national statutory holiday and other commemorations.

That is all I have.

[Aaron Wudrick, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation]

Madam Chair, good morning, and thank you to the committee for the invitation. My name is Aaron Wudrick, and I am the federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. We are a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group with over 140,000 supporters across Canada. Our advocacy is centred on three areas: lower taxes, less waste and government accountability.

I'm very pleased to appear today with respect to Bill C-369 regarding the proposal to make National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday. I think it is worth saying at the start that it goes without saying that the objectives underlying this bill, which are the recognition of the historical wrongs endured Canada's indigenous peoples and the need for reconciliation with all Canadians, are not controversial. I think that the idea enjoys wide support across the political spectrum and with all Canadians.

The fundamental question, though, is whether creating a new statutory holiday is either necessary or desirable in advancing this goal, and we should consider some of the costs that it will impose.

Simply put, statutory holidays are not free. They come at a cost to the economy, to employers and to taxpayers. The size of that cost will, of course, depend on who is affected. I know that certain estimates on this bill have mentioned it impacting 6% of the labour force. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses has put forward a figure of $3.6 billion in lost productivity. We had a member of Parliament who suggested that the cost to taxpayers would be just under $200 million. That is a day's worth of federal payroll.

Now, this does not mean we never have any statutory holidays, but it is an obvious reason that we don't have an unlimited number of them.

I think another important point worth considering with respect to whether or not a holiday is the best way to advance the social goal at hand here is to look at Remembrance Day as a useful analogy. While it is a holiday in some provinces and for federal workplaces, it is not in others, including, importantly, for schools. Indeed, many veterans themselves expressed concern that if Remembrance Day were to become a school holiday, it would actually deprive children of a very important opportunity to reflect and learn about something that is very important.

I think you can make a similar argument with respect to National Indigenous Peoples Day. The important thing about this day would be that Canadians take time to learn, reflect upon and understand the history and cultures of our indigenous peoples. That may not necessarily be best achieved by creating a holiday. I can tell you that as a young person, I didn't take very much time during the May long weekend to learn about Queen Victoria.

That said, if the committee does feel the need to have a statutory holiday to mark this day, I would suggest that it consider repurposing an existing holiday, one that is already recognized in most of the country, and of course I am thinking of the civic holiday in August. It would imbue that day with a particular meaning and purpose, but would also avoid the additional costs to businesses and taxpayers that a new holiday would incur.

That's all I have. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I call to order our 131st meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Today we're continuing our study of Bill C-369, an act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code on National Indigenous Peoples Day.

I thank the witnesses for being here and for your patience, because we did have votes.

Before we begin, I was going to propose to the committee that we will slightly amend the rounds so that we can try to have time for questions for both sets of witnesses. We will have a five-minute round of three questions, one to each party, after each set of witnesses. That might bring us only slightly over the scheduled time. I have that in mind.

Today we have with us, on the first panel, Aaron Wudrick of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. We have, by video conference, Elizabeth Edgar-Webkamigad from the Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre. We have with us in person Alania Sanregret and Pauline Mawer from the Bonnyville Friendship Centre.

Just because of technical issues, we'll start with the video conference, if that's all right with you. Please begin your presentation.

Thanks.

[National Chief Robert Bertrand, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, vice-chairs, committee members, representatives and guests.

I am National Chief Robert Bertrand of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, CAP. I am pleased to be with you today, and I wish to acknowledge that we are on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin peoples.

For over 47 years, CAP has committed itself to advocating for the rights and needs of the off-reserve, status and non-status lndians, Métis people and southern Inuit, the majority of whom live in urban, rural and remote areas. CAP also serves as the national voice for its 10 provincial and territorial affiliates, which are instrumental in providing us with a direct connection to the priorities and needs of our constituents.

This is an important discussion. Bill C-369 proposes to amend certain acts to make National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today, because consultation on issues that impact all indigenous people is something that CAP strives for in our work as a national indigenous organization.

A day celebrating the indigenous peoples of Canada has been around for over 20 years. As citizens of this country, we have come to recognize that to move forward together we need to have true reconciliation between all indigenous peoples, non-indigenous Canadians and all levels of government. Each year on this day, we celebrate the immense contributions the indigenous people have made for this country.

This past year, I was at the ceremony of remembrance at the aboriginal veterans monument in Ottawa. I was honoured to be there in support of the courage of all indigenous people who have served and continue to do so in our armed services for Canada. CAP is supportive of National Indigenous Peoples Day becoming a statutory holiday so that all people can gather to honour indigenous communities and cultures in a day of celebration.

We believe that, in addition to the holiday, the federal government should support the education efforts and activities of indigenous organizations in cities and communities across Canada. We must ensure all Canadians take the time and have the tools to learn about our histories. A national holiday would be an opportunity for Canadians to recognize and learn about the many different indigenous cultures throughout this vast land.

It is important that this day be inclusive and that, as the bill reflects, it is for all indigenous peoples of Canada. We will not be excluded based on residence, status or politics. A statutory holiday will be an important opportunity to reflect upon the diverse heritage and culture of our people, which remain so vitally important to the social fabric of this country. In doing so, each and every one of us will be working towards the reality of true reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you. Meegwetch.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

I call to order the 130th meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

Today, we will continue our study on Bill C-369, an act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Indigenous Peoples Day).

We have with us for our first panel today, Ry Moran of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; and Terri Brown, from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Survivors' Circle.

We'll begin with you, Mr. Moran.

[Georgina Jolibois, NDP, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mahsi cho. Thank you very much. I would like to begin my remarks by thanking the members of the committee for having me here to discuss the creation of National Indigenous Peoples Day as a statutory holiday.

I very much appreciate the support that my bill has gotten from across party lines as we move forward on the government's project of reconciliation with first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples across Canada.

I'd like to acknowledge that the idea for National Indigenous Peoples Day is not my own, but is the work of generations of indigenous people who have come before my time, and it is sustained by the work of first nations, Métis and Inuit people who keep their celebrations going on every year on June 21.

It has a deep and vibrant history, and I would encourage you all to seek out its story. National Indigenous Peoples Day is currently one part of Celebrate Canada, four days in the summer when the Canadian government sponsors events across the country to celebrate the people that make our country unique.

You may know June 21 as the summer solstice, the longest day of sunshine every year. As such, it holds a special significance to many indigenous people, who feel a unique connection to the land they live on and are inseparable from.

Over your study of Bill C-369, you're going to be hearing a lot of remarks about residential schools, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action and a day of truth and reconciliation, specifically call to action number 80 from the TRC, which calls for a national day of truth and reconciliation to honour survivors, their families and their communities so that the legacy and history of residential schools is never forgotten.

It was in the spirit of call to action 80 that I proposed my bill. I understand that it doesn't meet the exact wording of the call to action, but I do believe my bill fulfills its intentions. You will remember that the project of residential schools was to eliminate the culture and presence of first nations, Métis and Inuit people because they weren't a part of Canadian society, and that the government believed there was no future for first nations, Métis or Inuit people in our country. History has not been kind to indigenous people, but indigenous people continue to survive and continue to engage with all levels of government in good faith.

First nations, Métis and Inuit people want to have a positive relationship with the federal government, and I believe that the decisions made by this committee will affect how that relationship moves forward.

I do want to be clear that I understand the reasoning behind having a date that is different from the one I proposed in my bill. Call to action 80 specifically requests a day recognized as a day of truth and reconciliation for the exclusive reason of honouring the survivors and legacy of residential schools. Orange Shirt Day is a great choice for that day.

Before proposing my bill, I did carefully consider Orange Shirt Day. When I consulted with my colleagues and my community, I believed that September 30 could serve that purpose, but if we think about the bigger picture of reconciliation, I believe June 21 must be a statutory holiday. I think first nations, Métis and Inuit people are more than the trauma they've experienced.

I've said in the past that reconciliation is the burden of government, not indigenous people. I think that if there is going to be only one statutory holiday that recognizes indigenous people in Canada, it should be a day that celebrates the culture, life, ways and futures of first nations, Métis and Inuit people.

A day about indigenous people should not be just for the federal government to apologize for what they've done and for all of Canada to reflect on the dark legacy of residential schools. While honouring the past is crucial, I think that more people in Canada will benefit from a day that is organized around education, celebration and healing of indigenous heritage and life. People in Canada are capable of mourning the past while also celebrating the present and looking toward the future.

June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, has been chosen by indigenous people. It's organized by indigenous people to celebrate the culture and contributions of indigenous people. It would be a momentous step toward reconciliation for the government to recognize that work and to recognize June 21 as the statutory holiday chosen by indigenous people.

If the project of reconciliation is to reverse the harms done by the residential schools, the National Indigenous Peoples Day does the exact opposite of what residential schools intended. The residential school program used the differences between Canadians and indigenous people as a reason to discriminate and eliminate their culture. National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrates that difference. It fosters an understanding of indigenous cultures and provides an opportunity for Canadians who otherwise wouldn't have the chance to see the indigenous people within their community, to see life from their perspective and to learn something about their neighbours.

When I ask myself “What's the best day to create a better relationship between indigenous people and the rest of Canada?”, the answer will always be National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.

June 21 is marked by community celebrations, concerts and activities in schools. There are barbecues, parades, shared meals, film screenings, ceremonies and lessons across the country. This past year, we saw one of the largest celebrations of National Indigenous Peoples Day, with concerts held across the country and streamed live on the APTN, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, for people all over to watch online.

I've heard a number of people say we can celebrate these positive things on a different day, too, and that's true. First nations, Métis and Inuit people could celebrate the things they've accomplished every single day of the year. I have the opportunity daily as a Dene person to learn from my elders and pass on the lessons they teach me. Many indigenous people across Canada have the opportunity to practise their traditions, to share their stories, to live an indigenous life.

Reconciliation calls for a deeper appreciation and understanding by Canadian society of what I and others practise daily. June 21 is the opportunity now for indigenous people to be publicly proud of who they are and where they come from.

In my view, National Indigenous Peoples Day would accomplish far more for the future of indigenous people in this country than would a day only focusing on the legacy of residential schools. In short, I agree that for this committee to choose a day of truth and reconciliation would not be a good decision, but I firmly believe that choosing National Indigenous Peoples Day, June 21, to be a statutory holiday would be a better decision.

Thank you for your time.

Masi cho.

[The Chair, Liberal, Julie Dabrusin]

Let us start right away, because we are a little late.

Welcome, everyone, to our 128th meeting.

We have some new members here. Mr. Saganash, Mr. Deltell, Mr. Vandal and Mr. Casey, welcome.

We are beginning consideration of Bill C-369, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Indigenous Peoples Day).

As witnesses, we have Georgina Jolibois, MP, and Morley Googoo, Regional Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, representing Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Why don't we begin with you, Ms. Jolibois, as the proponent for this bill?

Bills of Exchange Act

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being 5:30 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill C-369 under private members' business.

Call in the members.

The House resumed from September 24, 2018, consideration of the motion that Bill C-369, an act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Indigenous Peoples Day), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am honoured to speak in support of my colleague, the Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, and her Bill C-369, a bill that would create a national indigenous peoples day.

I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered here on the traditional lands of the Algonquin people. I thank them for sharing this beautiful land with all of us.

I live in the traditional lands of the Syilx people, the Okanagan nation. Most large public gatherings in the Okanagan are opened with a traditional prayer and the signing of the Okanagan song. The part of that song that I have taken to heart is, “We are beautiful. We are beautiful because our land is beautiful.” Those words emphasize the relationship between all of us and the land that sustains us, that we are nothing if we treat our land without respect. They are powerful words.

I grew up on the boundary of the Penticton Indian Reserve and I still live in the house in which I grew up. I like to tell my friends from the Penticton Indian Band that I grew up on the res. However, I did not grow up on it like those people. As I grew up, I knew nothing of the struggles of the kids I went to school with from the reserve. We did not talk much. I knew nothing of the struggles of them and their families, of the residential schools situation. I did not really know anything about their culture, heritage, or language. I did not even know there were still people speaking a traditional language there.

In 1978, I was out on the Chilcotin Plateau and went into a café. I realized soon that everyone in the café was speaking Chilcotin. I had never heard an indigenous language spoken before. I realized how little I knew of the cultures of the people who were here first, the first peoples of Canada.

In 1981, I met Jeannette Armstrong, someone whom I have come to know and respect a great deal. She grew up a couple of kilometres from me in Penticton. My father knew her mother and yet I never had met her before. She spoke of her family's struggle to retain the culture and language. She spoke fluent nsyilxcen, the language of the Okanagan people. I was totally blown away. I had no idea there were still speakers of that language, that the culture was still retained and so rich.

Since that time, I have learned a lot from my colleagues in the first nations communities of the Okanagan about that culture and what they have been doing to retain it and make their people proud of it and get their kids learning the language again.

Recently, I had the honour and very humbling experience of sitting in on an immersion class in Penticton that taught nsyilxcen. It was humbling to sit there for a day, hearing people speak a language that I knew very few words of, a language that was formed in my home valley. It was literally the language of my land and yet I knew nothing of it.

I still know very few words in nsyilxcen. I know a few of the plants and animals as I am a biologist. Probably the only word I knew as a kid, because my father would call bitterroot, was “speetlum”. Speetlum is one of the four food groups of the Okanagan people. It is the root that gave them sustenance through the year. I know the word for Saskatoon berries, “seeya”, again one of the important foods of the Okanagan people.

However, it was not until I moved back to the Okanagan in the 1990s and started working a lot with people in the local first nations communities on the conservation of their lands, as they were very concerned about conserving the environment of their lands, that I got to hear more of their personal stories. People who were working with me, very dedicated workers, had real personal struggles, such as families torn apart, addictions, life in residential schools, which had sent them to Alberta and northern British Columbia as kids, yet they had come back to work to rebuild their communities.

At the same time, my wife Margaret was working for the Osoyoos Indian Band, building the Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre, one of the most magnificent interpretive centres in the country. If people are ever in the Okanagan, I urge them to visit it. It is a real celebration of the Syilx culture and is very well presented. Through her, I met other people who knew their culture and their language. It was such a rich experience, learning all of this from my neighbours. As Canadians, we do not have that opportunity very often.

Some of the projects I worked with brought kids together, kids from the first nations community and non-indigenous kids, to do habitat rehabilitation, plant trees and shrubs. At the same time, they were planting seeds of reconciliation in our communities.

I have seen such a change over the last 20 or 30 years in the Okanagan Valley with respect to the building of reconciliation. People are feeling a lot better about the relations between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. When I first went there in the 1990s, it was very touchy. However, that has really changed, as people are now taking the time to learn about each other's cultures.

Many of us celebrate July 1 every year as our national day. As well, many of us celebrate June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day. Although it is not a holiday, I attend the events in my community when I can. I know a lot of people do. In those events, we learn about indigenous cultures, their heritage and their languages. However, it would mean so much more if it were a national holiday.

Therefore, I really want to support my colleague's initiative to create a national statutory holiday. Yukon and the Northwest Territories have set a precedent by making June 21 a holiday in those territories to ensure that people have the time and the mindset to really set aside a day to learn about these important issues, and to take important steps toward reconciliation.

Lim’limpt.

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by acknowledging that the lands on which we are gathered to discuss the important legislation introduced by my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River are part of the unceded traditional territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people.

From a reconciliation perspective, since that is precisely the focus of my argument, I think it is especially important to emphasize that point so that everyone here in the House is well aware of the context surrounding our debate on this bill.

I would also like to take this opportunity to salute the Mashteuiatsh Innu first nation and the Saguenay Native Friendship Centre, which are located in my region, Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean.

It is time to make National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday in Canada. There are currently no federal statutory holidays dedicated to indigenous peoples. National Indigenous Peoples Day exists and is recognized, but it is not a statutory holiday. We do have precedents, however, as other jurisdictions in this country have enacted legislation to make June 21 a statutory holiday. Bill C-369 calls on the federal government to do the same, to show some leadership and set an example for the provincial and territorial governments that have not yet created this statutory holiday.

In its report, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made it clear that reconciliation is not an indigenous issue; it is a Canadian issue. To achieve true reconciliation, we may be called upon to re-examine all aspects of Canadian society. This is indeed a call to action, to concerted action on the part of all governments in Canada and all communities in the interest of reconciliation with first nations, Métis and Inuit. Merely recognizing these peoples is not enough. We must also recognize their history, their rights, their cultures and their languages.

By passing Bill C-369, the House of Commons would be sending a clear message about its intention to create space for reconciliation. Once established, this national holiday will serve as a reminder to us all of what it really means to have a treaty-based nation-to-nation relationship. It will also be an expression of respect for the historic and cultural importance of first nations, Métis and Inuit.

Obviously this bill is not necessarily going to resolve all the socio-economic problems that indigenous peoples face, problems that my party raises in the House all the time, but it will provide a time and place for reflecting on our colonial history and its lasting effects on the rights of the first nations, Métis and Inuit peoples across the country.

For example, a statutory holiday could become an opportunity to organize events to commemorate and raise awareness about victims of residential schools and Canada's colonial system, the effects of which still weigh heavily on indigenous peoples today.

It is rather obvious that my colleague's bill is not a new idea. In 1982, the National Indian Brotherhood, now known as the Assembly of First Nations, launched a campaign to have National Aboriginal Day recognized as a national holiday. It was not until 1996 that June 21 was proclaimed National Aboriginal Day by then Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc.

That date was chosen following consultation with indigenous peoples and statements of support from numerous indigenous groups. Some of these groups wanted the summer solstice, a day that holds a special significance to indigenous peoples in Canada, to become National Aboriginal Day.

As I mentioned before, other governments have made National Aboriginal Day a statutory holiday.

These include the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, which made it a holiday in May 2017. In June 2017, my colleague from Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River introduced the bill we are debating today to get the federal government on board. In September 2017, provincial MPP Michael Mantha, a New Democrat, introduced a bill in the the Ontario legislature entitled An Act to proclaim Indigenous Day and make it a holiday.

The Liberals have stated many times that the relationship with indigenous peoples is the one the government values as most important. The government also committed to follow through on the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in a spirit of reconciliation and healing. Elected officials of other administrations have understood it, and this bill is a new opportunity for the government to move from words to action. Inspired by the call to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, this bill would give hope to indigenous peoples and Canada mainly by fostering an awareness of the consequences of residential schools and by paying tribute to the survivors and the victims of foster family abuse, to their families and to their community.

A statutory holiday would give Canadians an opportunity to better understand our shared history and ensure that they would acknowledge this history, which is a crucial component of reconciliation. This bill gives the Liberal government, as well as the House of Commons, a chance to participate in the reconciliation process by granting a day to reflect on our dark colonial past and to pay tribute to the contributions, heritage, cultures and languages of indigenous peoples.

New Democrats are not the only ones who support making National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday. The Assembly of First Nations has been calling for this for years. At its 2016 annual general assembly, members adopted a resolution calling on the government to institute a statutory holiday on June 21. Bobby Cameron, the chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, expressed support for this bill in June 2017. In addition, Robert Bertrand, the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, attended the press conference as a public show of support when this bill was announced.

I would also add that we are not the only ones here in the House calling for the creation of this holiday. The Liberal member for Winnipeg Centre circulated a petition asking that National Indigenous Peoples Day be made a statutory holiday. We know that he is not the only one in the Liberal caucus who supports our initiative. That is why we are hoping that everyone here in the House of Commons, regardless of party, will support my colleague's bill.

Like the member who spoke before me, I too was unable to attend the National Indigenous Peoples Day events organized by the native friendship centre in my community on June 21. It was a beautiful day, and the centre had invited me to participate in the activities it organized at Place du citoyen. Unfortunately, I had work to do here in the House. The House was in session, and we were here very late voting. We did not get much sleep last spring. My thoughts were with them on June 21. However, I think that supporting my colleague's bill will make all the difference. I am asking the House to vote in favour of this bill.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to stand in the House today to support not just Bill C-369 but the tireless efforts and tremendous work of my colleague, the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River.

The member is a Dene woman from Saskatchewan, who served her community as mayor of La Loche for 12 years and worked with the RCMP's aboriginal advisory committee for almost a decade to help build safer communities in the north. She is a role model for all Canadians, especially for young indigenous women across this country. As a passionate advocate, she continues to demand action from government so that the people in her community are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. As an indigenous woman, her consistent and persistent advocacy aims to ensure that the voices of the first peoples are heard.

On this note, the member has brought before us Bill C-369. This bill would make June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, a statutory holiday in Canada. This bill would also fulfill recommendation 80 in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action. While I was relieved to hear over the summer that, after months of silence, the Liberal government was ready to support the member's bill, I was truly disappointed that it made a partisan effort to undermine the work of my colleague. In going forward with this approach, the government did not even pause to stop to consult with my colleague on a bill which she brought forward. Throughout our society and history, successive governments have actively sidelined the role and voice of indigenous peoples, particularly indigenous women, and it was very disappointing to see the government continue to do this even while attempting to engage in acts of reconciliation.

I believe it is of utmost importance to continually reflect on the words of the TRC, when it stated, “Reconciliation is not an Aboriginal problem; it is a Canadian one. Virtually all aspects of Canadian society may need to be reconsidered.” This calls for collective actions across communities, across levels of government, across party lines and across Canada for reconciliation and the recognition of the history, rights, cultures and languages of first nations, Métis and Inuit people throughout our country. It is a reminder that reconciliation falls on settler society, not on indigenous people.

Passing Bill C-369 would not tackle all the socio-economic challenges met by indigenous communities, but it would provide a time and space for reflection on Canada's colonial history and its current effects on the rights of first nations, Métis and Inuit communities across the country.

The government has signalled that there are two dates being considered for a statutory holiday and also that changing the name to the national day of truth and reconciliation is being considered. June 21 is a date significant to first nations, Métis and Inuit people and is already established as National Indigenous Peoples Day. It is already marked by celebrations across Canada. It falls on the summer solstice, a date that historically has marked a celebration of indigenous culture and heritage. It is my understanding that the government is thinking about changing the date to September 30, Orange Shirt Day.

While Orange Shirt Day is an important one, a day that first nations, local communities, local governments and schools come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come, I share the concerns of my colleague that by co-opting and renaming National Indigenous Peoples Day as Orange Shirt Day as a day of truth and reconciliation would be harmful to the ongoing project of reconciliation. It would be an act of taking a day of celebration and changing it to a day of recognizing settler violence and apologies. In effect, it would be shifting the focus away from indigenous people and toward settler society. This would undermine the valuable and difficult work under way from coast to coast to coast of indigenous activists in communities, which are tirelessly working to build up and restore indigenous lifeways in Canada.

By extension, recognizing September 30 as a statutory holiday would also further the narrative of violence experienced by indigenous people in Canada. Without doubt, settler societies' understanding of the legacy of residential schools is critical and important. However, continuing to limit the national experience of most Canadians to that of recognizing a day of violence toward indigenous people would do little to empower indigenous communities and to foster an environment in which first nations, Métis and Inuit life ways could grow and flourish.

My riding of Vancouver East is home to the Vancouver Aboriginal Child & Family Services Society and the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society, to name just two of the many important indigenous organizations in my riding. Last year, Freida Gladue of the Family Services Society and Susan Tatoosh of the Friendship Centre Society were interviewed by the Vancouver Sun about making National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday. Ms. Gladue noted the importance of providing Canadians from all walks of life the opportunity to learn about, experience and participate in the celebrations of indigenous people. She stated, “It should be a stat holiday for everyone. A lot of my friends are calling to say they can't come because they have to work today.”

As most of us may recall, this year the House was sitting on June 21, so like far too many Canadians, I was unable to attend the celebrations in my community because I was here in the House of Commons. Ms. Tatoosh described the importance of the day, stating that it is “a day where we get to promote our pride, our culture and our status as citizens of Canada. We share our culture, our achievements, our culture and dances and through this outreach, we support the concept of reconciliation.”

I do not want to diminish the critical work of reconciliation through the recognition of generations of injustice, mistreatment, discrimination and the further generational impacts of the events that continue to this day. However, that work should not erase the need to acknowledge the beauty of Canada's indigenous peoples, their cultures and languages by honouring and celebrating them.

Promoting and sharing the depth of first peoples' culture and teachings through events that celebrate them helps build bridges between communities. Through this effort, we are moving the goalposts from the notion of tolerance to appreciation, and from appreciation to respect, and from respect to celebration. In doing so, we are working together to change the necessity of preserving indigenous culture from an act of defiance to an act of appreciation, from an act of tightly holding on to one's identity to an act of sharing with others who you are, with open arms. It means creating the space for indigenous cultures in Canada not only to survive, but also to thrive. That in my opinion is what true reconciliation entails.

Establishing June 21 as a statutory holiday across Canada would help provide that space. It is far overdue, and I hope that all members will stand united in taking this step toward reconciliation and support my colleague's bill.

Thank you, Madam Speaker, for the opportunity to speak to this significant moment in our history, a moment to move forward to celebrate and acknowledge our first peoples and the gift they have given to all of us as immigrants, namely, a place to call home and a place to belong. It is absolutely time for us to ensure that the first peoples are equal partners at the table and for all Canadians to understand the importance of first peoples in Canadian history.

Once again, I call on all members to support this bill.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Bill C-369, an act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Indigenous Peoples Day).

This bill would make National Indigenous Peoples Day a statutory holiday. As a result, about 6% of the labour force would be impacted by this change. This bill would grant a holiday for employees of the federal government and federally regulated businesses only. It would not affect employees who are not subject to the Canada Labour Code.

National Indigenous Peoples Day has been proudly supported and celebrated by Conservatives, both while in government and as the official opposition. Indigenous peoples form an integral part of our country and their histories, cultures and traditions should be recognized and celebrated by all Canadians.

Every year our party encourages Canadians to take part in the local National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations so that we can all learn more about the rich history and traditions of indigenous peoples throughout this country, as well as the tremendous contributions which indigenous peoples have made to this country to make it what it is today, a better place to live.

In my city of Saskatoon, National Indigenous Peoples Day events are always something to look forward to. They are celebrations that help bring the whole community together in the spirit of diversity, understanding and, of course, learning. Every year in June, National Indigenous Peoples Day is one of the major events in my city of Saskatoon. The event is held in Victoria Park where the celebrations begin in the morning with a pipe ceremony. The event this year was followed by Rock Your Roots and a walk for reconciliation which was very well attended. Hundreds of people lined the streets of Saskatoon on this walk. It is an excellent opportunity for everyone to come together in the spirit of reconciliation. I was very proud to see the display of unity in my city.

The celebrations offered a very important opportunity for children and youth to learn about the rich and diverse cultural heritage of first nations and Métis peoples within my province of Saskatchewan. Additionally, the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre hosted numerous activities this year, which allowed young people to both observe and participate in a first nations dance, along with songs and teachings. I think this is particularly important for the young people of our province. These celebrations are very successful and they are important to the entire community.

When we discuss the impact of the addition of a new statutory holiday, we need to really think about whether we have gathered all the right information to make an informed decision. As my colleague from Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo has stated before in the House, we need to know the economic impact related to the implementation of this new statutory holiday. If we do not have this information available to us, it is hard for us to know what kind of effects the addition of a new statutory holiday would have on Canada's economy. It is important to note that in discussing whether to add a new statutory holiday to Canada's Labour Code, we are not considering at all whether we should re-examine any of the existing statutory holidays. Specifically, we are not looking at whether we should remove some of the existing holidays going forward.

These factors are very crucial to our understanding of the economic impact associated with this bill, which in turn informs our decision-making. We must also consider whether statutory holidays have the desired effect on increasing the learning and awareness of these events and traditions which they are meant to honour and celebrate.

Currently, National Indigenous Peoples Day ceremonies and celebrations across the country enjoy a wide attendance by people from all walks of life. In June, here in the national capital region, I was happy to attend this year's ceremony near the Canadian Museum of History. A number of people attended the morning ceremony. Traditional sunrise ceremonies are enjoyed by all as they mark the beginning of a day filled with diverse cultural celebrations across the country.

We need to be concerned about the impact a statutory holiday might have on all of these celebrations and cultural festivities. Similar concerns have been raised by officials. We have had a debate in the House about whether Remembrance Day should be a statutory holiday. Different regulations exist throughout the country concerning the status of Remembrance Day in terms of whether it is a statutory holiday or not. Keep in mind that since 1970, the Royal Canadian Legion has come out against the resolution to make the day a statutory holiday. One official from the Royal Canadian Legion, Bill Maxwell, highlighted his concerns with making Remembrance Day a statutory holiday and stated that by institutionalizing it as a statutory holiday, the impression is that people would stay at home and would not make an effort to attend a ceremony downtown on November 11.

Last Thursday afternoon, I sat in on a meeting of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs. David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, echoed those same sentiments. He said that we do not really need a statutory holiday for Remembrance Day and he wonders if we even need one for National Indigenous Peoples Day. With a day as important as National Indigenous Peoples Day, we need to take great care to ensure that it does not risk becoming a holiday that is robbed of its significance by being viewed by employees as simply a day away from work.

Reconciliation with our first nations, Métis and Inuit communities is a process that all Canadians should be committed to and should support. We must make every effort to guarantee that indigenous peoples across the country receive fair and equitable access to education, economic development and employment and training opportunities. These are all fundamental aspects of reconciliation and they are vital issues which the Liberal government is failing to address.

In 2016, a report by the C.D. Howe Institute found that only four in 10 young adults living on reserve across Canada have completed high school compared to graduation rates of seven in 10 for indigenous peoples living off reserve, and nine in 10 for non-indigenous Canadians. These statistics are totally unacceptable and clearly show the vast difference in the kinds of education opportunities that are available to communities on reserve compared to everywhere else in the country. These differences act as a barrier to reconciliation, yet the Liberals have broken their promise to close the education gap between on reserve and off reserve. The consequences of this broken promise for the on-reserve communities are numerous and severe. The same 2016 report highlighted that these low graduation rates had many negative repercussions on reserve, which include unemployment, poverty and limited social and economic opportunities.

While we need to make sure we know what the impact of the designation of National Indigenous Peoples Day as a statutory holiday would be, the empirical data on the question is lacking. As a result, we cannot be clear at all in our discussions on the matter because we are missing key personnel information. The intentions of the bill may be well meaning, but we must also think about whether a statutory holiday is in fact the best way to preserve the meaning of National Indigenous Peoples Day.