moved that Bill C-402, an act to amend the Indian Act (obligations of landlords and tenants on reserve land), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the people of Okanagan—Coquihalla to debate Bill C-402, an act to amend the Indian Act (obligations of landlords and tenants on reserve land). The bill is a direct result of a serious incident that occurred in my constituency last fall, and it has implications for all Canadians in every province and territory in Canada.
In November 1997, 51 families from the Driftwood Mobile Home Park just outside Penticton, British Columbia, were evicted from their homes through no fault of their own. Health Canada deemed the sewage treatment facilities there to be totally inadequate. No one at the federal or provincial level had been inspecting the sewage treatment plant to ensure it met provincial or national health and safety guidelines.
To make matters worse, my constituents were not protected by British Columbia's residential tenancy act. The act declares that the landlord is responsible for maintaining the building and property of rental facilities to provincial and safety standards and must oversee repairs of serious problems. One might ask why my constituents were not protected. It was because they were renting property on Indian land. The residents, many of whom had lived in Driftwood Mobile Home Park for years, fell into this grey area of the law.
Let us put a face to these people, these 51 families who were evicted from their homes in November. Who were these people? Many of them were senior citizens. Many of them were low income families, single income families. They had scrimped and saved to realize the dream which most Canadians hold of owning their own home.
Nobody at the provincial level had been inspecting the septic system of the mobile home park because provincial legislation, in this case the B.C. residential tenancy act, does not apply to residential tenancies on Indian reserves.
With regard to the victims of the mobile home park, the hon. Michael Farnworth, B.C. minister of municipal affairs and housing, wrote to me stating unequivocally:
It is with profound regret that I see tenants facing eviction under these conditions, however the entire tenancy responsibility on federally owned land lies with the federal government. It is apparent that there is a serious federal legislative and policy vacuum in this area, resulting in crippling impacts on individuals and families who are tenants of federal lands in this province.
This is not the first time this has happened. Other incidents involving tenants renting on federal Indian land have ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada. In almost every case the supreme court has ruled that provincial legislation does not apply to residential tenancies on reserve land.
These rulings reinforced that parliament, this House, has exclusive power to legislate with respect to such tenancies. Despite that there is still a legislative vacuum which needs to be filled. That is what I am attempting to do with Bill C-402.
Although the federal government is responsible for tenants on federal land, Health Canada's health services branch, which is responsible for approving septic field installations and repairs on Indian reservations, claimed that it was never informed of the Driftwood septic installation some 10 years ago or those of other mobile home parks in my constituency. Therefore no action by the federal government was taken to prevent what turned into a disaster for those 51 families in my riding.
Every Canadian believes that no matter what happens he or she can turn to the courts for redress of grievance. This was not the case for my constituents. There was no federal law to protect them. They fell through the cracks.
What was the effect of that happening to these people? Due to years of neglect, raw sewage started to seep up through the ground of these people's homes. Many were forced to literally walk away from their lifetime investment.
On October 9, 1997, in an effort to protect my constituents' homes, I tried to pull together the interested parties by organizing a meeting with the federal minister of Indian affairs; the mayor of Penticton, Beth Campbell; the local MLA, Rick Thorpe; and the chief of the Penticton Indian Band, Chief Stewart Phillip.
I congratulate all those people and in particular the minister of Indian affairs because she was willing to meet with these people. In spite of the best efforts of all parties involved a comprehensive solution was not reached. In November 1997 after only 30 days notice my constituents walked away from their homes after they were evicted.
They could not move their homes. Some of the mobile homes were quite old. Some of them can be seen sitting right there today. They have been destroyed, mainly through vandalism. Some people in the area even offered them 10 cents on the dollar for their investment.
Many of these people literally walked away. They had nowhere to go. They could not move their homes. There were no vacancies in any other mobile home parks for them to move them to if they could come up with the money required to do that. One family literally walked away from their home after Health Canada advised them to keep their dog in the house and to boil their shoes. Imagine being told to boil their shoes after walking in their own yard. That is what happened to these people.
This incident brought to my attention the danger thousands of Canadians face who rent land on federal Indian reserve lands. While my constituents faced the tragedy of being evicted from their homes, luckily no lives were lost. However, the tragedy could have been much bigger if the inadequate sewage facilities had led to an outbreak of disease. This is not just a one time local problem. There are many other mobile home parks in my riding that could end up with the same fate. I would venture a guess that there are probably many right across the country.
Other Canadians on reserve lands could also lose their home faced with this situation. What is needed is effective federal legislation to ensure that the federal legislative vacuum is filled so that no other Canadians are crippled by this or any other similar incident. This is the point of Bill C-402.
Bill C-402 is designed to prevent future Driftwood mobile home parks from happening again by making existing provincial tenancy legislation apply to leases granted by the crown. Both the crown and the sublessor or the locatee will be subject to provincial authorities that enforce the obligations of landlords and tenants.
For example, as already mentioned, the B.C. residential tenancy act ensures that a landlord must maintain land or residential premises in compliance with health, safety and housing standards set out by law. The crown and the sublessor will be responsible for meeting provincial standards set out by the various provincial residential tenancy acts.
These people had paid their rent to put their mobile home on a pad in a park. They were paying rent in good faith for years and the locatee or the sublessor was not spending that money or a percentage of that money on the upgrading and care of the property. The crown definitely has a responsibility because the crown was one of the signators of the lease.
Bill C-402 is a simple non-partisan amendment to the Indian Act that would prevent future generations of Canadians from facing the tragedy faced by my constituents in November 1997. This is extremely important. With more economic development happening right now on reserve lands across the country, we need a solution. It is required now more than ever before.
In the case of Driftwood it took 10 years for the problem to surface. Bill C-402 is the answer for future developments on Indian lands. It would protect residential tenants on reserve land by making provincial tenancy legislation apply in any province. It would mean that in new developments on reserve land involving tenants, provincial health and safety standards would have to be followed. Tenants would be protected from arbitrary evictions.
Normally in the course of a speech I would be asking at this time for support of my legislation in the House. Unfortunately any support I receive today from the House would be an empty endorsement. This is no fault of the vast majority of the members of the House but rather an indictment on our parliamentary system. Our parliamentary system is set up to ensure that no private member in the House, no matter from which party, is able to pass legislation. Standing Order 92(1) states that no more than five private members' bills and five private members' motions may be designated votable.
I find this rule ridiculous as do my peers from both sides of the House. Every member of parliament has a sound knowledge of the important issues in their constituencies, issues that require federal legislation to be resolved. These are issues that the Liberals consider small or insignificant in the big picture or the scheme of things. The Liberals should always keep in mind that all politics is local and this issue is very important for not only constituents in my riding but constituents right across the country in every riding. Ministers and departments only see the big picture and ignore the unresolved smaller issues. They have the power to bring in sweeping legislation that is always votable. Yet for members of parliament bringing in a private member's bill is the only way we can change federal legislation for the better.
Despite the fact that Bill C-402 is only a paragraph or two in length, it took hours of consultation. Speaking with constituents, speaking with experts in the field of Indian affairs and the Indian Act and legal counsel in the House of Commons, it took literally hours to come up with the solution we have brought forward in Bill C-402. And that was the easy part.
After the bill is finally drawn up the member of parliament is forced to wait until his or her bill is drawn in a lottery system. The merit of this piece of legislation is of no importance whatsoever. If you are one of the lucky ones to make it through the House lottery then you must convince the Liberal dominated committee that your private member's bill is worthy of being voted on.
Unfortunately for Canadians who rent on Indian reserve land, the subcommittee determined that Bill C-402 would not be votable. In fact, about 20 of my colleagues in the House made presentations to the subcommittee at the same time I did. All were refused the status of being votable except for one private member's bill introduced by an unelected, unaccountable senator.
The way private members' bills and business have been treated in the House is absolutely scandalous, and this occurs every single day. This deplorable state of affairs must end.
In my riding there is a great deal of economic development on reserve land and therefore Bill C-402 is very pertinent.
All we are asking in Bill C-402 is that the same protection be afforded to renters right across the country regardless of living on Indian reserve land or non-reserve land.
Bill C-402 is an important piece of legislation drafted to protect Canadians. If passed, it would ensure that those who rent on Indian land are protected by provincial landlord and tenant legislation.
Robert E. Lee, an American military commander, once said: “Duty then is the sublimest word in our language. Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more. You should never do less”. I have done my duty today by raising this issue in the House of Commons and now I ask the federal Liberal government to do its duty.