Debates of Feb. 14th, 2013

Opposition Motion—Missing Aboriginal Women

[Claude Gravelle, NDP, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech.

In Canada, the disappearance and murder of aboriginal women and girls was already a known problem when the Liberals were in power.

In 1996, official statistics indicated that aboriginal women were five times more likely to die as a result of violence than any other group of Canadian women.

What does the member have to say about the Liberal government's failure to take action?

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I was not here at that time.

I do not believe that the Liberal party did nothing on this issue. Things happen over time. We have never considered the problems of aboriginal women in our history. No one knows the history of aboriginal peoples. Things are changing slowly at present. Dealing with the problems of aboriginal women is something new. We have started addressing the problem, and we must get on with it.

We have to determine what we can do now. There have been many inquiries and proposals. We have to see where we are in all of this. It is no use asking why nothing was done, and I am not sure that it is true. In any event, if the Liberals did nothing, the time has come to do something. We must get to work.

That is the second time that the Liberal Party has been asked that question this morning. I can list everything that has been done, but that is not what we are talking about.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most highlighted cases in the history of the province of Manitoba was that of Helen Betty Osborne. When I get the opportunity to address the House I plan to talk about Helen. That tragic incident in the 1970s showed the important role that provincial governments also need to play. Yes, we do need strong national leadership on this issue, but part of that national leadership should also look at what the provinces could do. It was a provincial inquiry that ultimately led to many of the answers and recommendations. The NDP put the inquiry off for years and it took a change in government to get that inquiry into place.

Does the member believe it is time that we look at having a larger strategy? Would a public inquiry be the real answer to resolving this issue? Hopefully our resolution will pass today and the committee can go across the country to different communities so that people would be afforded the opportunity to participate.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yes, we need a national public inquiry, but I would go further than that.

What we need is an attitude shift, starting with the House of Commons, and then in the general public. Let us be honest: aboriginal peoples have always been disrespected. They have never been taken into account. In the beginning, there were three countries in Canada, but everyone studied Canada's history with two countries.

So as part of this public inquiry, people would have to start paying attention to aboriginal peoples, consider what they contribute and consider our own attitude. Aboriginal people have always been ignored. So if the inquiry does not lead to an overall shift in culture, starting with the members of the House, nothing will ever be resolved. That is how I see it. There needs to be a profound cultural and attitude shift towards abused aboriginal women and aboriginal culture in general.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since 2001, for more than a decade now, the member for Vancouver East has been talking about women who have disappeared from the Main and East Hastings neighbourhoods.

I looked back to see what the member for St. Paul's did on this subject when the Liberals were in power. On May 13, 2003, she said she was embarrassed by their performance in aboriginal health. Even the member for St. Paul's was embarrassed by the Liberal government's performance during those years.

This is a problem that has been going on for over 30 years. It is completely untrue for the member to claim that no one was aware of the violence against aboriginal women. We were aware of the problem.

I want to ask the member again how she explains the Liberal government's inaction on this issue during the 1990s, 1980s and 1970s? We have known about this issue for more than 30 years. Why did the Liberals stand idly by for all those years?

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, to begin with, I did not say that the problem of violence against aboriginal women did not exist before. I lived in Vancouver in 2000, and there was most certainly a problem. That is not what I said.

I said that we have to look at the problem from a different angle. Pointing fingers at the Liberal Party for what it did or failed to do will not solve the problem now. It is an easy question to ask. People will blame the Conservatives for not doing some things, the Liberals for not doing others, and even the NDP. That is not the problem.

The real question is whether a national committee should be struck so that we can finally find a solution to this problem. It is now 2013, and as the member said, the problem has been around for 30 years. It is time to sit down and think about the problem, not time to ask why nobody did this sooner. Ask that question about any issue, and everyone would have their reasons.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is the member for the riding of the former Prime Minister of Canada, who was also the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development for part of his career.

As the motion states, this problem has persisted for three decades. So why create the committee now? Why was this not done earlier? This is a crucial question. We are not against creating a committee. We actually want to go further still and launch a special inquiry. The NDP wants to move forward.

What does the member think this committee will accomplish? What tangible results will ensue from the committee's work? And why was this not done earlier?

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right. There are dozens of committee studies and reports about this issue. Can we look forward to actual progress and a shift in attitude? The government has been producing reports on aboriginals for a long time. My colleagues may be interested to note that the Kelowna accord was signed by the Liberal government.

Still, we never did enough to help abused women. We reported what was going on, but we never seriously considered how to solve this particular problem. We talked about all of the people who were responsible for the violence. So how can we reduce the level of violence and come up with a solution?

I mentioned providing legal support to help these women talk about their experiences. They have never really had an opportunity to express themselves. They were not given a way to say what they were feeling, which might have led them to figure out solutions to the problem themselves.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate very much this opportunity to rise in support of the motion before us today.

Canadians know that our government is committed to making sure that our streets and communities are safer places for everyone, and we have taken a number of specific steps to help protect aboriginal women from violence in particular. The murder and abduction of women in this country is completely unacceptable. We will continue to move forward with a vigorous criminal justice agenda to address these issues. These initiatives are numerous and multifaceted. I would like to speak briefly about some of them related to public safety, as well as some of the steps we have taken to enhance and strengthen the tools that law enforcement officials have to respond to cases of missing and murdered women.

Budget 2010 allocated significant funding to address the high number of missing and murdered aboriginal women. This will improve law enforcement and justice system responses to cases of missing and murdered women and also support victims. This commitment was in addition to significant investments we have made in a number of areas to address the root cause of violence among aboriginal girls and women in particular.

Budget 2010 allocated $5 million for aboriginal community safety action plans alone. Our government is certainly taking strong action in this area. Our government is also working with first nation, Métis, Inuit and urban aboriginal communities to enhance their capacity to utilize existing resources and to develop safety plans that respond to the unique situations in each one of the communities.

We have also allocated significant resources to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to ensure that concrete steps are in place to address the issue of missing aboriginal women. The RCMP has established the National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains, including a dedicated officer linked to the National Aboriginal Policing Services branch. This centre is designed to assist all Canadian police agencies in dealing with missing persons cases.

Funding from our government has allowed the force to enhance the Canadian Police Information Centre in order to capture additional missing persons data, such as biological and cultural affinity. The RCMP is also now developing the very first national missing children, persons and unidentified remains database in order to provide law enforcement, medical examiners and chief coroners with enhanced analysis across jurisdictions. The RCMP National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains website at Canadasmissing.ca will allow members of the public to report tips for ongoing cases so that some level of closure may be found for families of victims.

These initiatives are on top of RCMP training that specifically advances an understanding of aboriginal issues within the force. Such training helps law enforcement personnel provide more culturally appropriate policing services, thereby contributing to safer and healthier aboriginal communities. In fact, just moments ago the RCMP released “Gender and Respect—The RCMP Action”, which includes specific measures to recruit more aboriginal members.

The RCMP investigates all cases of missing and murdered people in its jurisdiction, regardless of sex, ethnicity, background or lifestyle. Resources and investigational tools are assigned by the circumstances of each case and not by the victim's background, heritage or lifestyle. Missing persons complaints are given investigative priority by the RCMP and national policy and investigative procedures exist to ensure that every measure is taken to locate people who are missing and reported missing.

The RCMP works in collaboration with a number of partners to address the health and safety of aboriginal women, including other law enforcement agencies, provincial and territorial governments, as well as aboriginal and non-aboriginal agencies within the public. The RCMP is also leading task forces across the country dedicated to actively reviewing files of missing and murdered women, including aboriginal women. These task forces will spread across the country and work collaboratively to address this important issue by focusing on, among other things, information sharing, file management, file coordination and disclosure that can be shared with other investigative units. Additionally, RCMP criminal operations officers from each province and territory regularly meet face to face to discuss operational issues of national significance, including missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Over the past number of months, Canadians have heard some extremely disturbing reports about the conduct of just some RCMP officers. That is why our government has made it clear that we will work closely with the Commissioner of the RCMP to take action to restore pride and confidence in Canada's national police force. That is why we introduced the enhancing RCMP accountability act to strengthen the review and complaints body for the RCMP, establish a process for handling serious criminal issues involving RCMP officers, as well as streamline the management of RCMP human resources.

Disciplinary matters, even for relatively minor breaches of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act, have become extremely drawn out and ineffective because all formal sanctions must currently go through a time- and resource-consuming three-person adjudication board, rather than being dealt with, in many cases, by front-line managers like other workplaces.

The legislation our government has introduced would also address these issues by providing front-line managers with the authority to impose a broad range of sanctions, ranging from remedial measures, such as training, to corrective actions, such as forfeited pay, without having to resort to a formal board process.

The discipline board process would also be much speedier and less adversarial. In addition, the new grievance scheme would result in a single grievance and appeal process to replace the host of different ones that exist today, and again, it would provide front-line managers with the opportunity to be involved in the resolution of a grievance early on and directly.

The end result would be that trained professionals would manage and assist in resolving cases, with the focus on early resolution, before a matter is brought before a decision-maker. Front-line managers would have the opportunity to focus on the early resolution of issues, with much-needed support.

The commissioner would be able to designate any person employed by the RCMP as a decision-maker, providing an opportunity to address workplace disputes in a timely fashion, and to draw on the expertise offered by all categories of employees in the RCMP.

Our government has made it a point of pride to always give police the tools they need to do their job. On that front, the new legislation proposed in Bill C-42 would provide the Commissioner of the RCMP with the authority that he currently lacks to make certain fundamental human resource decisions to effectively manage the organization. At the present time, the commissioner lacks the authority to establish and maintain processes for the demotion or discharge of members for administrative reasons, such as loss of security clearance or performance issues. Under the changes proposed by Bill C-42, the commissioner would be given new authority, including the power to demote and discharge members for reason other than conduct. He or she would also have the authority to establish a process for the investigation and resolution of disputes related to harassment in the workplace where the respondent is a member.

We certainly appreciate the report that was issued today by the chair of the commission, and the RCMP is looking forward to Bill C-42 being implemented so that it can also move forward with its constructive plan to end harassment within the workplace. As part of that, it is very important that members of Parliament pass Bill C-42 quickly so that the RCMP can move ahead and put processes in place to deal with some of these very disturbing matters.

Bill C-42 would empower the commissioner for the full exercise of these authorities. That is why it is so vital and why we call upon the NDP specifically to support Bill C-42.

The commissioner would also be given the authority to appoint most commissioned officers, thereby improving the timelines of succession planning.

All of these changes would help to further strengthen and modernize the RCMP, while increasing accountability and improving public perception and confidence in the force.

Another very important set of amendments in Bill C-42 would establish a new independent civilian review and complaints commission. The new commission would have significantly enhanced investigative powers compared to those of the existing body, and the authority to work hand in hand with other review bodies. The new commission would bring civilian review of the RCMP in line with other modern review bodies.

The existing civilian review body can and does investigate complaints about RCMP conduct, but it has no authority to compel witnesses to appear or to testify under oath when it does so, unless it holds a public hearing or inquiry. That needs to change. We need to give it more powers, and that is what we would do under Bill C-42.

At this time it does not have broad access to RCMP information, and that is a problem. It cannot share information or conduct joint investigations with other review bodies, and that is a problem. Bill C-42 would move to change that.

The changes our government is proposing in this bill would provide the new complaints body with broad access to relevant and necessary information that is relevant to an investigation. It would give the complaints body the authority to summon and enforce the appearance of persons and compel them to give evidence for all complaint investigations and policy reviews.

It would give the chair of the new body the authority to initiate police review of RCMP activities; and it would allow the complaints body to share information with other review bodies, as well as conduct joint complaint investigations where the complaint arises from integrated policy operations.

The changes our government is proposing would make it easier for the public to access the complaints process by allowing them to file a complaint either with the RCMP, a provincial police force review body, as well as the new civilian review and complaints body. Very importantly, the legislation would increase the transparency of investigation into serious incidents involving a member of the RCMP.

In cases where there is death or serious injury, the RCMP must refer the investigation to an existing provincial body responsible for investigating incidents involving police. Where no such body exists, the RCMP would be required to refer the investigation to another police force.

Only where neither of these options is available would the RCMP conduct the investigation. In these cases it would need to inform the new commission of the measures it has taken to ensure the impartiality of the investigation. These new rules also permit the appointment of an independent observer to assess the impartiality of these investigations when they are led by the RCMP or another police force.

All of these things would help to further transform the RCMP into a modern, efficient, transparent and accountable police force, a very important aspect of looking into the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women. I certainly urge the NDP to stop disagreeing and to work with us to reform the RCMP.

In addition to the other comprehensive steps our government has taken, a modern transparent and fully accountable national police force would go a long way to enhancing the safety of all Canadians. Again, I urge all members to support that bill because it goes a long way to helping find and rectify the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls.

There is no question that the friends, families and loved ones of these women have experienced and continue to experience great pain and great sorrow. They need and they deserve justice, as do all victims of violence.

Our government has always been committed to standing up for victims and to ensuring that all offenders are held to account for their actions. In fact, as the Prime Minister recently announced, we will be bringing forward a victims' bill of rights. This would enshrine in law the principle that we can no longer go down the failed Liberal road of putting the rights of convicted criminals ahead of victims'. That is why we have taken the steps we have.

Ours is a government of action. Action can and will achieve the results all of us want for aboriginal people, as well as for all Canadians. Our government is committed to moving forward together.

[Dany Morin, NDP, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, apparently my Conservative colleague does not think that the NDP has done enough to support the cause of missing and murdered aboriginal women. I would like to ask her the same question.

The Conservative government funded Sisters in Spirit, an initiative to compile a list of missing and murdered aboriginal women across Canada. One Conservative member even said that it was federal money well spent. But then the government stopped funding the initiative, as though the problem had been solved, as though all of the women had been counted and the problem of missing and murdered women could be swept under the rug.

I am glad that my Conservative colleague brought this issue to the forefront because I do not think that the Conservative government has done enough. It is all well and good to talk about Bill C-42, which is a bit too broad, but this is about a serious problem facing aboriginal women.

Will the Conservative government reinstate funding for the Sisters in Spirit initiative, which was playing a crucial role in Canadian history?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in response to my hon. colleague's question, I did not say that the NDP members were not supporting the cause of ending the incidence of murdered and missing aboriginal women. However, they are clearly not supporting Bill C-42, which would give the RCMP the much-needed tools it needs to be more accountable and transparent. As well, it would stop harassment within its workplace. Therefore, they need to take ownership of that.

I am very proud of what our government has done with respect to funding. It has allocated $25 million over five years to give new tools to law enforcement, as well as $2.3 million to the Native Women's Association and to the work that Sisters in Spirit is doing. Therefore, we are putting action behind our words.

I do want to ask the NDP and the Liberals this. When we are talking about murdered and missing aboriginal women, one of the greatest detriments is that aboriginal women do not have access to the real matrimonial property they have acquired, which puts them in poverty. If the opposition members are concerned about murdered and missing aboriginal women, which I know they are, why will they not support our initiative to give aboriginal women real matrimonial property rights on reserve? That is an answer they have to give.

[Djaouida Sellah, NDP, Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the speech given by the member opposite. I can assure her right away that I will support the motion.

However, this problem has been around for three decades. None of the previous governments, whether Conservative or Liberal, have done anything but gather statistics. That does not eliminate violence against aboriginal women and girls, stop them from going missing or keep them from being expelled from reserves.

I had the chance to meet with the group Sisters in Spirit and see their documentary on the Highway of Tears. I was in tears. I think that we are taking a step in the right direction today, but it is not enough.

Will the Conservative government agree to hold a national inquiry to determine the causes of the violence against and murders of aboriginal women? Will it put real and practical measures in place to stop the violence against aboriginal women?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, obviously that is why we are all supporting this motion. We are concerned with the high level of missing and murdered aboriginal women. That is why our government has invested substantial funds.

In addition to that, the RCMP is leading task forces across the country that are dedicated to actively reviewing these files. It is working together with its partners across the provinces.

We have introduced legislation that would crack down on violence of all kinds and toward all Canadians. Therefore, we are putting action behind our words. We are not just talking.

We think action is what is required, and it is certainly a complex and multi-level action plan. However, I would challenge the opposition by saying that part of that is giving aboriginal women the right to real matrimonial property rights on reserve. I have a real problem when women on reserve get divorced and they have absolutely no access to the assets. That is a basic right that empowers women and allows them to move forward and get out of a bad situation.

I think we are all on the same page. However, if the opposition members are putting forward this motion today, they need to give an answer today as to why they will not allow aboriginal women on reserve access to the property they have acquired so that they have the power and ability to move out.

[Alain Giguère, NDP, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a government's first duty is to defend its citizens.

For 30 years now, nothing has been done. These women's murderers have not been brought to justice. That is a major problem.

It is all well and good for the government to say that it is going to restructure or give new names to old structures under Bill C-42, but that does not bring these murderers to justice.

When will this government finally recognize that there are 800 unsolved cases out there? When will it order police forces to conduct serious investigations to find those who are guilty of crimes against these people?

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear the member talk about putting the bad guys in jail. I hope that means the next time we introduce and put forward legislation to crack down on criminals, including mandatory minimum sentences for serious crimes, that he and his party will support it, because that is exactly it: when violent people are behind bars, they are not out committing murder and hurting women, men and children in our country. I look forward to the member supporting that.

We provide real substantive measures including legislation as well as things like the establishment of a new centre for missing persons. We have enhanced the Canadian Police Information Centre database. We have created a national website to help match older missing persons cases and unidentified human remains. We support the development of school and community pilot projects aimed at reducing vulnerability to violence among young aboriginal women. The list goes on. We continue to do the work. We continue to work with our partners.

We ask the opposition to support our initiatives to keep the bad guys behind bars. We agree with the member on that. In the meantime, let us give women real matrimonial property rights on reserve.

[David Wilks, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, certainly I take exception to the opposition always saying that everything that happens is the fault of the police. The police in this country examine every murder that comes along to the best of their ability, all the time. There is not one police officer who would not want to do that.

I wonder if the parliamentary secretary could explain some of the good things that the police have done for the aboriginal communities throughout the last 30 years.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is a former RCMP officer. My colleague sitting beside me is an RCMP officer. We have 13 active and off-duty police officers in our caucus. Clearly the work police officers do across this country is stellar, and to put the blame for this issue on police officers is a travesty and avoids the real issue.

Police officers put their lives on the line every day. Anyone who has lived in a northern community, for example, or in a first nation community or reserve will know that there are very specific challenges. We recognize the challenge for individuals like RCMP officers, police, who choose to go there, to serve, to get involved in the community and to care about these people. We thank police for the work they do.

The RCMP accountability act is something for which police themselves are asking. It would strengthen their processes whereby they could deal with different issues within the force. It would give them more confidence. It would create a better culture. It would even make them better police than they are right now, and we appreciate so much the work they do.

We are very proud of our police force. This is not their fault, and putting blame on one specific organization certainly misses out on what this issue is. Again, there are so many facets to it, but giving women on reserve the ability to be strong and to empower them is one part of helping this issue.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Kingston and the Islands.

I will begin by expressing my sincere condolences to the family and friends who have lost daughters, sisters, cousins, aunts and family. I cannot imagine the depth of their pain and I am profoundly sorry.

Despite their impossible suffering, they walk across Canada for justice. They come to the House of Commons, the people's House, and to the United Nations to ask for help. The chiefs of the Assembly of First Nations pass resolution after resolution demanding that the government establish a public inquiry into the disappearances and killings. Time and again, when they have appeared in front of the House, they have been left disappointed and wanting, and again, I must apologize.

Where is the outrage and the horror of each member of the House when we learn that 50% of the violent deaths of indigenous women and girls result in homicide charges compared with 76% for the general population? Where is the government that supposedly stands up for all victims' rights and ensures our communities and streets are safe? Where is the government's courage to act on the 2011 report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, which acknowledged the concerns about inadequate police response to reports of missing women, the underfunding of services for indigenous women and the need to support families of missing and murdered women?

How can the government state that the number of murdered and vanished women is “disturbingly high” and yet repeatedly ignore calls for an inquiry, let alone refuse to take concrete steps to stop the killing? Why does the government refuse to give people who have lost a female relative or friend to violence a chance to tell their stories? Is it the government's fear that a public inquiry would raise questions about broader socio-economic problems in first nation communities and the extent to which those are the result of failed government policies, or perhaps it is the government's fear of revealing unpleasant truths about its own justice agenda?

Where is the compassion and the caring? Where is the fundamental human instinct to reach out to those who are hurting and try to reduce the hurt? Where is the attention to the many first nation women who are killed every year with guns and knives? Where is the Canada that 20 years ago, in 1993, backed the campaign that led to the recognition that women's rights were an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights? Where is the Canada that demands the end of the abomination that is violence against women and girls and works tirelessly to achieve this goal in all its communities?

At least 600 aboriginal women and girls have been murdered or gone missing over the past decades: Maisy, Shannon, Summer Star. We must know their names, their stories and the lives they touched. We must never reduce their contributions to their families and communities to mere statistics. We must honour their memories with real and meaningful action.

Today we call for the establishment of a special committee to conduct hearings and propose solutions to address the root causes of violence against indigenous women across the country.

In 2004 Amnesty International released a report entitled, “Stolen Sisters”, which documented the violence.

In 2005 the Canadian government announced $10 million to fund a national database on missing and murdered aboriginal women. About half the funds went to a project called Sisters in Spirit, run by the Native Women's Association of Canada, NWAC.

In 2006 the Conservative government was elected and in 2007 Canada was one of only four countries in the world to vote against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In 2008, out of sheer frustration by the government's inaction, aboriginal organizations, citizen groups and rights groups brought their concerns to the United Nations and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The committee then called upon Canada to urgently carry out thorough investigations of the cases to determine whether there was a racialized pattern to the disappearances and to take measures to address the problem.

In 2010 the funding for the Sisters in Spirit database was terminated and funds redirected.

By the time government funding for data collection on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls ended, NWAC had documented 582 cases nationally. If women and girls in the general Canadian population had gone missing or been murdered at the same rate, the organization estimates the country would have lost 18,000 Canadian women and girls since the late 1970s. It is impossible to imagine that such numbers would not have resulted in a hue and cry across the country, followed by immediate action by the government.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch released the report, “Those Who Take Us Away: Abusive Policing and Failures in Protection of Indigenous Women and Girls in Northern British Columbia, Canada”. The report shows that the persistence of the violence indicates, at the very minimum, a need for a national public commission of inquiry.

Meghan Rhoad, a women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, said:

The high rate of violence against indigenous women and girls has caused widespread alarm for many years...The eyes of the world are on Canada to see how many more victims it takes before the government addresses this issue in a comprehensive and coordinated way.

NWAC president Michèle Audette, who has been fighting for years for a public forum to examine the deaths and disappearances of indigenous women, said:

My dream, and the dream of NWAC, of course, is that it will change legislation, policy, programs...and it will give an overview of the root cause of this systemic discrimination and how come women are ending like this with no answers and no justice.

The Human Rights Watch report calls for: a national commission of inquiry into the murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls before the end of 2013; the development of the inquiry's terms of reference with leadership from affected communities, including the examination of the current and historical relationship between the police and indigenous women and girls, including incidents of serious police misconduct and the systemic socio-economic marginalization of indigenous women and girls that predispose them to high levels of violence; the development and implementation of a national action plan to address violence against indigenous women and girls with leadership from indigenous communities, that addresses the structural roots of the violence as well as the accountability and coordination of government bodies charged with preventing and responding to violence; the establishment of independent civilian investigations of reported incidents of serious police misconduct; and co-operation with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

The government must at last do the right thing. It must investigate the deaths of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and it must act to stop the killing. The government must stop denying the anguish, hurt, pain of the families and communities of the 600 lost souls. It must hear their stories and respond with caring, compassion and necessary support.

The neglect, contempt and tears must end. This means the government must not only investigate these horrific losses, but also implement real measures that would improve the quality of life for first nations.

The basics of life, such as adequate housing, child welfare, clean drinking water, education, are persistently and dramatically substandard. As Ms. Fraser said in her parting words to Parliament:

—a disproportionate number of First Nations people still lack the most basic services that other Canadians take for granted....In a country as rich as Canada, this disparity is unacceptable.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for her speech. Since this motion was moved on her party's opposition day, I would like to ask her whether she thinks the motion goes far enough.

The official opposition thinks that this is a step in the right direction, but does the hon. member think that this motion goes far enough? Given the seriousness of the situation, are there not grounds for a public inquiry into missing aboriginal women?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for her support of the motion. We have been calling for an inquiry for years.

I would like to draw the attention of hon. members and Canadians to the documentary Third World Canada, on K.I., a remote indigenous community in the north of Ontario. The nation dates back 7,000 years, where bones of their ancestors were discovered on the shores of Big Trout Lake. Today, this proud nation is deeply impoverished in third world conditions, bound by treaty laws. The documentary explores the impact of third world conditions on the children left behind after the suicides of three parents and the community's courage in looking after them.

In another community, a doctor said “death permeates the entire society”. People are in a constant state of trying to recover from tragedy. In other words, one death begets the next death, which begets the next death.

[Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, NDP, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her speech and for moving such a worthwhile motion in the House today.

I would like to talk about a report from Canada's Auditor General, which exposed the situation in our country's aboriginal communities. It showed that, despite the goodwill of successive governments, despite the money and the programs put in place by the Government of Canada over the past 10 years, there is no proof that the situation in these communities has improved, for a number of different reasons.

For one, there is the fact that first nations must be more involved in the solutions brought forward and put into place. This involvement must be at the root of the solution. People living in these communities are aware of their own realities. They have wisdom and knowledge. Not only do first nations have the right to be involved, but their input should be the basis for any action the government takes concerning them. First nations are not a file; they are peoples, they are nations.

How does my colleague feel that first nations should be involved in the proposals being put forward today? How is this proposal any different from everything that has been done in the past 10 years? How can we believe that it will really make a difference?

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have so much to learn from first nations. One of the greatest honours of my life was serving on a first nations board. Board meetings would be five days. For the first three days, people would get know one another. They did not do business until they became friends. Then we would smudge so we came to negotiations with a clean heart. Then we would ask the grandfathers for help, because we did not go to the table with all the answers. We have much to learn from first nations and we need to learn from their leadership.

I would like to address one of the challenges, which is certainly health. It needs to be brought forth. Compared to the general Canadian population, heart disease is one and a half times higher. Type 2 diabetes is three to five times higher. Tuberculosis infection rates are eight to ten times higher. In some Inuit communities is it 185 times higher. In one community the suicide rate was 36 times the national average. Canada must do better.

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity today to speak to the motion. I will start with a review of some numbers and facts. It is very important to feel the force of these facts.

However, before I talk about numbers, I want to acknowledge that these numbers are made up of individual lives. My colleague from St. Paul's, who presented the motion, said something very important. She said that in this world, each victim may be just one woman, but to the family and loved ones of each of these victims, each woman means the world. We must remember the value of each person who lives on the margins of our society. It is with this in mind that I bring up some numbers.

The Native Women's Association of Canada estimates that 10% of female homicides are of native women, whereas they represent only 3% of the female population of Canada. Over 600 cases of missing or murdered aboriginal women and girls have been documented by NWAC. If we apply that rate to the general population, it would result in something like 20,000 murdered or missing women. We must wonder what the outcry would be if we had that statistic for the general population. Would people with the means, resources, education and time come to a place like this to talk to policy-makers and influence government? If this rate occurred in the general population, we wonder whether something would have been done already. That is one of the reasons we are here today.

Another thing that strikes me is that most of the cases involve young women and girls. I noted here that 17% of the cases involve women and girls 18 years of age or younger. The other reason we are here is that a lot of these cases are unresolved. Nationally, the average number of homicide cases cleared is something like 84%, whereas only half of cases involving aboriginal women and girls are solved.

I am happy to stand here today not only to speak to the motion but to respond to what the government members have said today. They support this motion, and I want to thank them for their support. I am very glad that this Liberal motion has won the support of Conservative members of Parliament. It is a sensible thing to do. I am appreciative of the all-party support and am therefore hopeful that good work comes out of the special committee that would be set up after the vote takes place in a couple of weeks.

We still believe that a public inquiry is necessary, but we look forward to the committee from this House of Commons travelling across the country to hear testimony from witnesses and to hear them tell us what the government needs to do.

We should also summarize some of the deficiencies that have been pointed out. We had a report this week from Human Rights Watch. It heard testimony from indigenous women and girls about deficiencies in our policing system that prevent the overwhelming number of good men and women, who work in the RCMP and other police forces to protect us, from adequately protecting aboriginal women and girls.

We also know that United Nations human rights bodies have criticized Canada for an inadequate government response. We had an announcement in December 2011 from the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women that it was going to open an inquiry into what was happening in Canada. In 2008, that committee called on the Canadian government to examine the reasons for the failure to adequately protect aboriginal women that has resulted in this unacceptable number of cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.

We have heard today about some of the measures the government has taken, such as the RCMP's National Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains, which launched a national website at the end of January. That is a good thing, but that tool does not focus on the problem at issue today, which is missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.

My hon. colleague from Portage—Lisgar talked about all sorts of initiatives to improve essentially all the things that can be done after a crime has been committed. We have to think more about problems with the system. Maybe there are problems with the policing system that prevent the good men and women who work in our police forces from doing the best they can. Maybe it is poverty or racism or sexism. If we realize that poverty, racism or sexism have contributed to the murder, abduction or disappearance of an aboriginal woman or girl, do we go to the police and tell them that the real cause of the case is poverty? No, we do not. Poverty is not something for the police to take care of. That is something that must be addressed by policy-makers, legislators, and government. That is another reason we are here today. It is to establish the special committee. We need to study the root causes in addition to all the things we could do after a crime is committed.

I am glad that the first government member to rise today to speak to the motion acknowledged the importance of working on prevention. We have to ask if there is something in our system of policing that results in inadequate protection for aboriginal women and girls. We have to ask about the role of poverty, racism, sexism or a lack of awareness among the general population.

The motion today mentions a committee travelling across the country to consult with people. We must do our work in conjunction with aboriginal communities. We need leadership not only from the federal government but from indigenous communities across the country. We need to work together to develop and implement a national action plan on violence against indigenous women that would really address the structural roots and causes of violence. We also need accountability mechanisms to ensure that whatever plan we put in place is carried out and the results are measured.

Another reason for acting now is that there have been incomplete efforts. For example, the current government funds the Native Women's Association of Canada but says that it cannot use the money for Sisters in Spirit. The Sisters in Spirit project focused on violence against aboriginal women and girls. Committee work was started in this place in 2010 but it was interrupted by the 2011 election.

We are on the right path today. We are on the right path because the Liberal Party has won the government's support for the motion to set up a special committee. We are happy that we have been able to take at least this first step toward addressing the injustices and the inequities suffered by those living at the margins of our society. We are happy that we are going to be able to study and hear testimony about the root causes of the unacceptably high rates of violence against aboriginal women and girls. We look forward to the special committee travelling across our country to hear testimony.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague mentioned in his speech that the parliamentary secretary largely talked about, in his opinion, things that happen after a crime has been committed. The parliamentary secretary was pretty clear in asking the opposition about real matrimonial property rights for first nations women and the impact it would have on reducing poverty. The parliamentary secretary asked the opposition why it would not support it, knowing that poverty is a root cause of social inequity and thus a root cause of victimization.

I would ask my hon. colleague to stand and please explain why his party would not support that kind of thing, knowing where it leads. Our government is bringing these kinds of initiatives forward to deal with these things before crime happens and before people are impacted.

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have to be focused on what is at hand, which is murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls. My hon. colleague mentioned that it is a complicated issue. There is no magic bullet. That is why there needs to be a special committee to study this problem and go across the country to hear testimony. This is a bigger problem than what my hon. colleague on the government side is talking about.