House of Commons Hansard #232 of the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was victims.

Topics

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

All those opposed will please say nay.

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:15 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Joe Comartin

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Eyking Liberal Sydney—Victoria, NS

Mr. Speaker, the member for Cape Breton—Canso and I are very close. We sit with each other and live with each other, but when I stood, I was called by his name and I would appreciate it if it were changed.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #456

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

I declare the motion carried.

(Bill read the third time and passed)

Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices ActGovernment Orders

5:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

It being 5:56 p.m., the House will now proceed to the consideration of private members' business as listed on today's order paper.

The House resumed from May 11 consideration of the motion.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

5:55 p.m.

Liberal

Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador, NL

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise and speak to the motion brought forward by my colleague, the member for St. Paul's, who is also the aboriginal affairs critic for the Liberal caucus. The motion was seconded by my colleague, the member for Etobicoke North, who happens to be the critic for the Status of Women in the Liberal caucus.

My colleagues have come to the House of Commons today, asking that there be an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, simply because it is what Canadians are asking for. Over the number of years that we have sat in the House of Commons, going back to the Sisters in Spirit report in 2009, people across Canada have asked for an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.

Today, while we still have many victims and their families out there, while we still have people grieving for their lost ones, while we still have indigenous leaders, advocates, the international community and every provincial and territorial government asking for this, including members in our caucus in the House of Commons, the government continues to refuse to act on those requests and recommendations.

This is a very serious issue, one that has affected many indigenous women and girls in our country. In fact, if we were looking at this from an international perspective, Canadians all across the country would be saying that this was unbelievable and that something needed to be done.

It is no different in Canada. It is hard to imagine that we have so many indigenous women and girls who are being abused, murdered and are victims of violence, yet we see no action to call an inquiry into the root causes of this problem.

Just a while ago, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released 94 recommendations. Those recommendations were with regard to the unfinished journey of healing and reconciliation for indigenous people. In that report, there was also a call to action for government. It called on the government, in consultation with aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the victimization of aboriginal women and girls.

Recommendation 41 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report directly asks the Government of Canada to do this. It asks the government to investigate missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls, and to look at links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not make the decisions of the report lightly. It did so after tremendous thought and insight, and after tremendous consultation and input. This is what it firmly believes as indigenous people in Canada.

In addition, we have had so many more speak out. We have heard from the victims and families. In my riding, the life of a young woman by the name of Loretta Saunders was taken. Her sister, Delilah Saunders, a brave young woman, stood for her sister to call for an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. She stood with her mother who called for an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. She stood with many others across Canada. Unfortunately, their voices are still not being heard by the Conservative government.

What about the family of Bernice Rich, a young Inuit woman from Natuashish? She was murdered in her neighbouring community of Sheshatshiu. Her life was taken for no reason? Why? Because she was an aboriginal woman? Is her life not more valuable or as valuable as all others?

That is the sad commentary, when a murderer is on trial and can give no reason. There was absolutely no reason why this young women was victimized, terrorized and murdered.

I would challenge the government to view the Highway of Tears, which my colleague from St. Paul's had invited so many members to do. I went to that viewing and I saw the numbers of women who were missing or whose lives were lost on the Highway of Tears. I sat in that room that evening with family members who were grieving. In their grief they are looking for healing, and in that healing they are looking for action from the Government of Canada. It is so sad to look into their eyes and faces. It is so sad to look at them when they tell us the stories of the many women who have been lost and murdered yet there has been no action to get to the root of the problem.

We know that this can be changed. We live in a society of hope. We live in a society where we know that change can happen, but that change takes all of us working together to make that difference. The government has not been prepared to work to make that difference despite the fact that in May 2014 the RCMP released a report which identified almost 1,200 indigenous women and girls who had gone missing or had been murdered since 1980 in Canada. It also noted that despite the fact that indigenous women represented only 4% of women in Canada, this demographic accounted for 8% of female homicide victims in 1984 and a staggering 23% by 2012.

As of 2012, one in four female homicide victims in this country is indigenous. Last summer, in the wake of the Tina Fontaine murder in Winnipeg, which we are all very much aware of, and on which my colleague, the member for Winnipeg North, has risen in this House in previous days to ask questions, we heard the Prime Minister's insensitive comment when he said, “we should not view this as sociological phenomenon” and dismissed the root causes as part of the problem. How can he do that when he leads a country where 1,200 indigenous women and girls have gone missing? How can he say that when we have seen the percentage of indigenous women go from 8% of those female victims of homicide to 23% in just a few years? How can he say that when he looks at the families of Tina Fontaine, Loretta Saunders, Bernice Rich, and of so many more?

It gets worse because as the families of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls have been clear that they have not been listened to, treated with respect or felt supported by the government opposite, the Prime Minister then made another shocking admission during his year-end interview with Peter Mansbridge when he said that this issue is not high on his radar. He not only shocked the families that are grieving and suffering the loss of loved ones, but he shocked the nation, a nation that feels that there should be an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, a nation that feels that getting to the root causes of this would change it, a nation that lives in hope for action.

We call upon the members of the House of Commons to support this motion that has been brought forward by the member for St. Paul's and by the Liberal caucus. We ask that members support an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in this country. Just as every province, territory, civil organization, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and many families have already asked for, we once again make that plea to the House of Commons.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:05 p.m.

Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon B.C.

Conservative

Mark Strahl ConservativeParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak about our government's actions to address violence against aboriginal women and girls.

Our government remains committed to supporting better outcomes for aboriginal women, girls and families on reserve. In fact, we offer a number of programs and services that directly support this goal. These include funding for family violence prevention, for child and family services, as well as programs that encourage economic security and prosperity through skills and training, housing and education.

We also understand that the federal government cannot solve the tragic and intricate problem of violence against women on its own. That is why on February 27, 2015, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, the Minister of Status of Women, representatives of provincial and territorial governments, national aboriginal leaders and family members attended a national roundtable here in Ottawa. All participants discussed better prevention, safety, policing and justice measures to address violence against aboriginal women and girls across Canada.

Our government is taking concrete action and will continue efforts with our partners in the provincial and territorial governments, aboriginal organizations and communities. For example, our government's action plan to address family violence and violent crimes against aboriginal women and girls responds to all 16 recommendations outlined by the Special Committee on Violence Against Indigenous Women. Many of the recommendations speak to supporting communities on reserve.

The family violence prevention program provides a refuge for victims of violence, raises greater awareness of the issue of family violence and provides families and communities with tools to help them deal with the issue of violence. The family violence prevention program has a budget of $30.4 million to support the day-to-day operations of 41 shelters and to fund community-driven proposals for family violence prevention projects on reserve.

As of April 1, 2015, an increase to the program's budget will begin to fund similar violence prevention activities for aboriginal women who live both on and off reserve. Ongoing family violence prevention program funding will provide stability for prevention activities and will allow communities to deliver longer-term projects.

Our government knows how important it is to keep our streets and communities safe and to create environments where aboriginal women and girls are empowered, respected and safe.

Many Canadians are not aware that because of a legislative gap posed by the Indian Act, until recently, women living on reserve did not have access to basic matrimonial rights and protections in their communities. These are rights that are afforded to every other Canadian living off reserve, and rights that our government believes should be afforded to those living on reserve as well.

To provide these women and children on reserve with access to basic rights and protections, our government passed the Family Homes on Reserves and Matrimonial Interests or Rights Act. To assist first nation communities with the implementation of the act, a Centre of Excellence for Matrimonial Real Property, operating at arm's length from the federal government, was established.

Beyond establishing these rights for women and girls living on reserve, our government also repealed section 67 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. This ensures that aboriginal peoples in Canada have full access to the protections of the Canadian Human Rights Act. This step opened a door to human rights justice that had been blocked for over three decades.

We are committed to working with all our partners in order to bring an end to the cycle of violence and to ensure families have the support and protection they need in times of crisis. One way to do that is by helping to provide women in first nation communities with the skills and opportunities they need to earn an income. This enables them to better support themselves and their families.

Helping to create opportunities, including providing women with employability and self-reliance, informs every step our government takes. In fact, our overall policy focus aims to create the very conditions that are necessary for healthy, prosperous and safe communities.

For example, we have invested $241 million to provide first nations youth who are currently on income assistance with personalized skills and job readiness training. This provides them with the right tools to enjoy the benefits of a good job and paves the road toward financial security.

We have also improved the urban aboriginal strategy to help aboriginal peoples living in urban centres get the support they need to participate in the local economy.

These are steps that our government has taken. They are steps that will have a profound impact on the lives of aboriginal women and girls. I find it perplexing that members of the opposition have consistently opposed these measures.

These steps are just the beginning. We know that more needs to be done. Economic action plan 2015 proposes to provide $20 million over five years, starting in 2015-16, to help support first nations achieve better education outcomes, including building partnerships with provincial school systems. This funding would build on our existing investment of $500 million over seven years for first nations school infrastructure.

Our Conservative government is committed to working with first nations partners toward our shared goal of ensuring that first nations students have access to quality education. Being a committed partner in first nations education reform means that our government will continue to look for opportunities to work with first nations that are interested in pursuing education reform.

All parties that are involved in preventing heinous crimes know that to reduce violence, more prevention and awareness is needed. That is why in the week prior to the national roundtable on missing and murdered aboriginal women our government announced a 10-year investment of $100 million to prevent, detect, and combat family violence and child abuse. The Minister of Health also launched a call for proposals for organizations to submit applications to advance community-based projects that support victims of domestic violence and child abuse, and those at risk of these forms of violence. Through Health Canada's first nations and Inuit health branch, we will focus on how to help communities and health professionals improve the physical and mental health of victims of violence and help stop intergenerational cycles of violence and abuse.

Our goal throughout all of this is to prevent, detect, and combat family violence. These projects will be community-led because we believe that change starts at the community level. Those working at the community level know what the specific needs are in their communities and they know the way to create real change in their communities.

These are just some of the key initiatives that our government is working on right now to address this issue. Our government looks forward to continuing to work in partnership with aboriginal groups, provincial governments, and territories. We know that the federal government has a role to play in addressing violence against aboriginal women and girls. We also know that the violence experienced by aboriginal women will only stop if we continue to take concrete action.

Now is not the time for more talk or for more study. It is time to work together with willing partners to end violence against indigenous women, and that is exactly what this government is working toward. I would encourage all members of the House to get on board with that philosophy and with the actions that we are taking.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:15 p.m.

NDP

Niki Ashton NDP Churchill, MB

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are standing here today on unceded Algonquin territory.

I want to begin my speech by expressing our support for a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women. In fact, this very call was a key component of my private member's motion, Motion No. 444, a national action plan to end violence against women, a motion that was unfortunately voted down by the Conservative government a few short weeks ago.

It is clear to us in the NDP that an inquiry must be part of comprehensive action. Time and time again, indigenous peoples have been told that they have to choose between basic services and the respect of their rights or some other impossible choice, that it is always one way or another. That is simply not the case.

When the current government does speak of violence against women, it is within that frame. It is always presented as though survivors of violence and families of murdered and missing indigenous women cannot have both action and an inquiry.

Sadly, that narrow perspective does not respond to what indigenous women, indigenous communities, and indigenous leaders are calling for.

Over the last few years, I have met with women and men across Canada, in urban centres, rural communities, first nation communities, and Métis communities. We met to discuss the need for an national action plan to end violence against women. I heard time and time again that an inquiry and a national action plan are imperative.

My colleagues and I, in the NDP, have listened. As a response to the calls for action, the leader of our party pledged to begin an inquiry within the first 100 days of an NDP government. New Democrats have a long history of standing in this House, echoing the calls for justice and calling for a national inquiry. As I noted, my motion called for an inquiry explicitly as part of a national action plan.

We do need comprehensive action, however, because we need to address the root causes of violence. We need to recognize that a national action plan and a national inquiry are two sides of the same coin. The intentions and the principles involved in both complement each other. An inquiry is an opportunity for families to find justice and for root causes to be understood. Action is needed immediately to address the high rates of violence indigenous women experience.

I would like to quote the words of Leah Gazan, a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, who works with the faculty of education at the University of Winnipeg, who powerfully stated, “This is not an either-or discussion”. She said it requires investments when dealing with the level of crisis noted by international organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations. The government needs to stop playing games by not including communities in the discussion. We need action now and an inquiry now.

A national action plan focused upon the high rates of violence against indigenous women would include the restoration of community-led programming that has been de-funded and would lead to better support for programs that have been cut.

It would include investments in housing. We know that the impacts of cuts to housing initiatives are visible in communities across the country. Many women living on reserve live in third-world conditions. These conditions of poverty contribute to social breakdown and conflict and, at the end of the day, women have nowhere to go.

We know that very few indigenous communities have access to women's shelters in their own community, which is something that must also be addressed as part of a national comprehensive action plan. In fact, 70% of northern and remote communities do not have safe houses or emergency shelters. That means that communities have fewer public spaces for women to be safe and fewer places for women to go to access support and resources to deal with the trauma they face.

I would like to quote the words of Dawn Harvard, the interim president of the Native Women's Association of Canada, who said:

We must work together—Aboriginal Peoples and all levels Governments to put in place measures that protect Aboriginal women and girls. Anything less is a denial of our basic human rights. The provinces and territories and Aboriginal Peoples have all supported the call for a national public inquiry and now we need to work together, along with the Federal Government to implement a comprehensive, national framework of action to end violence!

We know that Canada has been called out for decades by indigenous peoples and leaders, and in these last few years the calls have only been getting louder, even from the international community. In a report released March 6, CEDAW concluded that Canada's ongoing failure to address the extreme violence against indigenous women and girls constitutes a grave violation of their human rights. This investigation concluded that Canada has a disproportionately high rate of missing and murdered indigenous women, that there is a lack of interest on the part of the government in investigating the cases of missing and murdered indigenous women, that the structural issues within Canada's criminal justice system have gone unaddressed, and that, fundamentally, the government's refusal to deal with root causes of violence against indigenous women is a violation of their human rights.

Indigenous women and the families of missing and murdered indigenous women do not need an inquiry to relive the trauma they face. Indigenous peoples deserve an inquiry to bring long-awaited justice. Canada needs an inquiry to bring to light the state's own complicity in the long history of violence against indigenous women. An inquiry is an opportunity to expose the dark to the light and to bring us all onto a path of reconciliation.

I do want to note that one of the key recommendations put forward by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission last week was to include a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.

On May 6, the government voted against enshrining the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Canadian law. On May 27, the government voted against my motion for a national action plan to end violence against women. It was a motion that intended to address core contributing elements and implement a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. Both of these pieces of legislation were opportunities to do the right thing, to put principles ahead of politics, and to make a difference.

I would like to quote my colleague the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou. In his contribution and his speech in the emergency debate on missing and murdered indigenous women in the fall of 2014, he said:

The violence that is perpetrated against indigenous women is the same violence against the environment today and the same violence that assaulted parents and grandparents in residential schools.

As parliamentarians, part of our work is to decide how to allocate resources to achieve social and economic goals, and it seems to me that ending violence against women and putting an end to the national epidemic that is missing and murdered indigenous women is a primary goal. Reducing violence and preventing the disappearance or murder of more women and girls should have been the goal of the current and past governments.

We need to recognize that it is rooted in the trauma of residential schools, day schools, the sixties scoop, and ongoing assimilationist policies. Institutional colonialism attempted to devalue indigenous women, strip away their humanity, and silence their voices. We must recognize that ongoing cycles of poverty in first nations and in urban indigenous communities only serve to compound the trauma.

While the government let $1.1 billion go unspent, programs working to support families and survivors of violence have been ended because of funding cuts. Organizations like NWAC, Pauktuutit, and the many grassroots organizations that made prevention programs part of their work saw their funding decreased.

The government may talk about action, but on the ground there is not much to show for it. In fact, we argue that the government is not just not part of the solution, but it is part of the problem.

An inquiry is necessary, and my New Democratic colleagues and I know that it should not come at the expense of real action. It is not a choice. We do not have to accept either-or. Ending violence against indigenous women is a priority for the NDP, and it requires comprehensive action.

We will not stop until no indigenous woman, no woman, is missing or murdered ever again.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:25 p.m.

NDP

Murray Rankin NDP Victoria, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in this place and discuss an issue of such gravity to the Canadian public.

In doing so, I want to begin by saluting the work of my colleague the member for Churchill, who just made another passionate speech. I cannot remember how many times she has spoken out on this issue in the House; I have lost count. It is always moving when she does so.

I want to say that, if there is any issue that is nonpartisan in nature, it is this one. I want to, therefore, salute the member for St. Paul's and the member for Labrador. Both members have spoken eloquently in support of the motion by the member for St. Paul's.

I want to just read the motion:

That, in the opinion of the House, the tragic and inequitable issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls is of critical importance for all Canadians;

Who could oppose that?

...that the government has failed to provide justice for the victims, healing for the families, or an end to the violence;

That would also appear to be uncontroversial.

...and that the House call on the government to take immediate action to deal with this systemic problem and call a public inquiry.

It would appear that the last part is what may separate the government from the opposition on this motion. I say it “may” because I note that the motion by the member for Churchill was defeated, Motion No. 444, a motion that would have done exactly what this motion calls for, an inquiry, but also a number of other measures.

It was defeated with every Conservative member except one voting against it. It talked about prevention. It talked about support for research, advocacy, and the like. To everyone's surprise, that was defeated by the government in this place.

Why is this important? Why do we continue to talk about something that has drawn shame for Canada from across the world? When the United Nations came in 2008, the committee for the elimination of discrimination against women, it invoked what is called an optional protocol to conduct an inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women and girls.

Finally in 2015, it came into Canada to investigate. In its report, to our embarrassment as Canadians, to our shame, it concluded that Canada's ongoing failure to address the extreme violence against indigenous women and girls constitutes “a grave violation” of their human rights.

As a Canadian, I know that anyone watching will share the sense of shame that I feel, the embarrassment, that our country had to be called out by a United Nations agency for its failure in this respect. More than 1,000 people are affected. They are of aboriginal ancestry, but they are fellow Canadians. That is why I think we all stand together and say this is just a shocking stain on our international reputation.

I am proud to say that the Leader of the Opposition has committed publicly, on more than one occasion, that within the first 100 days of forming government, he would call a national inquiry. Surely, it is long overdue.

He has recognized, as so many have in the debates over this topic, that this is a systemic issue. Two words strike me. The first is epidemic, because it is an epidemic of violence. These lost souls and their loved ones and the suffering they are going through is an epidemic

The second word is systemic. It is a systemic problem, because it is rooted in poverty and what goes along with poverty: poor health, mental health issues, homelessness, lack of justice, addictions, low educational attainment, and so forth, the very precarious nature of the lives of so many people whose fate we are discussing in this place tonight.

It is interesting to hear the parliamentary secretary stand in this place and talk about why this is so unnecessary and so forth, that everything is just fine, that we have repealed section 67 of the Human Rights Act, and that is going to make things better. It is not.

What has the government done but cut funding? I can remember a day when the court challenges program was set up in 2006, which would allow litigation under section 67 of the Human Rights Act that might have addressed these issues.

What did the government do? It killed the funding for that program entirely, as if aboriginal people, already poor, are going to have the wherewithal to advance their causes in courts or in human rights tribunals. It sounds just great until we go a little further.

In 2006, enormous cuts were made to Status of Women Canada. Most of its regional offices were closed. It did great work to support aboriginal women in causes like that. However, once again, when the funding is cut to these organizations, it should not surprise any Canadian that we will have problems.

I was at a meeting this morning in which a number of groups came together and produced a report called “Dismantling Democracy: Stifling debate and dissent in Canada”. Cindy Blackstock, a passionate aboriginal advocate for children, spoke about the harassment the Privacy Commissioner of Canada had found she faced as she tried to go about her business in advocating for aboriginal women, and the surveillance she had undergone.

In the context of that, the report talks about the cuts that the federal government has made to support indigenous voices. According to the report, between 2012 and 2015, the federal government cut approximately $60 million to indigenous leadership organizations. The Assembly of First Nations, which analyzed these budget figures, found that these cuts constituted a 59% drop in funding.

When the government cuts the funding for organizations that support aboriginal women in their quest for justice, when it cuts the court challenges program, when it cuts the Status of Women budget and then says that it is no problem that we have a section in the Human Rights Act so all is well, it is cynical in the extreme.

The quest for justice is taking place across the country. For over 20 years, people in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver have been marching to address the issue. We had the horrors of the Pickton affair. We have the Highway of Tears. A lot of this happens in my province of British Columbia.

Year after year, the New Democratic Party members have been calling for an inquiry. I salute the member for St. Paul's for coming to this issue, but this is one that we have been addressing for so many years.

In my particular part of the world, Victoria, I want to talk about the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. Jeannette MacInnis and Paul Lacerte, the leaders of that organization, have something called the Moose Hide Campaign. I attended one of their annual events not long ago in Victoria. It is about aboriginal men talking responsibility for violence. It is a very moving thing to do to go through one of their days, as I did not long ago.

I want to salute the work of Victoria Pruden, of Bridges for Women, who has been so strong on this issue. Also, the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre has drawn the attention of its clientele to the issues we are addressing tonight.

The member for Labrador pointed powerfully to something that deserves repetition. She pointed out that recommendation 41 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was that there be an inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women and girls. She pointed out that it was tied to the legacy of residential schools, the effect of which we see in all the communities across Canada affected by the scourge of that racist system and what we now have to deal with as a consequence of that misguided Government of Canada policy from so many years ago.

How many Canadians will forget the picture of the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development sitting in the room when Justice Sinclair was making his call for that inquiry. He was sitting when everyone else was applauding. That picture is indelibly marked on my memory for sure. I was so ashamed to watch that today.

The government calls the Tina Fontaine issue not a sociological problem, but just another crime, another criminal issue. It says that going after the root causes is not high on the Prime Minister's radar, as he himself said to Peter Mansbridge. It should be high on the radar of Canadians. It should be high on all our radars.

It should be shocking to Canadians to have an international UN agency come to Canada and call attention to the discrepancies in our legal system and our failure to address the large percentage of our population. That over one-third of prisoners in women's prisons are aboriginal is a shocking statistic that all Canadians should pause and note.

I speak in strong support of the motion and commend it to all members of the House of Commons. It is long overdue that we do the right thing for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

Resuming debate.

Accordingly, I invite the hon. member for St. Paul's for her right of reply. The hon. member has up to five minutes.

The hon. member for St. Paul's.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:35 p.m.

Liberal

Carolyn Bennett Liberal St. Paul's, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Victoria for his very important and value-added comments in this important debate. I recognize his work and the importance of human rights, but again, the definition of epidemic is that it actually has to stop. We thank that member and the member for Churchill for this work, which really should not be partisan.

On this day, when we in our party are talking a lot about parliamentary reform, I cannot help but be reminded of two years ago, when in this House, on Valentine's Day, we debated the need for a special committee. A little more than a year later, a year ago, we found that the special committee had completely been ruined by the presence of five parliamentary secretaries who did the bidding of their ministers and refused to listen to what the witnesses had said. They replaced recommendations that were much more in keeping with what had been heard at the committee with self-serving recommendations and a veritable laundry list of what the government was already doing, and thought it was doing well, using verbs like “continue” and “maintain”, instead of actually deciding that the government had to do something definitive and listen to the witnesses, the premiers who had spoken, the national aboriginal organizations, and particularly the families. They are in need of a national public inquiry so that we can get to the bottom of this and actually do the right thing.

As we stand here on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people, I have to think of one of the first families I heard speak about this. It was regarding the terrible disappearance of Shannon and Maisy from Kitigan Zibi and how they had just been written off as runaways, even though their cell phones and purses were left on the table. Their stepfather was astounded. He said that as the stepfather of a missing girl, if he was not questioned, then who was questioned? He meant that this was never investigated properly and that somehow this was viewed as inevitable.

The current government is on the wrong side of history. The Prime Minister's heartless remarks on two occasions have shown us that he will be seen to have been on the wrong side of history on this. The reason it is wrong is because of what the member for Labrador said. What was once a faceless problem, and we had the NWAC faceless dolls campaign, now has names. We know the name of Tina Fontaine. We know the name of Loretta Saunders. We know and heard from Rinelle Harper, who was a survivor who had it almost happen to her last summer, in her poignant remarks at the AFN meeting.

We have seen the Walking With Our Sisters campaign and the haunting, beaded vamps by women and girls across this country who have made that amazing art. I hope that all members of this House will see, from the Walking With Our Sisters campaign, those haunting blue and black images of eyes peering and a sort of Grand & Toy beaded name tag on the vamp that says “my name is...”, and scrawled there it says “who cares”.

People care. Canadians care. This is not an aboriginal issue. It is not a women's issue. This is a Canadian tragedy and Canadians now expect it to stop. It will be an election issue.

As the member for Labrador said, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission spent six years studying seven generations of tragedy, and the members of the commission themselves know that there has to be an inquiry on the missing and murdered.

The Legal Strategy Coalition on missing murdered women includes Cheryl Maloney, Christa Big Canoe, Kim Stanton, and Mary Eberts. They know that there have been 700 recommendations in 40 studies, none of them acted on.

We need an inquiry just to find out why none of these have been acted upon. The terms of reference will be hugely important. It is not good enough just to produce a report. The pedagogical approach will mean that all Canadians are with us. All Canadians will understand the root causes, the sexism and racism in policing, and what we have to do.

Tomorrow the RCMP will probably bring out a report. It may well try to demonize men, but as Justice Sinclair said, we have to tie this to the problems with residential schools. I hope that all MPs in the House find the heart tomorrow, when they stand in the House and vote, to think of those families and think of those girls. They are not faceless anymore. As members of Parliament, we have to do something and stop this epidemic now.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

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Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

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6:40 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

6:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

All those opposed will please say nay.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

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Some hon. members

Nay.

Missing Aboriginal WomenPrivate Members’ Business

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Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

In my opinion the nays have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Pursuant to Standing Order 93, the recorded division stands deferred until Wednesday, June 17, 2015, immediately before the time provided for private members' business.

The House resumed from April 29, consideration of the motion.

Unemployment RatePrivate Members’ Business

6:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

Pursuant to Standing Order 37, the House will now proceed to the consideration of Motion No. 585 under private members' business.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for York Centre.

Unemployment RatePrivate Members’ Business

6:40 p.m.

Conservative

Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to address Motion No. 585, a rather wholly redundant motion, considering our government has already done the measures this motion calls for and more.

Since we formed government in 2006, we have been squarely focused upon what matters most to Canadians: that is, creating jobs and economic growth. It only makes sense, then, that the drivers of job creation, i.e. small businesses, receive as much tax relief as we can provide to them. After all, small business accounts for 99% of all businesses in Canada and employs half of the working men and women in the private sector.

Our government has cut red tape for business, lowered employee premiums, and cut their taxes so they can create more jobs.

Our record is strong. We cut the small business tax rate to 11% and increased the amount of annual eligible income for this lower rate from $300,000 to $500,000.

Economic action plan 2015 continues to break new ground. To encourage small business growth, we would further reduce the small business tax rate to 9% by 2019. This would be the largest tax decrease for small businesses in more than 25 years. It is estimated that this measure would reduce taxes for small businesses by $2.7 billion over the 2015-16 to 2019-20 period.

However, cutting the small business tax rate is not all we have done. Our government has also increased the lifetime capital gains exemption, a measure that is estimated will deliver $1 billion of federal tax relief annually to small business owners and owners of farm and fishing businesses.

We are also reducing small business EI premiums by introducing the small business job credit. This credit is expected to save small businesses more than $550 million over 2015 and 2016.

As the hon. member should know, manufacturing accounts for more than 10% of our GDP and over 60% of our merchandise exports, and it employs 1.7 million Canadians all across the country. However, as we heard lately, the Liberal leader questions the role of manufacturing in Canada. I will tell members something. Our government does not. For our government, the words “made in Canada” fuel pride.

However, we cannot address the challenges of today with yesterday's thinking, as the opposition would have us do. Our government is giving manufacturers the tools they need to create jobs now. That is why we are proud to extend the accelerated capital cost allowance for machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and processing. This 10-year tax incentive would result in a deferral that is expected to reduce federal taxes for manufacturers by $1.1 billion over the period from 2016-17 to 2019-20, facilitating investment in their businesses today.

We are also launching the automotive supplier innovation program. This investment of $100 million over the next five years would support our auto parts industry as it continues to evolve and establishes a secure role in global supply chains.

We know the production of high-value-added goods and services contributes to enhanced opportunities for Canadians and Canadian businesses, including job creation, economic diversification, and increased trade. Since 2006, our government has invested more than $13 billion in new funding in all facets of the innovation ecosystem, including advanced research, research infrastructure, talent development, and business innovation.

Our government has been hard at work to connect researchers with the funding they need so that they can commercialize their innovations and bring them to market. Our government intends to continue to support the pillars of a knowledge-based economy, as outlined in “Seizing Canada's Moment: Moving Forward in Science, Technology and Innovation 2014”.

This strategy, released in December 2014, highlights our government's commitment to support research excellence in areas of strength and relevance to Canada. It also highlights our government's commitment to the post-secondary education sector, industry, and government institutions through research partnerships focused upon developing talent and advancing innovation in Canada.

To build on this, economic action plan 2015 would provide more than $1.5 billion over five years to advance the renewed science, technology, and innovation strategy's objectives. This includes long-term sustained advanced research support through the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the federal granting councils.

Based upon our contribution, our researchers will be given preferential access to ensure that we remain on the forefront of these scientific endeavours. We are ensuring that our researchers continue to have the leading-edge lab facilities and other resources that they need to be the best in the world.

I must reiterate that over 1.2 million net new jobs have been created by our government since the depths of the recession. This is a fact. It is the best job creation record in the G7. Our government is working hard to get more Canadians working, and as long as there are people looking for work, our job is not done. We are also working hard to ensure that these jobs are quality jobs, and our efforts are showing results. The majority of jobs created are in the private sector. They are full time and they are high-paying.

Our government remains focused on what matters most to Canadians, which is jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity. Our low-tax plan is unlike the plans of the Liberals and the NDP, which are proposing massive tax hikes that would kill jobs. We are committed to keeping taxes low. Not only would these tax hikes kill jobs, but they would also increase the cost of living for middle-class Canadians, which is counter to what the member is proposing.

If the opposition member is really serious about creating jobs, the opposition should start by supporting economic action plan 2015.