House of Commons Hansard #18 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was school.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Speaker, I look to you for guidance, but I think a non-apology apology is not really adequate if anyone took offence. It is the ultimate defined hand signal offensive gesture.
I took offence. I think a lot of us took offence. If someone took offence, I do not think withdrawing the gesture qualifies as an actual apology. Perhaps the Speaker finds it adequate.
Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
I am going to go back to the hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe to see if he has further comments to add. It is the convention and tradition of this place that, when a member withdraws or expresses regret for something they have done in the context of debate, they do so in a categorical way. I would ask the hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe to see if he has any additional comments on the matter.
Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, I unreservedly withdraw the gesture.
Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
We will leave the matter for the time being. I am going to review the record from today and will get back to the House, if necessary.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order and the same matter at hand. A number of individuals were actually quite offended by the gesture that was made, so we appreciate the fact that the Speaker will review it and come back to the House.
Oral QuestionsPoints of OrderOral Questions
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for his additional comments. Indeed, this is a matter that is clearly in need of review. That will be done and I will get back to the House as necessary.
Rob Oliphant LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the following treaties. The first is entitled “Headquarters Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation”, done at Gatineau and Ottawa on October 5, 2020. It is known as the 2020 HQ Agreement.
Second, I would like to table, in both official languages, the “Headquarters Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization”, done at Ottawa and Miquelon on June 5, 2019, and June 13, 2019.
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, there is someone appearing on the screen without a shirt on and I think that probably is not within parliamentary decorum. That is an awkwardness that we may need to be mindful of.
Foreign AffairsRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary. It is probably fortunate that we do not have a full screen of the various members participating on the call. There have been instances where members have inadvertently left their cameras on when they do not intend to do so, but we will see if our team at the broadcast centre can advise the member accordingly to get the camera turned off.
Rob Oliphant Liberal Don Valley West, ON
Mr. Speaker, missing one's tie seems to be offensive, but the whole shirt was missing.
Foreign AffairsRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for his additional comments. As I say, we will try to get that sorted out. I ask for some patience on the part of hon. members. When we are operating in this hybrid-type format, it is a little awkward moving back and forth between those contributing by video conference and those present. I appreciate the patience of the hon. members.
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-249, An Act to amend the Canada Transportation Act (refund – cancelled air service).
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the hon. member for Saint-Jean, for supporting the introduction of this important bill today. This bill is the product of months of work with consumer groups as well.
I thought it was important to introduce this bill on behalf of regular people who bought plane tickets and are entitled to a refund. The Minister of Transport's response is ambiguous. He does not seem prepared to tell them that they are entitled to a refund even though the law says they are. This bill answers that question, reaffirming that passengers are entitled to a refund.
I hope that I will have the support of many members of the House. I am quite confident that we will get substantial support.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to table e-petition 2675, which was sponsored by Sonja Wood and signed by 1,185 people.
They cite that the Windsor causeway in Nova Scotia was constructed across the Avon River in 1968 with gates to manage water levels, but without proper fish passage. To this day, it impedes migration of fishes, including the at-risk inner Bay of Fundy wild Atlantic salmon and American eel. The gates have been occasionally opened over the past 50-plus years to control water levels for Lake Pesquid and, more recently, to facilitate improved fish passage during periods of high water levels. The first salmon in 50 years were caught last summer beyond the causeway. The gates have never been opened to facilitate the annual runs of wild Atlantic salmon during the summer, which are really important. The petitioners want DFO to change this.
The petitioners are calling on the minister to ensure that the gates of the Windsor causeway are kept open for an extended period of time during every incoming and outgoing tide to allow a more natural method of fish passage during seasonal migrations.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.
The first is specifically on gasoline prices. The petitioners are calling for accountability in the pricing of gasoline. This chamber passed a legislative process for that and it was never implemented. It was a gas price monitoring agency. Monitoring and recording is something the U.S. does. The petitioners are asking for a similar type of work.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, my second petition is with regard to the auto industry. The petitioners are calling for a national auto strategy. We have been losing our significant market share of the auto sector. Even though there have been two good announcements recently because of Unifor negotiations with regard to plants in southern Ontario, we are still losing our percentage of market share across the world. The petitioners are calling for a national auto policy.
Brian Masse NDP Windsor West, ON
Mr. Speaker, my last petition is about protecting Ojibway Shores. It is the last piece of shoreline property in the hands of the port authority. The petitioners want that transferred to the Ministry of Environment to protect over 100 endangered species. It is a hot spot for the environment, and this last woodlot on the Detroit River is important and precious for a national urban park.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I ask that all questions be allowed to stand.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
Are there any objections to that?
Hearing none, it is agreed and so ordered.
The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C-5, An Act to amend the Bills of Exchange Act, the Interpretation Act and the Canada Labour Code (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Bills of Exchange ActGovernment Orders
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
When the House last took up the question, the hon. member for Cariboo—Prince George had three minutes remaining for questions and comments, so we will go to that now.
The hon. member for Oshawa.
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Mr. Speaker, I want to start off my comments by giving thanks. I want to give thanks to indigenous Canadians for giving us the opportunity in this imperfect Parliament and this imperfect country to work toward reconciliation. I also want to give thanks to my colleagues, because this debate has been very non-partisan and I think there is a willingness to move forward. I want to particularly give thanks to my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George. I do not know if people watching now saw him give his speech, but he had a whole pile of notes and he hardly looked at them. He gave us a speech that came from the heart, and I think everyone who heard what he had to say is going to be affected by it.
My colleague mentioned living next door to a house of horrors. Sadly, many Canadians are in that situation, and they do not understand the whole situation with regard to indigenous Canadians. I know my colleague has sat down with too many families, too many victims and too many people who have been affected negatively.
We have heard over and over that this day cannot just be a holiday. I will go on the record as saying I do not think it should be a holiday for federal employees. They should be working this day to help indigenous Canadians.
I wonder if my colleague could comment on what we could do to improve the bill so that this day is about celebration and education and is not just another holiday.
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Mr. Speaker, I opened my speech with an analogy: Imagine living beside a house of horrors and knowing the families and children who came through there, only to find out later on in life about the horrors that took place. It chokes me up when I speak of it. My staff had to compile a number of documents for me, but I did not refer to them because I have spent a considerable amount of time, not just during my political career but throughout my lifetime, seeing this. My friends and family are from the area that went through this program, and they live today with the scars.
My fear in making this a national holiday for federal employees or public sector employees is that the meaning and importance of this day will be lost. As I have said a number of times, it will just be another day for people to load up their RV and go on a holiday.
It is so important that we build a national education strategy within the bill. This is just one amendment I would like to see, but it is very important. It is critical to the success of this.
Caroline Desbiens Bloc Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to split my time with the member for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou.
I thought my riding was the only one to have such a long name, but I see that my colleague's riding does too.
Bills of Exchange ActGovernment Orders
The Deputy Speaker Bruce Stanton
Does the hon. member for Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix have unanimous consent to share her time?
Caroline Desbiens Bloc Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île dOrléans—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the 1973-74 school year, when she was six years old and went to St. Joseph Mission residential school for the first time, a young Phyllis wore a beautiful orange shirt her grandmother had just bought her.
Just imagine being five or six years old and getting a present from your grandmother, and think about what a special gift that would be.
As soon as she got to the residential school, officials there stripped off her clothes and took away her orange shirt, and she never saw it again.
That should be enough to spur us to action to try to repair the damage caused, as is our ultimate duty. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of stories like that of young Phyllis. Thousands of children like Phyllis had everything taken away from them—the light that was inside them, the peace and love they had once enjoyed, the great and noble values of their nation that already defined who they were, the comfort provided by their families.
That is what hurts the most: when everything that comforts us and defines us is lost. These victims and their families endured immense, terrible grief. This huge void will remain if we do not find a way to help heal the memories of first nations peoples,
Often the best way to fill such a void is to draw on the teachings of our elders. From my grandfather, I have kept the memory of an expression that has always stayed with me and, believe it or not, is directly related to Bill C-5.
On this particular Friday, where there seems to be unanimity, I will share the origin of this expression. My grandfather Bouchard had his rituals. A 90-year old proud retired seaman and farmer, he spent his afternoons sitting on his rocking chair on the porch of his home on Chemin des Coudriers. Every day after his midday prayers he would be joined by his old friend and best audience who was nicknamed, and I am not joking, “Canada”. Grand-papa would tell legendary stories of treacherous winter crossings in an ice canoe, his anecdotes about horses chomping at the bit and his tall tales of the water's edge. He had an endless supply of these stories to the great delight of tourists who would greet him with, “Hello. Your stories are great. We do not often hear stories told that way these days. Can we record you?”
So many people would gather around the porch that sometimes there would be a bottleneck in the street. One day a tall, tanned man, with very dark eyes and hair, stopped, listened for a long time and took a great interest in the way my grandfather spoke, in the accent typical of Île-aux-Coudres. The indigenous man approached him and said, “Memory is a treasure that allows us to build a future of peace. It is most important that you tend to it, sir.”
My grandfather repeated this phrase every day until he died. He was not ill and, as he liked to say, he died from living. His indigenous friend's phrase were his last words to us: “Memory is a treasure that allows us to build a future of peace.”
There is a good chance that the memory we are referencing today in the House and that bears the heavy burden of the past is the most valued tool that will help us take another step, and then another, and then others towards this reconciliation that is often mentioned but too infrequently made.
There were 3,200 children who died in residential schools and who were abused in every sense of the word. Their bodies, their hearts and their spirits were abused. What about the families and parents who had their children snatched from their arms? What about all the wounds of the past, but also those of today, that are very real, absurd and so sad?
Our memories harbour a thousand and one reasons, and it is up to us to make the present better.
Bill C-5 is a small step, compared to everything that needs to be acknowledged, reconciled and repaired, but it is a meaningful one. We hope to see many more steps, but this is at least something.
The idea of voting in favour of a national day for truth and reconciliation will be met with arguments about the economic costs of legislating another statutory holiday. However, how can we put a price on the more than 150,000 children and families who were torn apart and stripped of the very nature of their existence?
I want to address all of the parents here today. How much are our children's lives worth? What price would we put on their mental and physical health, their laughter, their joy, and their hearts? How much is that worth? Let us think about it. How much will this legislation cost? We can compare.
Let us get back to what really matters. I want to read an excerpt from the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada:
The federal government's policy of assimilation sought to break the chain of memory that connected the hearts, minds, and spirits of Aboriginal children to their families, communities, and nations.
Survivors shared their memories with Canada and the world so that the truth could no longer be denied. Survivors also remembered so that other Canadians could learn from these hard lessons of the past. They want Canadians [and Quebeckers] to know, to remember, to care, and [most importantly] to change.
In order for us to know, to remember, and to care about what can be done to bring about deep and lasting change, we must designate this day dedicated to truth and reconciliation. The Bloc Québécois has repeatedly pledged to be an ally of first nations peoples. That is why we will vote for this bill in principle, because it is part of the process of reconciliation with indigenous peoples. It responds to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's recommendations because it will keep the memory of the tragedy experienced by residential school survivors alive and foster an ongoing public dialogue about our national history.
As part of its work, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada refined its definition of reconciliation, and that, in and of itself, is an important sign of progress and a willingness to act. These principles, which can guide us toward reconciliation, are based on and supported by four pillars. They are the right to know, the right to justice, the right to reparation, and the guarantee of non-recurrence, which is the ultimate goal of this process.
This day should be an impetus for us to carry out our individual duty on the other 364 days of the year by carefully assessing the importance of our own actions in fulfilling our obligation to wholeheartedly, honestly and diligently participate in the advancement and improvement of the quality of life of first nations and peace and harmony between our respective nations. That is what it means to take care of something, and caring heals.
In closing, I invite everyone to take out their cellphones, open the “Notes” app and type in this precious memento from my grandfather Bouchard: “Memory is a treasure that allows us to build a future of peace.”