Debates of June 1st, 2021

Residential Schools

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one month from now, we will celebrate Canada and the peace and prosperity we enjoy, and the remains of 215 indigenous kids as young as three were just found in unmarked graves at a so-called school that existed to eliminate indigenous people as indigenous people.

We, as Canadians, are often seen as champions of human rights around the world. Our charter has served as a model for other countries, and the remains of 215 indigenous kids at the Kamloops residential school are also a story of thousands of children stolen from their families and sent to unmarked graves across our country.

Millions of people from around the world have sought freedom in Canada and pursued safety in our multicultural society, and thousands of indigenous kids are buried in unmarked graves, abused, persecuted, murdered, all sanctioned by the state.

It is unthinkable, but known. When I first read the news, I knew it was known, but I still could not process it. I wrote to my constituents “at a loss for words when it comes to our shameful history”, and in place of my own, I shared the words of AFN National Chief, Perry Bellegarde, who wrote, “...while it is not new to find graves at former residential schools, it's always crushing to have that chapter's wounds exposed.”

Having found my words again with some effort, these four come to mind: This is our Canada. The question we face is what we will do about it.

At a minimum, we need to support a full investigation on every residential school site across Canada to ensure dignity for victims and proper accountability. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission wrote that, “The most basic of questions about missing children —Who died? Why did they die? Where are they buried?—has never been addressed or comprehensively documented by the Canadian government.”

Our government has been working with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to document and previously committed almost $34 million, but it is the beginning not the end of that process. More than that, we need a renewed and more ambitious commitment to meet the TRC's calls to action.

Since 2015, we have seen considerable, albeit incomplete, action to meet those calls. It is easy to point to symbols and say that it is only words, but lifting almost 70% of long-term water advisories, legislating indigenous languages protection with associated funding, child welfare legislation with associated funding, legislating the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and billions of federal funds invested in indigenous communities for housing, health and more, are not symbols.

My criticism is a different one. When the remains of 215 indigenous kids are discovered in Canada, when thousands more remain undiscovered, are we doing enough? As much as we have done, the answer is no.

I am fortunate in this position, as are all members, to meet people we would otherwise never have the opportunity to meet and to learn from people who enter our orbit who otherwise never would. For me, I have had the opportunity to learn about intergenerational trauma from constituent Tanya Talaga. I have also had the opportunity, because of our shared animal advocacy, to be closer to former senator, Murray Sinclair, than I otherwise would.

Having engaged in conversation with Senator Sinclair about what more we can do in our last conversation on the subject before his departure from the Senate, he pointed to the government's response to the COVID crisis, and he said to look at the scale of effort that was brought to bear in response to the COVID crisis. It is incredible. It is necessary, and it has been incredible. He then asked whether we would have had that same scale of crisis if it were only indigenous people affected. I do not think the answer is yes. I think that is a truth we have to turn our minds to, and we have to do better.

I think our government has done a lot, but we have to do better.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend for his very thought-provoking comments.

I would ask the member to reflect a bit more on this question of how we think about Canada and how we think about Canada Day in light of these revelations, which are unsurprising for some, but maybe new to others.

In the history of many nations, there are horrific atrocities that have been undertaken, and it can be hard to think about how we relate to our country in the midst of these events. I suppose one thing we can recognize as a country is the continuing struggle for reconciliation, and how that is very much a part of the Canadian identity. There have been horrific mistakes, and part of our identity has become to try to confront them, to apologize for them and to move forward. Those efforts are important, and they are still relatively unique in the world in terms of how nations respond to these kinds of events.

I wonder if the member could reflect, as we approach Canada Day, on what he will be thinking about in terms of what it means to be Canadian in light of these challenges and also these efforts that we are undertaking together.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it will not be the first time I have turned my mind to this on Canada Day, but I will say, and I expect I will say a month from now, that I am proud of Canada and to be Canadian, but I am not proud of all of Canada, and I am certainly not proud of all of our history. In fact, I am ashamed of this part of our history. The only way that we can be as proud of Canada as we ought to be going forward is to do better and to reconcile with that history.

That is what we all need to collectively work together to do across parties, across provinces and as Canadians.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize the message of our colleague from Beaches—East York. In this Parliament, he is probably the best example of a member who is progressive and who advocates for what he believes in. He is perhaps even a little bit forward-thinking in the way he plays his role.

In his speech, he said several times that we could be doing more. I would like to know what he proposes that we do. How can we do more in our relationship with indigenous peoples? What initiatives should we implement in order to move toward nation-to-nation reconciliation?

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are many things, but I will highlight two.

First, many indigenous people no longer live on reserve. Here in Beaches—East York, I represent an urban riding, and I think we need to do much more for our urban indigenous population. When I look at my own riding and the leadership of TASSC and the leadership of Lindsay Kretschmer and more, another woman who has entered my orbit, who I have been lucky to learn from, I think we need to do much more for urban indigenous people as a matter of reconciliation. I think we need to do much more, as it relates to ending poverty in the country for all people, including those who are indigenous.

The second thing I will say is in relation to child welfare. We are on the right path in this regard, and we need to heavily work with provinces, because this is not only within federal jurisdiction. I am very concerned that we will wake up in the future and look back and see the number of indigenous people who have been removed from their families, and we are living through that in 2021, and we will say in the future we are ashamed of that history. We are living through that today.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am trying to get to the truth here, and nobody is telling me the truth tonight.

Is what happened in residential schools genocide, which, according to the UN convention on genocide, seeks “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: Killing members of the group; Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; Forcibly transferring children of the group to another”?

I just want the truth this evening.

[Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Liberal, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her passion on this among other subjects. A number of different acts constitute genocide. She has listed off a number of them. Let me say that the intent to destroy an ethnic or racial group through forcibly transferring children of the group to another group constitutes genocide, and yes, I think, in my view, this was genocide.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my riding borders Kamloops and many of my constituents or their relatives are buried and are among the 215, so my heart tonight is with the Secwépemc, St'at'imc, Nlaka'pamux, likely some Stó:lo and Tsilhqot'in first nations, which were all likely impacted by this horrific tragedy.

Yesterday afternoon, I was at Heritage Park. It is a beautiful park in Mission, British Columbia. It overlooks the Fraser River and on to the Cascade Mountains and Mount Baker. I was doing a staff meeting there. Heritage Park is adjacent to St. Mary's former residential school, the last one in Canada to close, in the 1990s.

There is a pathway from the parking lot near where I was that goes all the way to St. Mary's. When I was sitting there, a group of individuals came up. They were wearing orange and they were in ceremonial dress. I was thinking about this speech. I went over and introduced myself. We had a lengthy conversation and I found out that the matriarch of the family, who had gone to St. Mary's to pay homage to her brethren lost in Kamloops, was part of three generations of their family who had gone to that school and had suffered at the hands of the church and the federal government.

I told them that I am not equipped to speak properly on their behalf and asked if they could spend some time with me and tell me a couple of messages that, as my constituents, they would want me to bring on their behalf to the people's House of Commons. They made two very specific points.

First, they said we need better education. Children today still do not know enough. We are not teaching enough about the atrocities that took place in Canada, and we can do better. They said they are pleased to see so many people finally paying attention to this issue that has been stuck in their hearts their entire life, but more needs to be done, both in our textbooks and in the areas in which we live.

They pointed out to me in that moment that right where I was sitting, and I have been in this park over a hundred times in my lifetime, that was the dormitory where their father, her former husband, had been abused. Right now it is literally one of the happiest places in Mission. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden. People come there to take pictures for their weddings. I passed that so many times and even as a member of Parliament, I was not aware that it was where their father had been abused. We can do better on the education. I take their words to heart and I share them today.

The second point they raised with me was about labour training. Tonight we have heard a lot about all the money the government is spending, but they said that a lot of the young men who want to get a job, provide for their family and have a purposeful career are held back by some of the trauma they faced either through their parents who were in the residential schools or themselves, because, as I mentioned, the school closed in the 1990s. They said the federal government needs to ensure that cultural training and cultural healing are a part of the funding we give to first nations to ensure that they can empower their own people with federal funds to do a better job to help the people.

With my final minute, I do not have all the words that are needed to represent my constituents tonight. I need to do a better job as a member of Parliament to reconcile with all of the first nations I represent. On behalf of my riding, I am so sorry that this happened and I share in the grief, the despair and the trauma that has re-emerged in so many of my constituents who are suffering today.

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his remarks this evening. Like most who have spoken tonight, we are all experiencing the real hurt and pain of the incident that has been unfolding in this country, and especially in British Columbia.

We also know that today indigenous Canadians are still affected by the legacy of what has happened. We know that intergenerational trauma continues for so many families in this country that have been affected.

Recently we introduced UNDRIP: the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is something indigenous people have asked for for 40 years in this country. How can you say today that you are working towards reconciliation? How can you say that we are on a journey of healing, and how can you say that we are moving forward with indigenous people in this country and not support UNDRIP?

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Before I go to the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, I just want to remind everyone to place their questions through the Speaker and not directly.

The hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Labrador for her question, but I will say that all of the things she said I said were not necessarily things I actually said in the first place.

I support the goals and aspirations of UNDRIP. As the member for Kenora outlined earlier in his testimony, during committee there were a number of first nations that had issues with free, prior and informed consent, and that were looking for legal clarity on that matter. However, the government was not open to any amendments to the bill from the Conservative Party.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

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

As he mentioned, this evening we are reflecting, apologizing and making amends, but we will have to get back to taking action. Indeed, we may have dragged our feet a little in the past. If we had not been so slow to act, we might not be here today, discussing the Kamloops residential school or even this entire issue. We might not be in a position where, when a tragic event happens, we must spring into action to try to make up for lost time.

I would simply like to ask my colleague the following question. Once the time for grieving and reflection is over, what does he think is the first thing we must do?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the one thing that has come forward from my indigenous constituents from this tragedy is that they want funding to conduct investigations of all of the residential schools in Canada, to determine where other lost souls may lie and to give them proper burials according to first nations tradition and culture.

That is one thing we could do for first nations: We could make sure that the government fully funds all the resources needed to commemorate and honour these individuals, as well.

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member is looking into the situation in his riding. I would tell him that anybody who has been speaking to indigenous people and learning about residential schools would not be surprised at all to hear this horrific news. Anybody who has been listening knows that children went missing, that children never returned from these schools, and that this was a horrific act of genocide inflicted by the Government of Canada.

Does the hon. member think we should have all of these sites secured? He mentioned that he was at a former residential school site. Should all of these sites be secured? Should the government be paying for ground-penetrating radar at all of these sites? Should all of the documentation related to children who died at these sites be released by the federal government, all levels of other governments and churches?

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, those are actually reasonable requests. As I previously mentioned, we need to fund any investigative work taking place at former residential schools. The Government of Canada should be paying for that.

Again, at the end of the day, this is a crime against humanity. There were 215 lives lost. In my opinion, that number is actually much larger: We just have not discovered them yet. The federal government should get to the bottom of this. Every child matters. My constituents are grieving right now. They deserve action.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have really struggled to come up with the appropriate words for this speech.

I want to ask my colleagues if they believe us now. Can they hear us now? As it has been said, for those who have been listening, this should come as no surprise. Survivors and families have been telling their stories for so long, and the news of the remains of the 215 children found in a mass grave at the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation site of the former residential school does not come as a surprise to those of us who have been listening.

As a father of four, this rips my heart out. It impacts my family, as my wife and children are Tsilhqot'in, from the Esdilagh First Nation. It also impacts the friends I grew up with. I grew up in the community of Williams Lake, and St. Joseph's Mission was just down the road. We played there.

I have spoken so many times in the House about this, and I have implored us, as parliamentarians, to put aside our partisan ways and focus on the issues that matter. I have talked about reconciliation being just a buzzword. Politicians stand up, dab at fake tears and say they are truly committed, yet we have boil water advisories throughout our nation and suicide epidemics in our first nation communities that go unchecked.

The residential school program was set up to drive the native out of over 150,000 first nations, Inuit and Métis children. Thousands did not come home. Imagine being a parent and knowing this. I ask my colleagues if they now understand some of the challenges we see within our first nation communities. There is a lot of “this government did this” and “that government did that.” It is enough. The blame goes to all of us, including or current Parliament.

Apparently there has been an awakening, and Canadians are rightfully angry. Imagine the burden, trauma, grief and anger of the survivors and the families of the lost and missing who have tried to share their stories. Imagine the grief and the trauma of Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, who has heard and gathered these stories and has been such a groundbreaker on this.

They have carried this for so long. As a nation, we must stand together with these families and communities. We must bring these children home. We must bring closure to the families. Only then can the healing process begin.

We must lift them up, hold them in our hearts and never ever forget the over 150,000 children who went through the residential school program and the thousands who did not come home. There are over 139 residential school sites, and I will tell members this: The pain is going to continue, because we are only just awakening to the tragedy, the crime, that so many have been trying to tell through their stories for so long.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I am hearing a lot about this from my constituents and I am participating in the debate tonight to reflect some of their views. They have asked me to speak about two points. One relates directly to what the member just raised: How do we ensure that those oral histories that are too often discounted by western democracies and Eurocentric approaches are heard and listened to in an institutional way, in a way that they are constantly validated?

The second is: What role does he feel we need to attach on the accountability side to the churches that were involved with these residential schools, in this case the Catholic church, which stands alone among some of the other Canadian denominations, for not taking full ownership and responsibility for what has taken place?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we have to understand our past. We currently live in a cancel culture. We want to erase all of this, tear down statues and erase the past. What we need to do is remember our past. Without our past, we do not know where we have been. Without our past, we have no idea of who we are today. Without our past, we do not know where we are going. Without our past, we cannot ensure that this never ever happens again.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am particularly moved by the answer my colleague from Cariboo—Prince George just gave regarding the importance of knowing our past, living it and feeling it.

We must now take action. How far should this urgent need for reconciliation take us? What actions must we take with respect to first nations to negotiate nation-to-nation recognition?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have been saying for so long that we spend billions of dollars trying to recognize and understand other countries' cultures, how to do business with them and how to walk among them when we have failed to do that here at home with our own people. We need to do more. We need to listen to our elders. We need to walk with them and understand the process of grieving that is taking place. It is only going to get worse as we move forward. This is going to reopen deep scars and wounds and we need to be there for them, as leaders and Canadians as one nation.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Tseshaht Chief waamiiš Ken Watts reminded me that first nations and indigenous leaders believed that the Prime Minister and the Liberal government would implement all 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. So far, they have only implemented five. We heard from my colleague from Nunavut, the youngest member in this House, that she will be 69 years old at the pace of the government in implementing the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action.

We know many elders and survivors. I think of my good friend Barney Williams, who attended the school in Tk'emlúps. He is 81. It is important that we implement these calls to action while these survivors are alive so they can begin the healing process with their families.

Can my colleague speak about the importance of that and of providing the necessary resources and information to Tk'emlúps so that we can surround them with the important work and give the communities the necessary tools for their healing?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what we need to do is put aside our partisan swords. We need to be there for our first nations. This recovery has to be directed by the first nations and what we can do as leaders within our communities. As I have challenged my colleagues before, we need to understand, sit with them, learn from them and listen. We have to walk with them at their pace. This is going to be a long process and, more than ever, we have to be united as one as we walk together. We have to stand with them shoulder to shoulder, grieve with them, hold them in our hearts and lift them up.

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. I appreciate the time I have to speak tonight, and I am glad another prolonged Standing Committee on Finance meeting ended in time for me to do so.

I ran for the member of Parliament position to help my constituents. Unapologetically, and with everything I do here, my goal is to try to improve their lives and those of their children. Those are my marching orders.

Indigenous constituents make up 50% of the population in the Northwest Territories, and the Northwest Territories has the highest per capita number of residential school survivors, and “survivor” is the accurate term. Those who came home from many of these schools are literally survivors, as has been so shockingly illustrated this past week by the discovery of all those children, those babies in Kamloops.

I am not surprised many Canadians are shocked. However, I am not shocked and neither are many indigenous families. In my hometown of Fort Providence, I can visit a small fenced-in area on the edge of the community that has a monument with the names of 161 children who died at the Sacred Heart Mission school.

In the 1920s, the mission decided to dig up all the priests, nuns and brothers who were buried there and move them to a new gravesite. Then they plowed the graveyard over, over all the bodies that were buried there, over my relatives and the children who were buried there. If our elders had not carried the information forward and convinced our leadership in the 1990s to do some research and find this grave, this would have been all forgotten.

The devastation of these so-called schools has lived through generations. Unfortunately, this devastation has survived as well. In the Northwest Territories, we top many of Canada's lists: addiction rates, suicide rates, crime rates and housing needs. My efforts here in this House have often targeted getting more housing, increasing indigenous policing and accessing more mental health funding.

I have also been advocating for more attention and resources to conclude land claims and self-government. As well as decreasing this constant and large socioeconomic gap between indigenous people and other Canadians, which needs to be a priority, there also needs to be certainty over land rights and empowerment of indigenous people through self-government.

I can see how the government has supported Canada's effort and attention, and the billions of dollars in additional funding to indigenous governments, indigenous organizations and programs that have been created over the five years. Should there be more? I think so. Should it be faster? I think so.

While we are all mourning the children from Kamloops, let us not make it an empty exercise. Let us move faster in fulfilling the important work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Let us focus on reducing and eliminating systemic racism that exists, and that we see in policing and health care, for example.

To the members of the loyal opposition, while posting thoughts on the recent tragedy before us along with pictures of teddy bears, let us not continue to vote against legislation like UNDRIP. Let us work together to support indigenous people in Canada. Let us not continue to make comments on residential schools that are both inaccurate and insensitive.

Let us work together and not obstruct our attempts to heal and to help and to empower indigenous people, who are still surviving this generational harm that goes by the name of residential schools. Please, let us all focus on helping our constituents.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to give my condolences on behalf of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex to the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo and the people there. I was very troubled to hear about these 215 children who were found. It hit close to home for me.

On the weekend, I had an opportunity to visit a memorial at one of the first nations in my community, Kettle and Stony Point first nation. One of my great uncles is indigenous, and three of his siblings went to one of these residential schools. It is very heartbreaking to hear some of the stories of the abuse, how the moms, dads, brothers and sisters missed the children while they were away, and to hear some of the horrific things that happened there. I want to give my sympathies to all of those who had to endure that at these residential schools.

Could the member comment on what the government will do to look into other areas and other schools, where there may potentially be gravesites of children, more innocent lives that were lost? How we can look for similar burial sites at these former residential schools and how it will that affect those communities?

[Michael McLeod, Liberal, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, I spent my whole life living in a community where there was a residential school. Everybody in my family attended residential school. I attended residential school.

For many years, the people in authority were telling us that it was for our own good, that this was to improve our lives. I always thought that if this was for my own good, I would hate to see what they would do if it was not for my own good. I always questioned when somebody would do anything, when would the government step up. It has only been since this government was elected in 2015, that we started making some movement on accepting and moving forward with Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations.

There is a strategy in place. When we did the ground penetrating radar exercises to check all the grave sites around our community, the government paid for it. In the recommendations, it is very clear that all the sites need to be checked, and that should be at the expense of the government. The government has put us in this position along with the churches, and it has responsibility to work through the recommendations.