Debates of May 4th, 2022

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, I will be sharing my time with the member for Louis-Saint‑Laurent.

I am humbled to rise in this place to participate in this take-note debate on murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people, especially given that tomorrow, May 5, is Red Dress Day. Red Dress Day is not only a day of honouring missing and murdered indigenous people, but a day that we stand, in the spirit of reconciliation, to raise awareness and educate about the tragic violence that indigenous women and girls have experienced, which amounts to genocide.

As the member of Parliament fort Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, which is situated on the traditional lands of Treaty 6 and Treaty 8, the territory of the Cree and the Dene and the homelands of the Métis people, I acknowledge that the people of the territory have been deeply impacted by the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. I honour and acknowledge the mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, aunties and friends who are no longer with us. My heart also goes out to the many family, friends and indigenous leaders who have come together to share their stories and demand action from our civil institutions.

What started as a grassroots movement of an art installation called “The REDress Project” has sparked an irrepressible movement to highlight this national tragedy and call for justice. It has been said that red is a sacred colour that transcends the physical realm and calls the spirit of the missing and murdered back to their loved ones. Each dress, pin or ribbon is a visual representation of the stolen sisters and has a deep spiritual meaning.

The release of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls three years ago was a key step as Canada confronts the historical and ongoing victimization of indigenous women and girls and LGBTQ2S+ people. In the years that have followed, there has been a renewed interest by all levels of government to set forth concrete actions to reconcile relationships with indigenous peoples and address systemic, cultural and institutional challenges that have maintained the status quo of violence, marginalization and intergenerational trauma.

To that end, I was proud beyond measure to have played a small part in the Alberta Joint Working Group on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, along with one of my former colleagues, the MLA for West Yellowhead, Martin Long, and Minister Whitney Issik. It was an honour to be a part of this group for a short period of time.

I want to take a moment to thank elders Jackie Bromley and Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack, who always opened our meetings with ceremony, sharing their wisdom and knowledge while keeping our group grounded. To them I say hiy hiy.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank the amazing work that was done by the strong indigenous women on the joint working group: Lisa Higgerty and Rachelle Venne, our co-chairs; Josie Nepinak; and Suzanne Life-Yeomans. I was so grateful for these indigenous women. They shared their stories, experiences, perspectives and hearts. They really opened my eyes, and I thank them.

In order to address this issue, we must openly and honestly acknowledge the root causes that place indigenous females at such a high risk: harsh realities such as poverty, racism and inadequate housing. It is our collective responsibility to turn the tide on this serious and long-standing reality. We must move past seeing indigenous women and girls as simply statistics and move toward recognizing that there are contributing factors that place indigenous women and girls in vulnerable and dangerous situations.

Systemic barriers exist regarding access to adequate housing, culturally appropriate medical care, community supports, coping, intergenerational trauma and so much more. We cannot change history, but together we can forge a path toward a brighter future while forever remembering the lives lost and supporting survivors. It is incumbent on all of us to move from talking to true action that will stop this from ever happening again. We must all be committed to walking shoulder to shoulder in the spirit of reconciliation to build a more inclusive society.

Since 2004, nine indigenous women from Nistawoyou have been reported missing or murdered. I would like to take an opportunity to speak their names into the record: Elaine Alook, Shirley Waquan, Amber Tuccaro, Janice Desjarlais, Shelly Dene, Betty Ann Deltess, Ellie Herman, Audrey Bignose and Sherri Lynn Flett.

It is time for justice in memory of all of these women. They have not been and will not be forgotten.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Madam Chair, in my riding of North Island—Powell River, a couple of indigenous women have gathered many indigenous women together to bead red dress earrings and pins. What they do is fundraise so they can support families that have lost indigenous women and girls. They fundraise so they can put up billboards of missing indigenous women and girls so that people know the faces of those who are lost from their families forever.

Can the member speak about how important it is that we not ask people to be charitable in this, but ask government to be responsible for the actions it takes in making sure that we find these women and girls?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, I want to thank the member for that incredibly important question. It really highlights the fact that it should not be incumbent on the communities to raise awareness. Government has to take a big step in this.

In my own community, just a kilometre from my house we had a tragic situation. It was the community that had to rally. I was so grateful that leaders from all levels of government did come together to help, but that needs to be larger. The federal government needs to have investments in place.

One thing I would love to see is a “red dress alert” to try to help get the information out quicker. We know that when women are found faster, they are more likely to be found alive.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, my colleague mentioned various solutions, such as housing. For indigenous women to escape the cycle of violence, they must have the means to regain power over their own lives. However, some communities have truly appalling housing, others do not even have water and some do not even have electricity.

How can we give these women a safe and adequate environment so that they have what they need to break the cycle of violence and thereby prevent the disappearance of more women?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, I think my colleague raised an issue that is a real problem in rural and isolated communities.

I have housing problems in my riding and I believe many rural MPs have the same problem. I think the government really has to act on the recommendations from the inquiry because they were very clear, but the government has not done so.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Chair, we have heard tonight about many different organizations and many campaigns in Canada that are used to raise awareness and honour indigenous women and girls who have either been murdered or gone missing.

In addition to participating in many of these events and becoming part of them, does she have any suggestions for all of our colleagues on Parliament Hill on how we can engage even better on this very important issue?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Chair, one truly important thing that we can all do is engage with indigenous communities and listen. We need to hear what they have to say and approach the solution understanding that they have the answers in their communities. It is incumbent on each and every one of us to have those conversations, carry that message forward and allow indigenous-led organizations to really shine through, especially on days like tomorrow.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Chair, as we say in my riding of Louis‑Saint‑Laurent and in Wendake, kwe.

Like most of my colleagues here this evening, I am participating in this very important debate about what the government and Canadians must do to address violence against indigenous women and about the measures that are needed to break this despicable, vicious circle for the country and more specifically for indigenous women. These kinds of debates are necessary.

My riding is home to the Huron-Wendat community. It always makes me smile to think about how lucky I am, because we cannot choose our family or our birthplace, as everyone knows, but I was very fortunate on both counts.

My parents came to Canada in 1958, and in 1962 they moved to what was then known as Château‑d'Eau, which then became Loretteville and is now part of Quebec City. It was less than a mile away from the indigenous community of Wendake. I grew up and still live in Loretteville, so I have some very good, very close Wendat friends. These friends are and will always be lifelong friends. I therefore grew up with an awareness of the first nations. We should all have this awareness of the first nations, but it will never be deep enough.

It is not easy to fix 400 years' worth of damage, yet that is the reality of indigenous relations with the federal and provincial governments. It has been 400 years of misunderstandings, of battles, of totally unacceptable domination and, in many cases, that is what we are facing now, in the 21st century.

We must understand that we can never do enough to erase, or at the very least lessen, the pain caused over the centuries. The reality is that we must take action but, more importantly, we must reflect and understand what happened.

At the start of the 21st century, there was an awareness that dawned. It has always been there in Canada. No matter who held the title of prime minister, there was always a gesture or a thought, sometimes positive, sometimes abhorrent, but there was also a desire to be honest with first nations at times.

We must recognize that it was the late Jack Layton, the former leader of the NDP, whose passing we all lament, who took the first concrete step that led to today's recognition of the tragedy of indigenous women who have fallen victim to appalling violence.

In the early 2000s, Jack Layton suggested that the Canadian government should formally apologize for the tragedy of residential schools and the crimes that took place there, which led to the totally unacceptable abuse that was most recently condemned by the Holy Father himself.

Canada's prime minister at the time, the Right Hon. Stephen Harper, listened to Jack Layton. For the first time in Canada's history, the federal government offered a formal and sincere apology to first nations. It was the first and only time that a grand chief of the Canadian first nations ever addressed the members of the House of Commons, and it happened right here in Ottawa on June 11, 2008.

There was an apology, and there was action. The government created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission because there can be no reconciliation without facts and truth. That is why, over a long period of six years, Canadians travelled the country listening to first nations.

When I first entered politics as a member of Quebec's National Assembly, I clearly remember being at the meeting in Wendake. It lasted several days, but I was only there for a day. I should maybe have stayed longer. The participants could see and understand the pain these people were carrying.

In 2015, the commission released its report, which contained almost 100 recommendations and suggestions. One of them, call to action 41, was for the Canadian government to take action on the tragedy of indigenous women who were beaten, raped, assaulted or killed. We all know what happened next. The government waited two years before coming up with a plan.

As I said in my introduction, we can never do enough because fixing 400 years' worth of damage is almost impossible. We have to start by accepting that unfortunate reality.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Madam Chair, I want to share with my hon. colleague how I appreciated his honest acknowledgement of the history in Canada and also that he spoke about apologies that have happened.

Certainly, I know that apologies are well received. We are at a point, though, where apologies are fine and good but now we need to follow up with action. I think my hon. colleague would agree, particularly with his acknowledgement of the level of violence and the level of inaction, that not enough has been done.

Does my hon. colleague believe that we need to move beyond apologies to immediate and urgent actions to mitigate this ongoing genocide?

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Chair, I want to pay my respects to my colleague, who represents so much with such passion and such dignity her people here in the House of Commons. It is a privilege to have a member like her here in the House who serves so well the community, but also the country.

Indeed, we need action, but those actions will not come from here, the House of Commons, and especially not from a guy like me, but first and foremost from people like the member and the first nations, because first nations are part of the solution to that. If we think that only here in the House of Commons we can achieve something, it is just something that would start. If we want real, strong results, they will be coming from the first nations.

As a guy who grew up so close to a first nation community, I can assure members that we have to work hand in hand. That is exactly what happened for almost 400 years in Wendake in Quebec City. Yes, we can get inspiration from this great example.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Madam Chair, my question for the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent is on call for justice 4.8, specifically on the “adequate plans and funding...for safe and affordable transit and transportation services and infrastructure for Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people living in remote or rural communities.”

Can the member talk to us about the importance of the investment mentioned in call for justice 4.8?

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Chair, I want to commend my colleague. He worked in Montreal for several years, which means he speaks impeccable French. I thank him. He is an inspiration to us all.

I think he has once again put his finger on a situation that does not have an easy solution when it comes to the first nations.

There are communities like Wendake back home that are literally embedded in an urban city like Quebec City. However, there are other so‑called remote communities, although I find it pejorative to call them remote, as though we were at the centre and people who are not at the centre are remote. As far as I know, the remoteness is just as far as the centre. People who live in so-called remote areas could say that the people living downtown are remote. They would all be correct to say so.

The reality is that if we want to provide proper and appropriate services to first nations, we must consider the fact that these communities are not located in urban centres. We must provide services to ensure that the assistance we want to offer is made available appropriately and promptly in light of the daily reality of these first nations.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

We have just enough time for a brief question.

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Chair, I would just like to ask my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent about his expectations for the outcome of the take-note debate on the issue before us tonight.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Chair, although it has unfortunately taken 400 years for us to engage in this reflection, let us hope that concrete action will be taken in the years to come with the support and co-operation of first nations.

It is not up to people like me, the son of an immigrant, to say what is good for first nations. Instead we should be listening to what first nations want and what they want to do, and then we should provide the support required so that we can all look ahead to a bright future.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise today toward the end of the debate. We have some time left and some more speakers, but I think this take-note debate has been one of sincerity and has been heartfelt. I think we have seen some real change in the way we are able to discuss things in this place and to accept the inquiry.

I remember when the inquiry came out: it was not quite three years ago. When the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirited inquiry first said that this was a genocide, there was a great deal of response in the media as if that might not be the case. It has been stated by members on all sides of the House today without question. That gives a sense that we have made progress in understanding the scope, scale and gravity of the issue.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are here on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples. I want to also acknowledge the territory that I am honoured to represent here in Parliament: My riding name of Saanich—Gulf Islands is a corrupted English pronunciation of W̱SÁNEĆ, the W̱SÁNEĆ nation of the Coast Salish peoples. I am deeply indebted to the peoples of our territory.

I want to also begin by saying that I will be splitting my time with the honourable and terrific member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach.

There is a lot that has been said. With the time remaining for me it would be hard to add a great deal more, but in preparing for this and whenever I think about the inquiry, I do not want to talk about statistics. I just want to say, as a settler culture woman, recognizing the privilege of the colour of my skin, that I am so lucky. I have a bunch of great women friends, but it is only my indigenous women friends who say things casually like, “I was left for dead in a dumpster”.

I hardly know any close indigenous women friends who have not had the experience of losing close family members, particularly in the downtown east side in Vancouver. That statement, “I was left for dead in a dumpster,” was actually in the context of sitting in a circle after this report came out in Victoria with a woman who I thought I knew really well. Her anglicized name is Rose Henry. She goes by the Tsilhqot’in name now of Grandma Losah. I had no idea that my friend Rose, as a kid, had been left for dead in a dumpster after being beaten and abused.

These experiences are not statistics. These are our friends, our mothers, our aunties and our children. The levels of abuse and casual violence against indigenous women and girls is appalling and a human rights abuse. We have not responded with the urgency that we must. We went for years, as I am sure colleagues will remember, demanding that we get an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We got the inquiry. We got the recommendations, but women and girls are still going missing on a routine basis. Indigenous women and girls are still marginalized and at risk, and we have 231 calls for justice to make that not the case anymore. In the time remaining for me, I want to emphasize a few of them that stand out.

Call for justice 4.5, which I have mentioned tonight in questions and comments, is a call for a guaranteed livable income that will end the marginalization and take women and girls from being in a position of great risk to being safer by the security of having enough money to not be in poverty. It is pretty straightforward.

We also know from this inquiry that women who have gone missing are quite often, through their marginalized economic status, forced to hitchhike. They do not own cars. They are not going to be getting safe and affordable ground transportation because there is none. Our ground transportation system in this country is worse than that in most developing countries: Members should think about that. This report came out before Greyhound withdrew service right across Canada. I talk to my Nuu-chah-nulth friends, particularly Chief Judith Sayers of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation. She has been a prominent supporter of a local bus company called Wilson's bus lines that has been trying to stay afloat and trying to connect services. The government needs to acknowledge that we need VIA Rail to work for the marginalized.

We also need to address the huge threat of wellness checks in which indigenous women and girls die. A wellness check should not result in an inquiry and a coroner's report. This also needs urgent attention.

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

Madam Chair, I have great respect for the member, but since she has brought us into a debate about the universal basic income, which I see as entailing a variety of different policy questions from the specific issue of combatting violence, I wonder if the member can share whether there is any data at all to suggest that somehow we are going to see a drop in violence associated with the particular implementation of this policy instrument.

Would we not be better off addressing causes of poverty, as in providing the specific support that people who are in vulnerable situations need, rather than providing simply a guarantee that anybody who falls below a certain level automatically starts getting paid by the government?

Does the member believe that we could finance this by cutting other social programs, or does she believe we could afford this on top of the existing social programs we are providing?

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, as I was calling out the calls for justice from the inquiry report, I will read it:

4.5 We call upon all governments to establish a guaranteed annual livable income for all Canadians, including indigenous peoples, to meet all their social and economic needs.

I could go into this at great length. We have a poverty caucus in this place made up of members of Parliament and people from the other place. We have had expert testimony for years. I recommend to the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan a great book by the great Progressive Conservative Hugh Segal: Bootstraps Need Boots.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, I think the hon. member's speech was great. It has been interesting to sit here during this debate and hear all the empathy and understanding that apparently seems to be quite common about the realities and experiences of first nations, Métis and Inuit.

Unfortunately, we are not hearing a lot of calls for accountability.

I wonder this. Can the hon. member, with her long experience as a member of Parliament, share some examples of how accountability could be ensured, and to make sure we are seeing, with regard to the crisis of the murdered and missing indigenous women and diverse gendered people too, accountability from that perspective? Qujannamiik.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, that reminds me of something that the great journalist Warner Troyer once said, which was that politicians are basically like single-celled organisms, susceptible only to heat, pressure and pain. We need more heat, more pressure and some more pain to make those who have the power to make these changes, make the changes.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her speech.

We are nearing the end of the take-note debate. I agree with my colleague from Manicouagan. I too have a problem with the term “take-note”.

There are 231 calls for justice, 231 ways to take action so that no more women or girls are murdered or go missing.

I wonder if my colleague could comment on the fact that we are having a take-note debate when there are 231 calls for justice, for action.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, I thank my hon. colleague from Shefford.

She is right. We are here, at this late hour, when there are over 200 calls for justice. We all understand what needs to be done, and yet we are having a take-note debate, which is not enough.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Madam Chair, I know that my granny went to residential school in Lejac from the age of four to 16. Unfortunately, when she was 16, the nuns arranged for a marriage for her and she was married to a 50-year-old white man.

When he passed away not too long after, of course, she was rejected by the family and lost her status and was not able to go home.

When I think about the history of Canada and how unsafe it makes indigenous women and girls, I am wondering this. Could the member talk about how this history continues to repeat itself?

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Chair, these stories just break our hearts. History repeats itself because we do not take it on board as a situation. We would not tolerate this if, throughout society, at the same proportion of the population, women with my colour of skin were going missing at the same rate as indigenous women. We have to face facts. History repeats itself because racism remains systemic.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Chair, today I want to acknowledge all my colleagues. Each and every one of them here today is participating in what has been a very difficult conversation for indigenous people not just here, but across the country. I want them to do more than sympathize, but to honestly ask themselves what it would be like without their mothers, what would it be like without their sisters, or what would it be like without their grandmothers. Every indigenous family in this country knows that pain, but I do not want to talk about the pain.

We talked an awful lot today about the pain indigenous people have suffered, but I want to remind members that with this pain it was not the current government or any government in the country that kept us alive: it was indigenous women. Indigenous women kept our nations alive, and they still do today. That is precisely the reason the government, and every government in Canadian history, has persisted to ensure this problem is not addressed. By evidence of what has occurred thus far, is the fact that our indigenous women continue to go missing. How can we say to the contrary?

I want to talk about the remarkable women in my life who have made a contribution to my presence here today. They are really the only reason I am here. Indigenous women have fought for our nations. They fought for every single child, and one woman who comes to my mind in particular is my mother. Her name is Grace Desjarlais. She is the sister of a woman named Brenda, who was taken through the sixties scoop.

The sixties scoop, the residential schools system and every government policy to date has not consulted indigenous women; however, they expect their labour. When Brenda, my biological mother, was working as a sex worker after aging out of the terrible foster care system that this country still has, she fought. She had an option presented to her. She said she could have given up and gone down the road that so many of our sisters do, but she fought and she stayed alive. She was able to live to the age of 42: a feat that many indigenous women do not get the opportunity to do in this country.

She asked her sister, a woman she barely knew, to do something courageous. She asked her to take her son and to save him from a system that would kill him. That was me. Women came together from my community and said “no”. We took a challenge against the court, and I was one of the very few children not apprehended even though the first person I met in this world was a social worker and an RCMP officer. The people who would save me were indigenous women.

This is a holistic issue, my friends. When we support indigenous women, they will continue to save lives. They will save our nations. I know this because I have seen it. I am here because of it. There has been no government program, no government policy and no government that has done this work for us. When I see the work of the calls to action, the calls to justice, I see mothers, aunties and kokums who did everything they could to make sure that the government listens.

Today, I hope this debate goes much further than just words. To every government member here today, I want them to imagine what it would be like not to have mothers, grandmothers or sisters and then ask themselves whether it is worth waiting and whether the government has succeeded. That is the one thing I hope they take from this debate.