Mr. Chair, we know that when the Conservatives talked about indigenous peoples, indigenous women and girls, and the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls issue, they actually said that it was an “Indian issue”, not a Canadian issue. That is shameful. They continue to perpetuate those kinds of beliefs, talking about my riding as “hell on Earth”. In fact, what we need is for the government to step up to save lives.
I also want to talk about housing for just a moment. Had it not been for the NDP, budget 2022 would not have had $4.3 billion directed for indigenous housing: $4 billion on distinction-based housing and $300 million for urban, rural and northern housing. Then in budget 2023, we fought again and got another $4 billion, this time for indigenous, by indigenous, urban, rural and northern indigenous housing. We knew that was not enough, and the government slow-walked the delivery of this. That, too, is unacceptable.
Before we call everybody down about this, I ask the government members to look themselves in the mirror and say, “No more incremental justice. Let us do it, and do it now.”