Debates of Dec. 11th, 2023

Indigenous Services

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Chair, from the movie Jerry Maguire, the member had me at clean water. It is that simple. However, let us be honest here. We can sit there and talk about clean water, but we have to get the job done. I know that there has been money announced for Oneida Nation in my region of London, Ontario, but we still know that there is so much more to be done.

In 2015, the current government ran with a plan to make sure that there was water on all first nations. I am sorry, but it has been eight years and we are still seeing a lot of lack.

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

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for her very compassionate comments.

The speaker before my colleague talked about driving change and she alluded to some of that in her comments as well. When 99.2% of the executives at level 3 and above, the top 50 executives in the department, are getting performance bonuses, I wonder about a change in the system. How can we measure performance pay, so that we are not paying bonuses to people who are not getting the job done and the organizational goals are not being met and the results are not being met?

I wonder if my colleague would like to comment on how actually creating some accountability in the top levels of the department, right up to the minister, might actually facilitate the driving of change, so that the outcomes and the results for indigenous people across our country are improved.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Chair, part of my concern is with respect to accountability and the current Liberal government. We have not seen the two go along hand in hand for a long time. Absolutely, we need to have that accountability. We need to move forward with first nations. Unfortunately, I just know that with the current government we have not seen that accountability.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, I will be splitting my time with the member for Winnipeg Centre.

I acknowledge all of the work that has been done by the New Democrats for indigenous rights, now and before my time. Jordan's principle emerged out of the work of former MP Jean Crowder's Motion No. 296. This motion was followed by Bill C-249 tabled by former NDP MP Pat Martin in 2008. Both called on the government to immediately adopt a child first principle based on Jordan's principle.

Jordan's principle is now one of the most important programs run by the federal government to uphold its obligations to indigenous children, thanks to the NDP. Bill C-262, introduced by former NDP MP Romeo Saganash in 2016 finally forced the breakthrough that led to the government passing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in 2021.

New Democrats fought for investments in the last budget, and we secured $4 billion over seven years for the for indigenous, by indigenous housing program. From the beginning, I knew this amount was not enough. Much more investment is needed. The NDP agreed to the urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy, knowing it could make a dent in the current situation. If the NDP did not fight, we would not have gotten anything for housing. When the Liberals and Conservatives will not step up, New Democrats do.

Last week, the Conservatives voted against the supplementary estimates, which included investments for Indigenous Services Canada at $6.8 billion and investments to Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada at $3.2 billion. These total over $10 billion in departmental funding that indigenous peoples rely on, which the Conservatives voted to deny.

As for the Liberals, they are not much better. We have heard from the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council that there are massive backlogs at Indigenous Services Canada for issuing status to registrants. This leaves infants waiting 18 to 24 months to get their health benefits. This is absolutely unacceptable.

We hear about the huge backlogs to address Jordan's principle issues. We hear about the backlogs to address payments for services through the non-insured health benefits program. We have heard that Indigenous Services Canada is changing funding formulas for education without even talking to indigenous communities.

Indigenous Services Canada set a goal of 2030 to eliminate the infrastructure gap, but they have no hope of achieving that at current investment levels, as it is a $349.2-billion first nations infrastructure gap. Indigenous peoples have offered solutions, but they are consistently ignored.

Not only are they making cuts to investments to improve the well-being of indigenous peoples, they are planning to cut staff in their department. According to their website, they anticipate cutting staff by 1,000. Imagine how much worse these backlogs will be. They will keep indigenous peoples marginalized.

Grassy Narrows is still waiting for its mercury care facility, despite repeated assurances from the Liberal government that it would be built. Tataskweyak Cree Nation in Manitoba had students with no school to go to as the school remained closed because it had no heat. It is still waiting for a new school after their roof caved in last month. That school, when it was built originally, was already overcrowded.

There are many more examples across the country. The Liberals love announcements and photo ops, but they disappear when it is time to actually flow the funds that indigenous peoples need. The urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy is one such example. It was announced in 2022, and it was supposed to be released in 2023. It is now December 2023, and we have not seen the release of those funds.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my hon. colleague, the member for Nunavut. She is a powerhouse not only here in this place but also for indigenous people right across the country.

She made a particularly important intervention in relation to the urban, rural and northern indigenous housing fund, which she has been a champion for. However, there is no question that there have been delays.

Can the member elaborate on ways the government could, through her advice, ensure this program hits the ground and supports the communities most in need?

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, I thank the member for his ongoing support. We were both elected at the same time. I also very much appreciate the great work of the MP for Vancouver East, who has been a great leader in ensuring that these funds eventually get released.

I think the solution is simple. When it comes to the NDP pushing for these funds to be released, the government should just do it and stop giving us excuses for not delivering them. When it makes promises to disburse those funds, it should make sure that it works with indigenous peoples to get them released, because they know what they are doing. They will make sure the funds are spent with accountability and that indigenous people get housed.

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

Mr. Chair, my colleague sits with us on the INAN committee. I would like her to recall that, back in the spring, we were talking to the minister about on-reserve graduation rates. Both the minister and the deputy minister were surprised that, according to their department's results and plans, they were supposed to set a target for grad rates. I do not know if she remembers that conversation, but we were very surprised that neither one of them was aware of this rate that was supposed to be set. There was a lot of confusion in the room.

Finally, they came back and committed to us that there would be a rate set this fall. This was after an expected target for the graduation rate had been promised for two years. This fall, the target they came back with was to improve the graduation rates over and above what they were last year. It took two years to set that as a target.

Graduation rates are a very critical component of success. Could my colleague comment on how the department has failed indigenous kids in the context of not supporting them and not striving to achieve some targets?

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, education was used as a genocidal instrument for generations. Residential schools were used to “take the Indian out of the child”. I can still intimately recall horror stories shared with me by former students that happened just for saying a word in Inuktitut. When it comes to education, we need to be careful about what we are saying; education can still be used as a tool to diminish what indigenous peoples can achieve in their lifetime.

Whenever I go to my communities in Nunavut, I always make a point of visiting schools and visiting with students. I encourage students and remind them that they can become healthy, productive adults by making choices. I did not have choices. I was forced to go to post-secondary education. I was told the way I could succeed as an adult was to leave my community, go to a southern institution and become a successful adult. Now I tell students in Nunavut that, if they want to become successful adults, they can be hunters, seamstresses or healers. They can practise their culture and have success as adults.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, it is such an honour to share a spot with my good friend and colleague from Nunavut in this House for a take-note debate that was called on, once again, by the NDP. The NDP and our indigenous caucus have called on take-note debate after take-note debate, fighting for our right to be a human being in this place that some call Canada.

When I saw the budget estimates by the current government, it reminded me again that this fight is long from over. I did not even see the crisis of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls and gender-diverse peoples mentioned once. What is shameful about this is that the current Prime Minister acknowledged it as a genocide. It speaks to the normalization of genocide against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit and gender-diverse people in this country. Time and time again, we have to be grateful for the tuppence of incremental justice that has been given by consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments.

I am happy to help push forward, along with families and advocates, a red dress alert system that will help keep us alive should we go missing, should we experience violence. We now have a hope to be found, but we should not end up in that place to begin with. We need the services and support to live in dignity. We need a recognition of the ongoing systemic racism in the wilful underfunding of indigenous people in Canada, which includes the sunsetting of $7.6 billion in funding over the next five years.

I have heard from the minister that they are going to replace the funding, that programs ebb and flow, but we know that rates of violence have not decreased. They have increased. We know the number of children in child welfare is at an all-time high. We know that putting kids in care is a pipeline to becoming a murdered and missing adult. With indigenous women, girls, gender-diverse people and men and boys, we know there is a pipeline, yet Jordan's principle, which has made a fundamental difference for children living across this country and has facilitated the ability of indigenous bodies to make decisions about how funding is spent, is being sunset.

It has been over four years since the national inquiry and we have to call for take-note debates so we can respond to one call for justice at a time. Every time we call, how many more women, girls and gender-diverse people have gone murdered and missing?

We should not be ending up in landfills. We know that the very relatives we are searching for right now would not have been there if we had a guaranteed livable basic income, as in call for justice 4.5, had a right to housing facilitated and had proper mental health care, all monies the Liberals will be clawing back with the $7.6 billion cutback.

We should not be an afterthought. We should not be a midnight take-note debate time and time again. We should not have to fly people across the country to be given the same rights, remembering that indigenous women do not even have the same rights as other women in this country.

I am calling on the government to do right, to make reconciliation not a word but an action. I do not want to hear that word anymore. It is like a swear word to me. The government should show me that it is reconciling through action.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Chair, I always appreciate my hon. colleague's comments and feedback. I think it is critical, and I recognize the frustration she expresses. She does that for her people, and I am very grateful that their voice is here in Parliament. I want to thank her for that.

One of the things we are trying to do, based on the suggestion put forward by the member for Winnipeg Centre, is a red dress alert. I am wondering if she could talk about how important that is in the context of what we are talking about today, which is to ensure that we have sustained funding for missing and murdered indigenous women, but particularly for programs that will target and save the lives of indigenous women.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I thank the minister. I have worked very closely with the minister in the beginning stages of implementing a red dress alert.

However, there cannot be consultations for months and months. This needs to be led and directed by indigenous peoples. We need to be honest about systems that were supposed to protect us that do not; the ongoing systemic racism, for example, in policing. How are we going to set up those systems that are for indigenous, by indigenous people, as my colleagues have called upon, in relation to funding?

Again, the red dress is critical, and I am thankful for the fact that we are getting there, but we need prevention. I should not have to search for places for women who face serious life-and-death violence to find a shelter bed in Winnipeg or treatment for trauma. I should not have to worry that, if I cannot find that one bed, it will cost a life.

This is what that $7.6 billion means, especially because we are chronically underfunded. That is like $50 billion, because there is already not enough being invested to ensure that people with indigenous rights are afforded the same human rights as everybody else here. This cannot happen; it will cost lives.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague for her advocacy, her patience and her continual fight for indigenous peoples and their rights.

I want to focus my question on the issue of violence against women within the context of the cuts that would be coming, and there is $150 million targeted towards shelters.

The member just raised the issue around shelters and the lack of shelters. When indigenous women are trying to flee violence, they need to be able to get to a shelter for safety. Yet, at the same time, the government is looking at cutting $150 million in shelters. In what universe is this justified? I wonder if the member could comment on that.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. colleague for Vancouver East for her allyship and advocacy, particularly around indigenous housing.

That $150 million was provided during COVID. Now the excuse is that the government is cutting back the $150 million in funding, because it was special funding that was implemented in COVID, even though we know that rates of violence have increased since COVID. How can it justify cutting $150 million from shelters that are needed for people fleeing violence?

It cannot just be any shelter; it also has to be culturally appropriate. There have to be people there who understand the distinct needs of groups, including indigenous peoples. That cutback is going to cost lives. That cutback is going to take away beds that could mean the difference between a person surviving or not. We are here again talking about a $7.6-billion cutback because this is a life-and-death matter, and it is such a normalized topic in this place, we barely have an audience.

We are human beings deserving to live with dignity and human rights. That is very simple. We have to stop making excuses. This government needs to stop stalling, doing incremental justice and provide the support that is needed now.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is an honour and a privilege to rise today as part of this important discussion. As has been noted by many, this is a discussion we have had far too often. I have been elected here for about four years, and it seems like we have had this same debate over and over again. The fact that we are continuing to have to do that just shows how the government has failed to address the concerns that have been raised by members of all parties during these discussions. I hope I speak for everyone in saying that we hope to see much quicker action taken to improve Indigenous Services.

Before I go too far, I want to advise that I will be splitting my time with my friend from British Columbia, the hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. Members are looking forward to hearing what he has to say as well.

As I get into my remarks, I want to briefly mention something we have talked about quite a bit in this chamber, and that is the Chiefs of Ontario taking the government to court, alleging that the carbon tax is leaving them worse off and that it is breaching the principles of reconciliation. This is 133 first nations and nearly a third of them are in the district of Kenora in my riding, so I want to echo those concerns, and we certainly hope to see the government move forward to remove this carbon tax and make life more affordable for first nations and for people in northern and remote regions right across the country.

Of course, that is not the direct issue we are debating here today. We are talking about Indigenous Services Canada. I want to thank the NDP for bringing this motion forward, because it is a very important discussion. I represent 42 first nations across three treaty territories in northern Ontario, so this is very near and dear to me and people right across my district.

One of the major concerns I have seen, and I have mentioned it already in debate, is that the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown that despite a dramatic increase in funding from the current government, they have not seen a significant increase in the ability of Indigenous Services Canada to meet the targets it has set. It is spending more, creating more bureaucracy, but not actually having the dollars flow the way they need to go to improve the lives of first nations.

A recent example we see in my riding is in Mishkeegogamang first nation, which is a first nation trying to move forward on an important treatment centre project, something that is badly needed in the community and in the region. It has been able to secure some federal funds for certain steps in terms of feasibility studies and things of that nature, but it has been review after review and more red tape each and every time the government puts up a roadblock. The government has allocated quite a bit of money toward this project, but it is not getting off the ground. The shovels are not in the ground and the people in the community are continuing to struggle without the proper support.

Other members have mentioned a similar case in Grassy Narrows First Nation, which is also in my riding. It is what we see time and time again under the current government: spending money but not getting the results we need to see. That is one of the biggest things that need to change when we talk about the department of Indigenous Services Canada.

We see it with drinking water advisories as well. Despite the government's pledge to end all long-term drinking water advisories on reserve, we know that has not been the case. In fact, according to information from the Indigenous Services website, there are currently 28 drinking water advisories on reserve, 11 of which are located in my northwestern Ontario district of Kenora. Again, funding has been allocated and there have been steps taken in the process, so to speak, but the government has failed to take into account local considerations to be able to get these projects off the ground and ensure that people in remote first nations across northern Ontario can have access to clean drinking water. We hope to see the government move much more quickly and much more directly on that.

With the remaining time I have, I want to briefly talk about an overarching way we can help support self-determination. I believe one of the ultimate ways the government can ensure that indigenous services are properly funded is to offer and provide avenues for more self-determination. We are currently working on a policy, a first nations resource charge, an optional policy that would allow first nations to directly collect revenue rather than having it go to Ottawa and trickle down through the bureaucracy. It is something that would give more control and more power to individual first nations to ensure they have proper services.

I look forward to hearing any questions and comments from my colleagues.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Chair, based on what my colleague said, it sounds like he has a commitment to understanding the importance of supporting indigenous communities across Canada.

I want to ask the member opposite this. His leader, when he was in charge of housing, had a $300-million first nations housing program that managed to build only 99 houses. Is there more of a commitment to build more housing for indigenous communities? How important is it? I do know that the member opposite comes from an area where there are a lot of indigenous communities and that he has a direct connection and relationship with them.

I would like to hear from the member opposite about his commitment to build more housing for indigenous communities, while making sure that it is also a partnership with all levels of government and communities as well.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, it is very important. Housing is an issue right across the country. Particularly in our area of northwestern Ontario, there is a housing crisis on first nations. Many communities desperately need to see new housing units developed and, hopefully, more ownership over their housing so that it can be properly maintained.

The member talked about the Leader of the Opposition's time as housing minister and I would remind her that under the previous Conservative government, housing costs were half of what they are now. Unfortunately, the government has created and fuelled a housing crisis. That is something that Conservatives are definitely going to work on when we are in government.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Chair, I want to focus on a troubling narrative I have heard several times from the Conservatives. They begin by stating how unsuccessful the government has been. I agree with that point. It has been unsuccessful in hitting targets. Second, they talk about how funding is the issue related to that. Their third argument on the funding is that it creates big bureaucracies and that these bureaucracies are unattainable. Finally, therefore, those cuts that are in the budget should be sustained.

Harper did that one time too. He brought in the first nations financial accountability act that sought to put accountability on first nations for the little spending that they did, in order to get relief to their communities. First nations across the country revolted against such a preposterous idea. Today, we have the leader of the official opposition, the member for Carleton's new Conservative Party here, rebirthing an old narrative that indigenous people are just bad with money and cannot be trusted.

Will the member commit to the fact that funding for indigenous peoples is in fact deeply underfunding the critical services that are needed and would he advocate for the continued funding of indigenous peoples, particularly the increase of Indigenous Services Canada funding?

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate the comments from the member opposite and the passion he brings to this place. Unfortunately, it seems that he may have misunderstood the comments that I made. I take no issue with the funding itself. I recognize that funding is very necessary for the department, but, unfortunately, we have seen an increase in funding and not a similar increase in the outcomes, the tangible results of that funding. That is where the issue lies. The government has to ensure that these dollars get to the communities that need them, get to the leadership, to ensure that the supports are being funded.

It is not a discussion about more or less. It is a discussion about ensuring that the dollars are getting spent correctly and that the dollars that are getting spent are going to support first nations and indigenous peoples right across the country.

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

Mr. Chair, near the end of his remarks, the member for Kenora outlined possible steps that the Government of Canada could take to reduce red tape and empower first nations. Perhaps the member could just expand on what he believes are tangible, concrete actions we can take to ensure better accountability and better use of money to support indigenous communities?

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Chair, an important aspect of this is economic reconciliation. We have to work in partnership with first nations and indigenous peoples across the country to ensure that they have the power and ability to create wealth and to work independently of government so that these nations can provide the proper supports that they need and get the government out of the way to ensure that can get done.

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

Mr. Chair, as the member of Parliament of a riding with 31 bands of Stellat’en, Stó:lo, Nlaka’pamux and Secwépemc peoples, I hear first-hand how the quality of service from Indigenous Services Canada impacts my constituents.

Too often I hear from first nations that ISC is slow-moving and uninformed of their policies, and that government officials lack accountability to the people they are supposed to serve. Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon is no stranger to natural disasters. Major flooding and seasonal wildfires threaten our communities, and in the case of first nations, they are to rely on an office hours away, sometimes in a different region of the province, in Vancouver, to respond to emergencies and assist in recovery.

There are a lot of things I could talk about at length this evening. I had a discussion this afternoon with Chief Leon of Sts'ailes Nation, who particularly noted deficiencies in emergency preparedness, a lack of post-secondary education opportunities for his band members and a failure to meet the housing of indigenous people on reserve, particularly for those who have low incomes.

However, I want to talk tonight about the failures in disaster response and recovery. I will give two quick examples. The 2017 Elephant Hill wildfires destroyed homes, businesses and properties, including those of the Ashcroft Indian Band. An elder and former chief lost his home in that fire and applied for funding under the ISC emergency management assistance program through the band. Funding was granted, and although ISC acknowledges amounts were assigned to the elder to replace his home, the funding never got to him. He remains homeless six years later.

Where is the accountability? Departments are required to ensure public funds are used in the manner for which they are granted. This is just one example of many that I have heard where ISC washes its hands of financial accountability and fails to ask for financial reports and audits.

There are many examples at Lytton first nation as well. In 2021, B.C.'s atmospheric river nearly wiped out Shackan first nation territory altogether. Indigenous Services Canada is responsible for on-reserve first nation emergency management, unless otherwise explicitly contracted out to the provincial emergency response agencies. While neighbouring municipalities, such as Merritt and Princeton, received prompt evacuation orders, the responsible ISC office in Vancouver did not alert Shackan first nation to the danger when the only bridge to the mainland was severed and the territory was consumed by the river.

It is absolutely ineffective and, I would say, irresponsible for ISC to take responsibility for emergency management without actually being able or equipped to do so. A year later, ISC announced $900,000 for Shackan first nation and neighbouring reserves impacted by the floods. Where has this money gone? Shackan first nation continues to live in a temporary encampment in Merritt and ask themselves this question every day. ISC should be able to count for not only where funds have gone but whether public funds were used appropriately, according to the terms and conditions in which they were granted.

These concerns are not only mine. They are coming directly from my first nations constituents across different bands and tribal councils. I will note that, before I came to the debate tonight, it was pointed out to me that, in the year 2018-19, there were approximately 4,200 public servants working at the Department of Indigenous Services Canada. That has jumped, today, to over 7,200 employees. My constituents ask me, “When the Government of Canada is spending so much money on bureaucracy in Ottawa, why has the service delivery fallen so short of where it should be?” I cannot answer that question.

I do know that, if the Department of Indigenous Services Canada was cut in half, it would not make any difference to any of my first nations constituents because the department is not accountable, is not doing its job, and is not stepping up to the plate to help the people in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon who have had their lives taken away from them in major disasters over the last number of years.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member opposite for his contribution to tonight's debate, and I do not doubt his sincerity about addressing the needs of his constituents, particularly the first nations that he represents. I also do not doubt the factual accounting that he outlined tonight about the severe climate events that are plaguing everyone in this country, particularly in his riding.

However, emergency preparedness is critical for all Canadians, particularly for indigenous Canadians suffering from the effects of climate action. There is an emergency management assistance program that is administered by Indigenous Services Canada. There was $216 million dedicated to that very program in the fall economic statement, which is the same statement that the member and his entire caucus voted against on Thursday and Friday morning. When $260 million was on the table to support his constituents, why did he not vote for it?

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

Mr. Chair, I voted no confidence in all the government measures, because I do not believe the NDP-Liberal coalition is capable of running this country in an effective way that can be accountable to indigenous people today. Indeed, there were certain aspects of that fall economic statement, such as emergency management, that are worthy. However, overall, I cannot give confidence anymore to the government in good faith.

That said, I question the ability of the government to even administer large sums of money. The disaster financial assistance program, which was over $5 billion, largely targeted at my riding and a few surrounding regions of British Columbia, has not been allocated two years later. People are still waiting for their homes and have lost hope.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Chair, I thank the member for what I believe to be a kind of passion for the support of indigenous people. However, it is important to understand that, when we speak of indigenous people, particularly first nations on the west coast, it is a perspective of being a guest, a settler or even a trespasser at times. Does the member recognize that where he is from, where he lives and where he plays, is a place of unceded territory, and that the conditions present for the many nations on the west coast are largely because of an occupation of Canada?

Would the member be clear in his response as to whether he understands the difference between unceded territory and ceded territory? Would he support first nations' call for jurisdiction and rights in relation to those lands, even if they fall in the way of a resource project, at which time they are most important?

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

Mr. Chair, I am a proud Canadian. I was born in Canada, and I acknowledge the Canadian state. The Crown had signed contracts with many of the first nations that I represent, and the Government of Canada has a duty to uphold the agreements it signed with the first peoples of this land on their traditional territory. This is why I am pleased that our leader, the member for Carleton, has put forward a policy that would allow first nations to shape the direction in which natural resources are developed in the future. They are calling for the rights to those assets, and they should have access to them.

I painted some very bleak pictures, but just the other day, the Leq'á:mel First Nation actually received a settlement of $75 million. It had fought for over 20 years to receive this, going back to those original agreements that were signed when they were put on reserves in the first place.

We have a ton of work to do, but the words that I spoke tonight were directly informed by my constituents in the Stó:lō territory, the Secwepemc territory and the Stswecem'c territory. I took those words, and I put them in Parliament at their request.