Blake Desjarlais

[Indigenous Affairs, March 20th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, first nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Canada are slipping further behind. Kids cannot access health services, and homes are falling apart. What are the Liberals doing? They are threatening to cut billions in services communities rely on. If it were up to the Conservative leader, Indigenous Services would be gutted altogether. The Liberals and Conservatives always seem to find ways to make rich CEOs even richer but never find money for real people.

Will the Prime Minister honour his commitments to indigenous people or leave them out to dry?

[Housing, March 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Edmontonians are experiencing a double housing crisis. Rent is increasing at the fastest pace in the country while we are seeing the lowest vacancies rates we have had in a decade. The Conservatives' slogans will not build affordable homes, and the Liberals are not fixing the problem they have created.

The NDP's protecting renters fund would help save affordable homes and give renters the hope they need. Will the Liberals commit to including this fund in the budget so Edmontonians do not go homeless?

[Business of Supply, March 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is an important reality that we have to delineate, and we must create clarity for this issue when we are speaking of innocent lives, children, women, folks just like us and those who are watching, who wake up every day, expect to go to work and expect to come back to a family and be able to live a regular life. However, that opportunity is so absent and so lost with what we are seeing in Gaza and the West Bank that even the idea that these people can return to a kind of normalized life is so far out of the frame that it is truly tragic. Canada can be a leader towards global peace if we will it.

I mentioned in my speech that we have our own history and that we are working towards a better relationship with our own history of imperialism and colonization. We have so much more to do in our own country for the equality of indigenous people here that it is going to take immense reflection by all of us to truly see how important it is. Whether it is Quebec or my tiny Métis community in Alberta, we are united by laws of just basic humanity, and I hope that those basic laws of humanity I spoke of can translate across the globe towards peace and security for all those persons who are innocent.

[Business of Supply, March 18th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we are speaking of a terrible and egregious reality facing the innocent lives in Gaza. Not everyone who is a child or an innocent woman is a terrorist. Not every single one of them there is in fact being used as a human shield. These are innocent lives. I spoke about a 14-day-old baby. This is unimaginable horror that we are witnessing.

It is a time in our history and a moment in this country and this Parliament for Canadians, and I call on all Canadians to stand for the very basic human liberties of those who are innocent, no matter in what conflict. I expect all members would have the kind of heart to see that these children deserve life, like all children do.

[Business of Supply, March 18th, 2024]

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

In my tradition, we learn that human life is sacred. It is sacred because our mothers carry us, nurtured by the bounty of this wonderful place, this generous earth. We are brought here to witness and experience this place's majesty and its beauty, a truly wonderful gift. It is one that is granted to each and every one of us so we may cherish it and ensure that this gift is passed onto the next generation.

That is a message so clearly and consistently voiced by my, and so many, elders here on Turtle Island that it has given strength to countless leaders throughout time and I hope to all of us here today, because the opportunity of the gift of life for countless Palestinians, particularly children, is at grave risk.

In the tradition of my people, there is a law. In our language we say wahkohtowin. It teaches us that we are all related, that the suffering and pain of one is truly the suffering and pain of all of us. In the words of one of my elders who has now passed, former veteran and famed Métis political leader, Jim Brady, “Our ideals are the ideals of the common people throughout the world. We rejoice at the success of the common people in other lands and exalt in our solidarity throughout the world in the common fight for human liberty, human happiness, peace and progress.”

Today as the shadow of war, famine and loss of innocent human life continues to ravage the world, we must have the courage to stand for those who cannot. We must work toward that very same human dignity, human happiness, peace and progress for all. That includes dignity, happiness and peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike. This includes the families of the hostages and particularly the victims of the terrorist attack on October 7, 2023.

However, the collective punishment of Palestinians is simply unacceptable. The indiscriminate killing of children, women and whole families; forced internment; loss of oral history and culture; and ultimately the loss of land, is ethnic cleansing. In northern Gaza, one in six children under the age of two is acutely malnourished, and media reports have indicated that at least 20 children have died from human-made starvation in recent days, including a 14-day-old baby.

UN human rights experts continue to express concern over egregious violence against women in Gaza and the West Bank, including sexual assault, rape and arbitrary detention, and the withholding of food and water. Now, over 85% of the total population of Gaza has been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly one million women and girls.

A last verified news report from October 31, 2023, states that over 600 families were wiped off the civil registry. That means that all of the family members across multiple generations were killed. Here we are five months later, and the civil registry system itself has now all but collapsed.

Today, a new UN-backed report on food security says famine is the immediate threat in northern Gaza, with catastrophic hunger for 70% of the population as Israel began its renewed attacks on the aI-Shifa hospital this morning. The sheer scale of the siege in Gaza is unfathomable. With over 30,000 deaths, it is difficult to imagine the pain.

I, like many of us in this place, have received thousands of emails and other messages from constituents across the country asking for the NDP motion to pass today. Let me remind members that Canada is a country that is unique among many. Our history of colonialization; the taking away of children, as in my family; the murdering of indigenous women; and the lack of infrastructure, clean water and food in indigenous communities are still ever-present here at home.

Although we cannot change our past, we can change our future. Canada can and must be a global leader toward the peace, dignity and self-determination of nations here at home and in Palestine. That is why today I urge my colleagues to demand an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages, to support an arms and technology embargo on Israel, to officially recognize the state of Palestine, and to work towards a two-state solution. In addition, we demand the unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.

The government must ensure that Canadians and their families trapped in Gaza, and their families elsewhere, can reach safety, and it must lift the arbitrary 1,000-application cap. Under the current temporary resident visa program for extended family members in Gaza announced by IRCC on January 9, only 12 people from Gaza have received approval to travel. Shamefully, no one from Gaza has yet arrived in Canada. According to the IRCC ministry, the 12 individuals had to independently manage to complete their own applications and provide biometric data, all while bombs were dropping. These 12 individuals were responsible for arranging their own travel to Canada, but none have arrived. This is a tremendous failure.

In my riding of Edmonton Griesbach, there are 110 family members of Canadians who are stuck in Gaza. Our constituents have reached out to us about helping them access the special measures. We have consistently informed the minister of their names, information and updated whereabouts, and he has yet to respond to even one of them.

The motion before us comes to Parliament because of the unity of Palestinian organizers, courageous activists, students, progressive Jewish organizations and peacemakers here in Canada. In addition to brave voices like theirs, we also have indigenous solidarity from the Assembly of First Nations, the Sámi Parliament, Grand Chief Wilton Littlechild, Paul First Nation's Bearhead Sisters and indigenous nations across Turtle Island and the globe.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank my constituents, particularly Palestinian families and youth, for their resilience and steadfast love, courage for their cause, and the very painful memories they share with me. Edmonton families have stepped up and given aid in the form of time, money and supplies to the Palestinians in Gaza through constant fundraising efforts by Islamic Relief, the Canada Palestine Cultural Association and many others in my city of Edmonton. Even small businesses like Made in Palestine have been giving a portion of their sales in aid to the people of Gaza.

I particularly want to thank the Canada Palestine Cultural Association's board chair, Randa Alhijawi for her work and incredible advocacy. Her organizing and support for the Palestinian community in Edmonton is truly exemplary, and we owe her our gratitude for her thankless work and teachings for the young people. Randa is truly a beacon of hope in these truly dark times.

To conclude, I want to acknowledge that many who recognize the holy month of Ramadan are doing so in grief and loss for the thousands killed and under threat as Netanyahu continues to prevent and obstruct worshippers from praying at Al-Aqsa Mosque. My thoughts are with those are breaking their fasts with lemon and grass in the absence of nourishment. Although many cannot pray or eat, it will be up to all of us to pray for them this Ramadan. Louis Riel, our famous Métis leader, once said, “We may fail. But the rights for which we contend will not die.”

Cease fire now.

[Housing, February 15th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, a new report on rent prices across Canada confirms what Canadians already know: Rent prices are skyrocketing while real estate CEOs are making record profits.

Which city had rental prices go up the fastest? It is my home city of Edmonton. That is because the Liberals are leaving it up to Danielle Smith and corporate developers, who are failing to build homes that people can actually afford.

When will the government act to lower rents so people in Edmonton have a place to call home?

[Foreign Affairs, February 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, as Netanyahu bombed Rafah, the supposed safe zone, over 75 Palestinians were killed overnight. We are witnessing a crime of unproportionate horror in Gaza every day. Children are left orphaned as entire families are wiped out in this onslaught. Meanwhile, the Liberals continue to arm Netanyahu with over 28 million dollars' worth of military exports since October alone.

How many more Palestinian children have to be killed before the government ends arms exports to Israel?

[Health, February 5th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Danielle Smith is denying trans kids their basic human rights by denying their access to life-saving health care. It is not the role of politicians to tell doctors how to treat patients. Meanwhile, the leader of the Conservative Party remains shamefully silent on attacks on trans rights. The hate and prejudice of some should never override the fundamental rights of others.

Will this government commit to using the powers of the Canada Health Act to intervene in any denial of life-saving care for trans youth?

[Lowering Prices for Canadians Act, February 2nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of Bill C-352, which seeks to amend the Competition Act and the Competition Tribunal Act to increase competition and lower prices for Canadians.

In order to do this in a way that builds confidence for Canadians, one must understand the philosophies of the Liberal and Conservative parties. Canadians are going to be shocked to find that they are actually quite similar in their approach to the market and how the needs and wants of Canadians are met or not met, in many cases.

We know that Canadians across the country, both unionized and non-unionized labour, are falling further behind, yet they are doing everything right. Some of them have to pick up extra jobs or take a side gig while missing time with their families, not having the chance to see their kids off to bed or being able to see them in the morning. They are just working too hard.

No Canadian, no matter where they are, from coast to coast to coast, should have to work more than one full-time job in order to put a roof over their head, food on their plate and to make sure their kids have what they need. That is the promise that New Democrats have been consistent about. We know that the material wealth and the material need of Canadians is paramount to how they participate in our democracy.

Our great tradition in Canada is a democratic one that says that each and every one of us, no matter who we are, where we live, how much we make or who we love, has a chance to participate, that Canada is our home. As a matter of fact, Canadians from every corner of our country have died for this promise. Those who bravely fought overseas during World War II fought the terrible, fascist regime of the Nazis to stand up for the very basic principles that we all stand for today. Those principles say that we should be able to participate in our democracy without hindrance and without discrimination.

However, we have not done the work to ensure that the social rights of those individuals are met so that they could actually enjoy the democratic rights that they are granted. How do we fulfill the social rights of Canadians? It is particularly important to delineate the wants and needs of Canadians. It is important to ensure that we have housing, food, clean water and an environment where we can actually breathe fresh air. These are not things that Canadians should lack or have to beg for. They should not have to work four jobs for these things. They should just work one and be able to get the social supports to exercise their democratic rights.

The Conservatives and the Liberals have an interesting philosophy when it comes to the market. They say that we should just incentivize every single billionaire out there to do the government's job of helping people. We spoke, for example, to the real estate executives in our country. They have been clear that they cannot solve the housing crisis we are seeing in Canada. I wish that the Liberals and Conservatives would listen to that.

Those who are motivated to make money in the housing sector have said that they cannot create the conditions for all Canadians to have a home. When we hear that, it is up to social democrats to then say the failures of liberal policies, both the liberal policies of the Conservatives and the liberal policies of the Liberals are actually challenged, that we introduce the social democratic principles that are important to ensuring that they get the true wealth transfer that is required to exercise their democratic rights.

It has often been commented, especially today in the 21st century, particularly by my generation, that there is a lack of understanding of that in this place. We no longer debate these principles. All we hear from the Conservatives is slogans, four of them. They will not even speak about the fact that their philosophy to motivate the private market is failing here at this stage that we are in in capitalism, which is the ultimate late-stage capitalism that has billionaires and oligarchies across our country controlling the exclusive means of production.

When that happens, what we see is price fixing, price gouging and people falling behind. I wish that my Liberal and Conservative colleagues would take this seriously. Instead, what we are going to hear for many more months to come from every single Conservative on that side is four slogans. Those four slogans will be said over and over again. They will not even engage in the reality of their tradition of working with the Liberals to pat the backs of their lobbyist friends. Now they are upset because we are calling that out.

Conservatives and Liberals are upset because they will not admit that, for consecutive decades in our country, they have benefited from the immense tax breaks they have given their friends. It is very clear that the chief strategist for the Conservative Party, a lobbyist for Loblaws, is in this exact position. I am sure that the strategic advice from the Conservatives' chief strategist is to not take into account the reality that her boss, Galen Weston, is gouging Canadians and fixing the price of bread.

We need more courage in this place in order to understand these circumstances and to bring forward good ideas because Canadians are running out of hope due to not hearing solutions. They are hearing the problem. To give credit to the Conservatives, I think they have done a good job outlining the concerns and the feelings of Canadians. That is something we agree on. We agree that Canadians are falling behind. We agree that Canadians are being price gouged. We agree that housing is more unaffordable now than ever, but we disagree with the solutions.

We know that taking four cents off a $100 basket of groceries is just not going to cut it. Cutting the carbon tax is four cents off a $100 basket of groceries. GST is higher than that. New Democrats are consistent in our approach that the immense record profits of these companies that are not held accountable need to be reined in. We need to break up these oligarchies. We need to support our small and medium-sized businesses. We need to fill the social gap that exists when we allow megacorporations to continue with their never-ending and continuous appetite against working people in our country.

I invite members of both the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party to engage with New Democrats in this debate in a meaningful way beyond slogans. They need to present more solutions. This is one of them, and we hope they support it.

[Foreign Affairs, February 2nd, 2024]

Madam Speaker, Gaza is the most dangerous place to be a journalist. There have been 122 journalists killed in Netanyahu's onslaught. Mansour Shouman, a brave reporter in Gaza, a Canadian and a fellow Albertan, has been missing for over a week. Eyewitnesses say that he was taken into custody by the Israeli army. His mother is worried sick and said that the government has not done enough to keep her informed about his whereabouts.

Can the government commit to Mansour Shouman's mother and all his loved ones that it will do everything in its power to bring him home?