Blake Desjarlais

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith for her consistent advocacy. I had the opportunity to visit her community to speak directly with indigenous folks who are experiencing many of the difficult issues she has spoken about, particularly some of the issues related to murdered and missing women.

What she spoke about just now is a sad and terrible truth. For 21 years, this woman has been missing. I was there, and I was able to feel her spirit in the people's advocacy with posters and signs. Her name was spoken daily in Nanaimo—Ladysmith when I went to visit. However, the solutions need to be solutions of accountability when it comes to ensuring that our sisters are found.

The police need to take an honest and clear look in the mirror to understand what their obligations are. As a matter of fact, we need a national inquiry into the conduct of police when these things happen.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I have the great pleasure of sitting with my hon. colleague on the public accounts committee and often find that her words are not only guiding, but in this particular case, provide me another opportunity to speak to the solutions. I appreciate that.

I said in my speech, and I will talk again about where resources need to go. The government cannot be the decider and the administrator of all solutions, particularly this solution.

We know that indigenous-led organizations, and the example I gave was indigenous youth organizations, are doing work, such as peer-to-peer support. They are the ones dealing with those who need the support most, and they are the ones who need the support. It should be our job in this place to support those who are best supporting indigenous advocates and those working on the ground. It is an opportunity for us right now. We can do this. We can do this tomorrow, as long as we have the will.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, that is such a good question, and it hits on part of the solution. I am very grateful for the member's candidness in offering of this topic and giving me a chance to deliberate on and talk about the need to ensure this.

Men, particularly indigenous men, have also suffered the kind of history that indigenous women had to, but they suffer through that in a different way. They suffer that in a way that has often resolved itself in substance abuse, broken families and not knowing how to teach our loved ones what it takes to have a good and stable family. That is something this country has taken from so many men, particularly indigenous men.

That is why we need to see investments in indigenous healing circles for men. I have been part of indigenous men's circles, bringing in and holding other men accountable for their actions. Nine out of 10 times, I have found that those men are remorseful. They break down, cry and commit to doing better. They show up every single day, and that circle grows.

We can bring these men into a position where they understand, one, that what they are doing is harmful; two, that it needs to end; and three, that they can be part of the solution and ensure that other men continue to be part of the solution.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, today, as in times before, I unfortunately have to rise in this place to speak to this issue. I am a new member of Parliament. I have sat in this chamber for less than two years, and we are again debating the crisis facing murdered, missing indigenous women and two-spirit folks.

This is not just a crisis. We often talk about this being a crisis, but these are people's lives, just like those of my colleagues and just like mine, and they have been affected so greatly by mistreatment, neglect and, oftentimes, ignorance. It is the will of ignorance when it plays out this way.

What I mean by that is those times when we know that solutions exist, and there are champions to implement them, but we do not show up to the table with the resources to support them. That is one of the most critical problems we are here to address. It is one I want to highlight in a different way.

The last time I spoke to this issue, I spoke about my family. I spoke about my mother, who is no longer with us. I spoke about my sister, who is no longer with us. I spoke about the people in my life who are not here anymore. There are individuals right across this country who feel the same way I do. They feel robbed of the kind of justice that Canadians deserve. They feel neglected by the systems that were built to support us. We feel broken by a country that does not want to see who we are.

There are fundamental questions about what kind of country we want to build. Who belongs in this country? When we allow women to be murdered, go missing and find themselves in dumps, that is not a society that values indigenous women and two-spirit folks.

We think we understand this issue, when it is far greater than its results. What I mean by that is that the issue that is present to indigenous people is much greater than the consequences we often find ourselves in. We are talking about the consequences of serious issues. We are talking about the consequences of government in action. We are talking about the consequences of wilful racism. We are talking about the consequences of genocide.

In order for us, and all Canadians, to understand how deeply important this issue is, we have to understand how deeply wounded our country is. Canada may present itself to the world as just. We even, oftentimes, as members of this chamber, have a belief in the kind of country we have told ourselves is just. It is a process, not a destination. We need to ensure that we take more seriously the concerns and solutions of indigenous leaders in this place.

I spoke to young people who were invited here by my good friend, the hon. member for Edmonton Centre, to speak about what youth are doing, given this crisis. Young people are having to fend for themselves right now. They call it peer-to-peer support. They say that because they are only there for one another, when in fact they should have the support of the government. They even went so far to say that residential schools took so much from them, and now that the government recognizes that, it does not want to give anything.

Members of the New Democratic Party spoke previously about the things we need to do to see resources get into the hands of organizations such as A7G, the Assembly of Seven Generations, which has fought so long to see just one call to action implemented of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, call to action 66.

Although the willingness of the government was there to find people to do a report and to commission results, the results did not hit the mark. Those youth are still asking for support. Those youth are still here looking for ways to survive. Some of those youth found themselves in the street because of the failure of our inability to see the solutions and put the tools of those solutions in the hands of those who will do the work.

I will end with this: Indigenous youth are not just victims. Women, girls and two-spirit people are not just victims. They are resilient. They are here because of their will. They are here because they fought, and they are here because they are valued. They know that. We will stand with them, and we will not let up.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Madam Chair, in good Conservative fashion we began this conversation talking about the risks to indigenous women and have now gone to the discussion of resources. However, I digress.

I would like to ask the member a question with respect to her speech. She mentioned the right to consultation. Would she agree that the right to free, prior and informed consent includes the right to say no?

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Madam Chair, the member for Winnipeg Centre has been a tireless advocate for justice, for decency and for bringing our sisters home.

It is no secret that this prolonged and continuous genocide is persistent. It is persistent not only in the forms it has taken, such as violence against women or the results of poverty we are seeing, but it is also nefarious in the way the government operates. It is nefarious that it continues to limit the funding necessary to get to the organizations that need it most.

We have young people who are present with us today who need these kinds of resources. They need the support of their government to put that money into their pockets so they can do the work of community life saving.

Can the member speak about the importance of young people and their contributions to ending this crisis?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, May 1st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, at the very beginning of his speech, the hon. member spoke to the housing crisis. New Democrats are going to be in agreement with him on that problem. However, I think the solutions are where we differ most.

It is a fact that there is a housing crisis in Canada. It is also a fact that we are seeing houses being built, but they are only being built for those who can afford them. The market is guiding housing toward increased housing prices, creating a bubble. New Democrats have tabled a solution to ensure that there is non-market housing available, such as social housing, for example.

Could the member be so kind as to offer the House and his colleagues, who would like to hear some clear dialogue on this, a solution from the Conservatives, a solution as to what they would do, rather than and absent of cutting the carbon tax, the three cents they have been talking about? What is the real solution Conservatives are proposing here?

[Labour, April 28th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, today, as we mark the National Day of Mourning, we remember all those killed or injured on the job.

It has been over 20 years since the Westray act was passed. It provides a legal framework for workplace health and safety, and it imposes serious penalties on unsafe workplaces. However, the Liberals have refused to properly educate law enforcement or take steps to enforce it. It is shameful for all workers who continue to be put in dangerous situations.

Why does the government continue to ignore workers who deserve protections on the job? Will it enforce the Westray act?

[National Day of Mourning, April 28th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, for over 40 years, unions, families and communities have observed the National Day of Mourning to recognize all of those who have tragically lost their lives on the job, such as my dad, who left us when I was just 12 years old. He was killed on a work site in northern Alberta, where his employer recklessly failed to supply a safe work environment. To all those families like my own, I see them, I am with them, and together we will ensure that no more lives are lost.

In particular, I want to recognize the many single parents who were left shocked by the sudden workplace death of their partners and were forced to parent alone, like my mom did. To her and so many like her, I thank them for always being there for us.

Finally, I want to thank all of those who have shown kindness to the families who have lost their loved ones. It is because of their support that so many of us are able to stand to continue to fight for workers' justice today. It is the deepest of solidarity, and I will never forget that support.

To anyone who has time to spend with families and victims of workplace deaths at gatherings across Canada today, I thank them. It means the world to us.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1, April 27th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I apologize to my Bloc Québécois colleague for my inability to speak French at this time. I am learning.

In relation to housing, it is true that housing is a true crisis in our country. The reality is that we need to ensure there is outside the market to ensure the right to housing, for example, is truly met for those who cannot participate in it. The reality is we need to see social housing in our country. We need to see the federal government return to the business of building homes, and we need to do it quickly.

The reality is those corporations, those large investment trusts, are going to continue to get away with ripping off Canadians so long as we allow them to. We need to see the introduction of social homes and housing that is out of private market to ensure those who fall below the cracks and fall below the margins have a home. We know that a good life, good health care and a good education starts with a good and safe home.