House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 35% of the vote.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 19th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I want to be very clear from your ruling. I did see that exchange on Twitter and the question was about whether the Liberals had been meeting with mining companies and telling the truth. I am very concerned that this attack on the member for Nunavut has been made in the House when we know that Twitter is a separate issue.
Is the Speaker saying that it is not his jurisdiction to intervene in Twitter spats with members online?
Post-Secondary Education April 19th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, 60 years of education at Laurentian University is being trashed. Professors who built unique programs are being kicked out of the door without even access to their severance, students are being told not to come back even though they are halfway through their studies and the midwifery program has been gutted even though it has had its own funding.
The member for Sudbury is saying, “Hey, don't look to the Liberal government for any help”.
Here is the thing. We had an emergency debate, and the Liberals made all kinds of positive talk about Sudbury. Where is the plan to show up and work with the province to save this important francophone, anglophone and indigenous institution? Where is the backbone to help Laurentian and the people of Sudbury?
Fire Keeper Patrol April 15th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, the fight against opioids, fentanyl and homelessness has been a grim experience for people in the north, and every day we are losing people to overdoses. However, I want to speak of an incredible initiative that is bringing hope and saving lives.
The Fire Keeper Patrol is a mobile team working 24/7 on the streets of Timmins to help the indigenous homeless who all too often fall through the cracks. The fire keepers are acting on an initiative of the Mushkegowuk Council, working in partnership with the City of Timmins, Living Space, DSSAB and the front-line workers who have been keeping people alive through this crisis.
I was approached by the fire keepers about making their dream a reality, so my office got down to work. We got them the funding so we could get the resources deployed on the streets of Timmins.
We have a long way to go in dealing with the nightmare of opioid addiction and homelessness. We need more treatment facilities. We need the feds to actually put in place a national housing strategy.
However I want to thank the members of the fire keepers because their work will keep people alive and they will keep the citizens of Timmins safe. That is really important at this time.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, I represent a very large natural resources region, and we know that no projects get off the ground without indigenous consent. It is now a fundamental principle.
The issue of consent is important, because it is not just about saying “yes”; it is also about the ability to say “no” when a project has fundamental problems that threaten the environment of traditional territory. I know, from the days when I was working with the Algonquin nation in Quebec, that we actually had to have blockades to get anyone to come to the table. We are talking about a fundamental principle, a principle that has been defined in court case after court case, a principle that the issue of consent is fundamental when we are talking about resource development in Canada.
I would encourage the Conservatives to recognize that if they are willing to work with first nations communities, we are going to move a lot further ahead, but we have seen obstructions against UNDRIP year in, year out. UNDRIP needs to pass before we can move together as a nation.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague. He talked about what went on in his backyard, the lack of consultation with first nations people and the fact that first nations youth had to leave the north, again and again. What is happening in his backyard is the destruction of the indigenous languages, the indigenous education, the indigenous politics and environmental programs at Laurentian University. There has been no consultation with them and that member has gone to ground.
The member talks about how great it is that indigenous people can learn to drive trucks. Yes, they know how to drive trucks all right, but we have a world-class program at Laurentian to ensure access for indigenous youth not to have to leave the north, but to stay and be doctors, nurses or teachers. It is being wiped out and that member has not bothered to stand up and fight for them.
How can he have the nerve to talk about consultation with first nations now while this program is being wiped out on his watch?
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for her incredible passion and the work she has done on this file.
As we speak today, the people of Kashechewan are being forced to face another evacuation. Year in, year out, every spring, the people of Kashechewan have to leave their traditional territory because they are living in a community that is fundamentally unsafe. I bring this up at this point because we have had the Conservative government break agreements with the people of Kashechewan, we have had the Liberal government sign agreements with the people of Kashechewan, but there is no difference between the actions of either party. They continue to ignore the health and safety of people. The Liberals make promises, but do not follow through.
With other year of threat to people's very lives, having to leave their homes in the midst of a third wave of COVID, what does the member think about the government's failure to live up to the obligations of legal contracts that it has signed with indigenous people to guarantee human rights and justice?
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act April 15th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I agree wholeheartedly with the justice minister that getting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples passed is a fundamental human rights issue. I am concerned that we are once again at the 11th hour. We had so much opportunity to discuss these issues and now we are having to use time allocation. To me, this reflects a larger problem: The Liberals talk about working with indigenous people, but continue to ignore their legal obligations.
For example, I would like to ask the minister about the issue of St. Anne's Indian Residential School, where the justice department lawyers suppressed evidence, presented false narratives, lied at hearings and had cases thrown out. They are ignoring Justice Glustein, who has ordered them not to destroy the documents. They have set up this so-called process that is actually excluding over 160 survivors and will make no effort to even include them.
The minister has not even talked to the survivors, so how can he come to the House and talk about how the Liberals are going to work for reconciliation when they refuse to even speak with Edmund Metatawabin and the leaders of St. Anne's about the crimes that were committed in those hearings by justice department lawyers?
Laurentian University in Sudbury April 14th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, earth to Liberal cabinet: Laurentian University is on fire. What I heard from the minister was a lot of pats on the backs of the Liberals that everything is fine. Everything is not fine. That is why we are having an emergency debate.
There will be the destruction of the indigenous language program, the Anishinabe language, the Cree language, the training of a young generation of indigenous people who live in the north and stay in the north, in law, in politics, in environment. That is all gone. I have heard nothing from the member, who sits at the Prime Minister's table, about what they are going to do, nothing. We heard from the member for Sudbury that he is going to bring forward a private member's bill at some point in the distant future. They are abandoning Laurentian.
I want the member to tell us what her cabinet is going to do to help the people of Laurentian, particularly indigenous students.
Laurentian University in Sudbury April 14th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I was surprised to hear my colleague say that the francophone population in Ontario was 3%. In northern Ontario, is is 50%, and 70% in northeastern Ontario.
Laurentian University in Sudbury April 14th, 2021
Mr. Speaker, I understand the emotion in the voice of my colleague from Sudbury. This is a devastation of things we have built and believed in, not just for Sudbury but across the north. I would like to ask him about a couple of things.
My colleague talked about the amount of money that was put into capital projects recently. That would normally sound great, but when I look at what is under the CCAA, a lot of Laurentian's debts apparently came from a lot of these building projects. Now we see the stripping of the re-greening program, the water rehabilitation, as he talked about, the physics, the work that has been done on the university.
I appreciate the fact that my hon. colleague wants to bring forward a private member's bill, but we need more. This is not just the jurisdiction of the provincial government. The Prime Minister stayed at Laurentian. He held his cabinet meeting at Laurentian. This is a national symbol. We have a national moment here. Were there problems with the management, absolutely. However, what has my colleague asked the Prime Minister to do to help Laurentian so we can preserve this important institution for his children, my children and the children to come?