Charlie Angus

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in looking at the budget, I still feel that we are dealing with this shell game, with promises made but not necessarily kept in terms of indigenous children. What we are talking about is that 30% of that money will be the next government's mandate. That is not closing the gap; that is just putting out a press release.

We see that in child welfare the government is refusing to meet the standards. Cindy Blackstock said that the government is failing indigenous children. My real concern is that there are zero dollars to deal with the health care issues, particularly the mental health crisis in indigenous communities. With the suicide pandemic in so many communities, it astounds me that there are zero dollars to address health care in the budget. I want to ask my hon. colleague why the Liberals felt that was something they could skimp on.

[Request for Emergency Debate, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, suicide in indigenous communities is an international scandal. The entire world is appalled at the scale of the tragedy in northern communities and is urging the Government of Canada to take action. I therefore request an emergency debate about this tragedy because it is happening not just in Attawapiskat, but in all indigenous communities in Canada.

The crisis in Attawapiskat has gathered world attention, and people are looking to this Parliament to explain the lack of hope that is not just in Attawapiskat but in so many indigenous communities. They are looking to us in this new Parliament to offer change.

I am asking for this emergency debate because we do not have the opportunity in this session of Parliament to raise this through opposition day motions. We have raised individual questions in the House of Commons; however, that is not sufficient to be able to address the lack of mental health services, police services, and community supports in so many of the communities.

Also, question period is not sufficient for Parliament to talk about how we can actually build a national response, working with indigenous youth, families, and leaders, to actually bring a hopeful solution.

In closing, the Prime Minister called the situation in Attawapiskat heartbreaking, but it is up to us as parliamentarians to turn this into a moment of hope-making. That is why I am asking my colleagues to work with me, to work together, to discuss this issue tonight, and to start to lay a path forward to give hope to the children of our northern and all our indigenous communities.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 11th, 2016]

With respect to the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), and to the gap between identified immediate and future needs and current levels in infrastructure spending for First Nations in Canada: (a) what is the government’s estimate for the size of the deficit, broken down by category, such as, but not exclusively, (i) housing, (ii) education, (iii) water, (iv) roads and bridges, (v) other; (b) what is the number of hotel rooms and cost paid for by the government over the past ten years, broken down by year, due to emergency evacuations or housing shortages on reserve; (c) what is the number of schools on reserve designated as temporary structures; (d) what is the number of schools on reserve listed in (i) good condition, (ii) poor condition; (e) how many First Nations students across Canada currently attend school in facilities that lNAC believes contain health and safety concerns; (f) as of January 1, 2016, what new school construction projects are the top 40 priorities for INAC across Canada; (g) for each of the schools identified in (f), how long has INAC known that health and safety concerns existed in the current facilities; (h) since 2012, what amounts from the “Community Infrastructure” line item have been reallocated either within INAC or to other government departments; (i) how many communities, with projects identified by INAC as priority capital projects, have had letters of approval issued to them; and (j) for each year from 2012 to present, how much capital building expenditure funding, for the purposes of acquiring, building, expanding, improving or replacing educational facilities built on First Nations Reserves, was planned but not spent on schools and why, broken down by (i) year, (ii) community?

[Indigenous Affairs, April 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as parliamentarians, our primary responsibility is to make sure children in this country have hope, and we are failing them. I want to thank the minister for her positive words on Attawapiskat, but as the community said to me this morning, it should not take a state of emergency to get mental health workers to fly into a region that has had 700-plus suicide attempts.

There is no money in the budget for mental health services for indigenous children. I have this question for the minister. What is it going to take to end this cycle of crisis and death among young people? What are the concrete steps for the long term that the Liberals are going to put on the ground, not just in Attawapiskat but in all the indigenous communities of this country?

[Indigenous Affairs, March 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it has been over a month since the communities of Treaty 9 declared a medical state of emergency, and this weekend Canadians saw that shocking face in the children of Kashechewan.

I want to thank the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the Minister of Health for working with us on an emergency plan for the most severe cases, but they know the crisis is systemic—the mould, the lack of clean water, the need for a proper medical system.

Will the minister commit to a timeline and a plan so we can end this state of emergency and reassure these children that they can grow up in their communities, healthy, hopeful, and safe?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 11th, 2016]

With respect to water and wastewater systems in Indigenous communities across Canada: (a) what is the breakdown of water systems, broken down by (i) high overall risk, (ii) medium overall risk, (iii) low overall risk; (b) how many Indigenous communities had drinking water tanks and cisterns fail safety tests; (c) how many Indigenous communities had drinking water tanks and cisterns which received a one hundred percent pass rate on safety tests; (d) how many homes are reported to have no water service; (e) how many communities are currently under boil-water advisories; (f) of the communities in (e), what kind of advisory is in place and what are the names of the specific communities; (g) what is the breakdown of wastewater systems broken down by (i) high overall risk, (ii) medium overall risk, (iii) low overall risk; (h) how many Indigenous communities had wastewater systems fail safety tests; (i) how many Indigenous communities had wastewater systems get a one hundred percent pass rate on safety tests; (j) how many homes are reported to have no wastewater service; (k) how much money has the government spent on sending bottled water into Indigenous communities that are under boil-water advisories; (l) how many bottles of water has the government sent to Indigenous communities; (m) how much funding is required to end every boil-water advisory currently in place over the next five years; (n) how much funding is required to have all water and wastewater systems receive passing grades; (o) how much money is dedicated within the current budget and the current fiscal framework to improve water and wastewater systems on reserves; (p) with respect to the National Assessment of First Nations Water and Wastewater Systems National Roll-up Report, (i) how much of the estimated 783 million dollars was spent and is projected to be spent on water systems, (ii) how much of the estimated 300 million dollars was spent and is projected to be spent on wastewater systems, (iii) how much of the 4.7 billion dollars was spent and is projected to be spent over the next ten years; and (q) for each subsection in (p), what are the updated costs and needs for funding on water and wastewater systems?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 11th, 2016]

With respect to government funding: what is the total amount of funding, during the 2014-15 fiscal year, that was allocated within the constituency of Timmins — James Bay, specifying each department or agency, initiative, and amount?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, March 11th, 2016]

With regard to FedNor, for each fiscal year from 2009-10 to 2015-16: (a) what was FedNor's total approved budget; (b) how much of the budget in (a) was actually spent; (c) how much lapsed funding is eligible to be carried over to future years; (d) how much was allocated to the Northern Ontario Development Program; (e) how much was actually spent on the Northern Ontario Development Program; (f) how much was allocated to the Community Futures Program; (g) how much was actually spent on the Community Futures Program; and (e) what were the full-time equivalent staffing levels of FedNor?

[Indigenous Affairs, March 9th, 2016]

It is not a tragedy, it is a criminal crime.

[Indigenous Affairs, March 9th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the independent assessment process was supposed to bring justice to survivors. Instead, government lawyers in the Department of Justice had over 1,000 cases thrown out under the administrative split. We now find that justice department lawyers suppressed evidence about a serial pedophile at St. Anne's Residential School, and then told the hearings that the victims were simply lacking credibility.

This really puts Canada in the spotlight if the Minister of Justice cannot explain why this is happening. I am asking her: Will she do the right thing? Will she stand up in the House and say that she will meet the survivors and fix this?