Dan Vandal

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 8th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), funding announced in budget 2023 will support evidence-based oil and gas decision-making in the Arctic offshore to ensure that any future oil and gas development in Canada’s Arctic waters is consistent with the highest safety and environmental standards and with Canada’s national and global climate and environmental goals.

The funding will support the co-development of a five-year climate and marine science-based assessment of Canada’s Arctic waters. The climate and marine research projects will complement the science-based research carried out as part of the initial five-year science-based review. The Government of Canada will commence work with northern partners to identify gaps in climate and marine-based research in the Arctic offshore, with a focus on climate change impacts across the region. The funding will also support work with northern partners to prepare a final report on the findings of the science-based assessment for consideration by the Government of Canada in respect of whether to maintain the moratorium.

With regard to part (b), the Arctic offshore oil and gas moratorium announced in December 2016 is indefinite and will remain in force until such time as it may be repealed.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for that excellent question.

Everyone knows that reconciliation with indigenous peoples and environmental protection have been key priorities for our government since it was elected in 2015. Since then, we have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in education, health and child and family services. We are working closely with provincial, territorial and indigenous governments.

Budget 2023 includes about $125 million in investments to implement a plan to fight violence against missing and murdered women. We are working closely with all our partners.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the member for her hard work, dedication and advocacy toward this very important cause throughout her life.

We know resource development is an important part of Canadian history and Canadian society, and it will be an important part of the future of Canada, likely even more so in the north. It is absolutely imperative that the rights of all indigenous people and the rights of indigenous women and girls be respected and not be compromised through any of that activity.

I have confidence that, working together with the member for Nunavut, the territorial governments, the provincial governments and industry, we can do better. That is something that is a mandate for all of us. We need to work with absolutely everybody in our society to make sure we do better.

[Red Dress Day, May 2nd, 2023]

Mr. Chair, I want to first say that I will be sharing my time with the member for Edmonton Griesbach.

This is the second consecutive year in which we have dedicated a take-note debate to the ongoing national crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. The timing of this debate coincides with the annual national day of awareness, which is this Friday, May 5, commonly known as Red Dress Day.

I would like to share with this House the story of how a red dress became such a potent and meaningful symbol. The individual I want to highlight is an artist with deep roots in my hometown of Winnipeg who shares a proud Métis heritage, Jaime Black. Jaime learned about the tragedy of the missing and murdered from Jo-Ann Episkenew, a Métis writer from Manitoba. She was also inspired in part by the image of a red dress on the cover of The Book of Jessica by Linda Griffiths and Maria Campbell. From this knowledge and inspiration, Jaime proposed an idea to the University of Winnipeg's Institute for Women's and Gender Studies, an installation of red dresses. Through her work, Jaime was also told by an indigenous friend that red is the only colour spirits can see.

On Red Dress Day, thousands of families, indigenous and non- indigenous, will feel closer to the memory and spirit of someone they have lost to this violence. This is more than just a day to hang up a red dress to remind us of those who have been murdered or are still missing. It is a day that calls for action to address the appalling circumstances that have allowed, and continue to allow, so many indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people to be murdered or disappear.

The first exhibition of Jaime Black's installation was at the University of Manitoba in 2011. Later that year, it was installed in the Manitoba legislature. In 2014, it became part of the permanent installation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Much has changed since 2011, when a young Winnipeg artist conceived the idea of displaying a red dress to draw public attention to the plight of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, a cause that has expanded to include 2SLGBTQI+ people. We know the work is very far from being done. Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people are still very much in danger. Each and every year, there are more names added to the list of the murdered and missing. I am acutely aware of this. In my hometown of Winnipeg, where I come from, the remains of murdered indigenous women have been found in landfills a shocking number of times. It has to stop.

I am thinking of the ongoing trauma, the scars that still linger today. Every story, every disappearance, every violent end re-traumatizes our community, our friends, our neighbours. This has to stop. As a Manitoban, Métis, father and grandfather of indigenous women and girls, I am deeply concerned. It is clear that we have a lot more work to do.

As members of the House, all of us are privileged to be able to rise today and add our voices to the chorus demanding that action be taken.

I acknowledge those who have worked tirelessly to advance awareness of this ongoing Canadian tragedy, including one Winnipeg artist who turned a red dress into a widely recognized symbol of the urgent need to make the world safer for indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

[Indigenous Affairs, March 7th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Yukon for all of his hard work on all these issues.

I congratulate the Métis National Council for 40 years of hard work for the rights of Métis across the homeland, building on the legacy of our ancestors. I commend Cassidy Caron for her stewardship of the council. I also commend and congratulate all the previous presidents of the Métis National Council over the last 40 years.

Our government is working hand-in-hand with MNC on issues such as reconciliation, housing and the environment. There is a lot of work to do, but we are making progress.

[Northern Affairs, February 14th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, our government is absolutely committed to transitioning northern and Arctic communities to clean, reliable and renewable energy. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the remote and indigenous clean energy hub. We have developed the indigenous climate leadership initiative.

Just last week I had a fantastic meeting with the Kivalliq hydro group. We have invested significant sums in the Kivalliq project, as well as in the Atlin project in Yukon and Taltson in Northwest Territories. There is a lot of work to do, but we are going in the right direction.

[Northern Affairs, February 14th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Fredericton for her important question. I know how hard she works, and I know she is absolutely passionate about this issue.

All Canadians, no matter where they live, deserve access to healthy and affordable food all year round. Just this month, increased subsidy rates are reducing the cost of food in communities across the north and the Arctic. Our government is funding the harvester support grant. It supported over 5,500 harvesters, 150 hunts and 120 food-sharing initiatives in its first year. Together, we are delivering locally led solutions for the north, by the north.

[Regional Economic Development, February 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Member for Calgary Skyview for all his hard work. The Prairies have unique needs and priorities, and only local communities know how to best address them. That is why our government is investing across the Prairies by opening seven new PrairiesCan offices across the Prairies.

Last week, I opened a brand new service location in Fort McMurray that will support the residents of northeastern Alberta in building a strong, competitive Prairie economy that benefits everyone. Over the last three weeks, I have also announced more than $46 million in federal investments creating—

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 30th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, insofar as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is concerned, the response is as follows.

Canada’s northern, remote and isolated communities face unique housing needs because of the challenges presented by geography, climate change, infrastructure and remoteness. Partners of the Arctic and northern policy framework identified the need to address housing in the north as part of the goal of supporting resilient and healthy northern and indigenous people. In response to these challenges, the Government of Canada, through budget 2021, provided the Government of Nunavut with $25 million to support its immediate housing and infrastructure needs.

The majority of Nunavummiut live in social public housing, and it is the territorial government, through its housing corporation, that is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the social housing stock. In the case of Nunavut, 14% of its operating budget is allocated specifically to support social housing.

The entire budget 2021 funding amount of $25 million has been allocated to the Government of Nunavut during the fiscal year 2021-22, and project-specific allocations are determined on a priority basis based on need, as determined by the housing corporation. This budget 2021 funding was provided to the recipient via a grant. This approach of using grant funding is consistent with the principles of self-determination, whereby it is the recipients of this funding who are best positioned to determine how it should be used. As a result, the department is unable to provide numbers in relation to the number of housing units that have been built or constructed or the number of housing units that are occupied, given that this responsibility resides with the territorial government.

[Questions on the Order Paper, January 30th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, insofar as Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada is concerned, the response is as follows.

Canada’s northern, remote and isolated communities face unique housing needs because of the challenges presented by geography, climate change, infrastructure and remoteness. Partners of the Arctic and northern policy framework identified the need to address housing in the north as part of the goal of supporting resilient and healthy northern and indigenous people.

In response to these challenges, the Government of Canada, through budget 2022, is providing $150 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to support affordable housing and related infrastructure in the north, of which $60 million will be provided to the Government of Nunavut; $60 million to the Government of the Northwest Territories; and $30 million to the Government of Yukon. Of this funding, recipients must use a minimum of 60% for housing, and the remaining amount for housing-related infrastructure.

The first $75 million of budget 2022 funding, with $30 million for Nunavut, $30 million for the Northwest Territories and $15 million for the Yukon government, has been allocated to recipients, and the remaining $75 million in funding is to be allocated in fiscal year 2023-24. The funding provided through budget 2022 to territorial governments is through a flexible grant, allowing for the territorial governments to advance their most pressing housing and infrastructure needs immediately. Through this budget 2022 investment and ongoing partnerships with Canada’s territorial governments, the Government of Canada is empowering its territorial partners to ensure that all northerners, both indigenous and non-indigenous, have access to sustainable and safe housing and is supporting the health and welfare of northerners using made-in-the-north solutions.

A large percentage of northerners live in social public housing, and it is the territorial governments, through their respective housing corporations, that are responsible for overseeing and maintaining the social housing stock. This budget 2022 funding allows for Canada’s territorial governments to continue to support housing and infrastructure projects in their respective territories.

The funding allocated to these territorial initiatives is determined on a priority basis based on need, as determined by the territorial governments’ housing corporations. This budget 2022 funding is provided via grant, and as such, there are no reporting mechanisms associated with the granting mechanism. This approach of using grant funding is consistent with the principles of self-determination, where it is the recipients of this funding who are best positioned to determine how it should be used.

As a result, the department is unable to provide numbers in relation to the number of housing units that have been built or constructed or the number of housing units that are occupied, given this responsibility resides with the territorial government.