Gary Anandasangaree

[Residential Schools, June 1st, 2021]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the leader of the Bloc Québécois for his heartfelt comments this evening.

I would like to ask him about the TRC recommendations. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission gave us 94 calls to action that attribute specific actions, depending on the level of government and toward different civil society organizations.

Would the Bloc support us in ensuring that all these calls to action, which are the purview of the federal government, are passed and that we work together to ensure we are on this path toward reconciliation? Could we count on his support to move forward?

[Indigenous Affairs, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate that we are heartbroken by the discovery of the remains of the 215 children in Kamloops. This is a horrific tragedy that has once again deepened the wounds of the survivors of residential schools, their families and indigenous people across Canada.

We have worked with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to develop and maintain the national residential school student death register and to create an online registry of residential school cemeteries. We are also working with communities to develop culturally appropriate approaches to identifying the deceased children, locating burial sites and memorializing those who died.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly share in the grief that my friend for Nunavut has outlined. This is a national tragedy. It is one that our government has been working for the past six years to rectify. We are fully committed to implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action, all 94 of them, but most notably calls to action 72 to 76. We are also investing $33.8 million through budget 2019 in order to engage with the indigenous communities impacted by residential schools on how best to implement these calls. We look forward to working with everyone on this—

[Indigenous Affairs, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we are heartbroken at the discovery of the remains of the 215 children in Kamloops. This is a horrific tragedy that has once again deepened the wounds of survivors of residential schools, of their families and of indigenous people across Canada. We have been working with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to develop and maintain the national residential schools student death register and to create an online registry of residential school cemeteries.

We are also currently engaging with indigenous communities impacted by residential schools on how best to implement calls to action 72 to 76 and invest the $33.8 million—

[Indigenous Affairs, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we are heartbroken by the discovery of the remains of 215 children in Kamloops. This is a horrific tragedy that has once again deepened the wounds of the survivors of residential schools, their families and indigenous people across Canada.

We worked with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to develop and maintain the national residential school student death register and to create an online registry of residential school cemeteries.

We are working with the communities to develop culturally appropriate approaches to identifying the deceased children, locating burial sites and memorializing those who died.

[United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I always appreciate my colleague's comments, but I have to express a bit of disappointment in the position she is taking.

There has been extensive consultation. With respect to Bill C-262, I was with Romeo Saganash in many communities and on many travels with the INAN committee, where many people came out and talked about his direct engagement. The foundation of Bill C-15 is from Bill C-262, and our ministers, as well as other colleagues and I, were part of extensive consultations across Canada, even during the pandemic. In fact, during the INAN study itself we had many more people who came forward and spoke.

I do believe we have had a wide range of consultations, not perfect but extensive. We cannot say that we support UNDRIP in principle but are not ready to implement it. I would urge my colleague to reconsider her position, because this is a historic moment—

[United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, my colleague opposite spoke extensively about resource extraction. Throughout the debate, a number of his colleagues have stood and said the UNDRIP represents a veto and FPIC essentially means a veto.

Could the member highlight where in the text of Bill C-15 he finds the term “veto”, and if he could maybe give us more insight into why that misconception is being reiterated by his party and his colleagues throughout this debate?

[United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I noticed that the member hardly spoke about Bill C-15 and UNDRIP.

I do want to ask him a question. He was very much involved with the previous government. UNDRIP was accepted by the General Assembly 13 years ago. The previous Conservative government was in power for many of those years.

At what point would the Conservative Party accept UNDRIP and develop a plan to implement it or at least have a road map to success? The Conservative Party has consistently opposed it every step of the way, including with the blocking of Bill C-262 and Bill C-15.

At what point would the Conservative Party accept the principles of UNDRIP so it could be implemented into Canadian law?

[United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to ask my colleague and good friend about the amendments, especially with respect to the addition of the word “racism”. How important was that to complete Bill C-15?

I know the parliamentary secretary has done a lot of work on systemic racism, so I would appreciate her comments on that, please.

[Human Rights, May 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, on May 18, Tamils in Canada and around the world will mark the 12th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide. They will mourn, they will grieve, they will commemorate and they will resolve to never again be witness to such genocide and atrocity in our world. Sadly, this right to commemorate itself is under attack. The Sri Lankan state continues to desecrate memorials and threaten those who commemorate.

Despite these restrictions, Tamils on the island and around the world will join hands on May 18 in person or virtually to pay tribute to our fallen brothers and sisters, and recommit to ensuring that Tamils can live on the island with freedom, equality and self-determination. We will continue to be resilient and never be silenced. The monuments to those who were lost is etched in our collective memory and in our hearts. The march towards justice is long and painful, but we will continue until justice is served.