Jane Philpott

[Indigenous Affairs, September 27th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the member opposite had the opportunity to visit this important community. I had the opportunity to meet with their past chief just a number of months ago, and I look forward to having the opportunity to meet the new chief very soon.

The issues this community has had to deal with are issues that no community should have to deal with. We have been firm in our commitment to support them. I have promised to support them in the development of a treatment centre for the people who have suffered from contamination of their water sources in the community, and we will continue to work with them to address all of their needs.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 19th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for drawing attention to the fact that this Thursday is National Indigenous Peoples Day. I encourage people to go online at Canada.ca to see all of the activities taking place across the country, including many in the national capital region.

Our government has embarked on a renewed relationship with indigenous peoples, one based on a recognition and implementation of rights on the basis of respect and partnership. This will be a great day to celebrate that new relationship.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 11th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to reassure the member for Nunavut that our budgets, both in 2017 and in 2018, had significant investments for mental wellness and addictions treatment. In fact, this year alone, for Nunavut, we have investments of $8.4 million for mental health priorities in that territory.

As the member may know, the funding allocations are determined in partnership with organizations like Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. We are also happy, of course, to work with the Government of Nunavut to make sure that we have appropriate investments. We will continue to work with all partners, and look forward to the opportunity to working with the member himself.

[Indigenous Affairs, June 4th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy on this issue. I am happy to report to the House that as of today we have lifted 62 long-term drinking water advisories for public systems on reserves.

Canadians really care about this, and finally we have a government that has the political will, the long-term investments, and the meticulous organization to work with communities to make sure that water operators are trained. We will continue to do this work with communities and make sure that all long-term drinking water advisories for public systems—

[Indigenous Affairs, May 31st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House we all agreed together, or at least most of the parties agreed, that we respect the rights of indigenous peoples. Our government has embarked on a new relationship with indigenous peoples. We are making the appropriate investments, $17 billion in the last three budgets. There are 13,000 homes being built across the country. There are 62 drinking water advisories that have been lifted across the country. There are new investments in schools, health care, and infrastructure. We are getting the work done.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 10th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, as the member for Winnipeg Centre points out, the challenges that indigenous peoples face in terms of mental wellness are complex and deep-rooted.

We have made significant investments in this area. Many people already know about the Hope for Wellness Help Line, which is now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in five languages. The good news this week is that the Hope for Wellness Help Line is now also available for online chat at hopeforwellness.ca. We hope many indigenous people, particularly youth, will take advantage of this new opportunity to seek support.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 7th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, as the member for Nunavut knows, our government has made unprecedented investments in mental wellness and addictions treatment for indigenous peoples. In the case of Nunavut, this includes $7.7 million last year in Nunavut for mental wellness and addictions. We have heard the call for a treatment facility in the territory, and we have funded a feasibility study to that end. We look forward to those results and to moving forward on this work.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I am grateful for the question from the hon. member for Kildonan—St. Paul. I believe that all members of this House are pressed with the urgent need to address health outcome gaps that exist between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians.

The member may know Jordan's principle. Up until our government came into office, there were no cases approved, but since we came into office, there have now been over 70,000 requests approved under Jordan's principle.

I believe the member may also be aware of the fact that we recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak—

[Indigenous Affairs, April 18th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Sudbury for his question.

I was delighted recently to make an announcement of a $1.6-billion investment in the first nations-led Watay Power that will bring hydroelectric power from the Ontario grid to 16 first nations.

This is the largest indigenous-led hydroelectric project in the history of the province, and it has the largest scope.

This will reduce GHG emissions, the equivalent of taking 35,000 cars off the road, and will create close to 800 new jobs.

[Indigenous Affairs, March 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for St. John's East for his advocacy on this issue. I hope that all members in this House were heartened to see that there are new investments in the order of $1.4 billion to support child and family services for indigenous families. This means that we will be able to achieve equity for first nations child and family services agencies. Even more than that, we will be able to support communities with prevention services, ensuring that children can be raised by their families, in their communities, surrounded by their language and culture. I hope we are all working hard to that end.