House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2011, with 49% of the vote.
Aboriginal Affairs November 25th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, four homes for more than 80 people left homeless is no solution. For five years people in Attawapiskat have been living in construction trailers. This is about more than just fixing the fire damage. These were supposed to be a temporary emergency response.
Like too many first nation communities, Attawapiskat needs a long-term housing plan. Will the government agree to work with the community of Attawapiskat so that no one has to move back into a temporary trailer?
Drug-Free Prisons Act November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Surrey North for that very good speech, but I am going to add to his perplexity.
On the one hand, the Conservatives say they are opposed to the trafficking of women, girls, and boys in this country, yet yesterday we learned that Status of Women Canada has stopped the funding for a shelter in Edmonton that dealt specifically with women and girls who were being trafficked. The Conservative government is claiming that it is aiming for a zero tolerance, drug-free policy in prison, yet on the other hand it does not invest in rehabilitation and treatment.
A zero tolerance stance to drugs in prison is an aspiration rather than an effective policy. I want to quote the report from the Office of the Correctional Investigator for 2011-2012, which stated:
A “zero-tolerance” stance to drugs in prison...simply does not accord with the facts of crime and addiction in Canada or elsewhere in the world. Harm reduction measures within a public health and treatment orientation offer a far more promising, cost-effective and sustainable approach to reducing subsequent crime and victimization.
I wonder if the member for Surrey North could comment on that.
Petitions November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, in my final petition, the petitioners call upon Parliament to impose a moratorium on the release of genetically modified alfalfa to allow proper review of the impact on farmers in Canada.
Petitions November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the second petition calls on the Parliament of Canada to support Bill C-201, which would allow tradespersons and indentured apprentices to deduct travel and accommodation expenses from their taxable income so they could secure and maintain employment at a construction site that would be more than 80 kilometres from their home.
That bill was presented by the member for Hamilton Mountain.
Petitions November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, I have three petitions to present.
The first petition asks the House to amend the Navigable Waters Protection Act. The Cowichan River on Vancouver Island in B.C. has experienced dangerously low water levels in recent years. The situation poses a significant health risk to salmon stocks. The Cowichan River supplies drinking water and recreation opportunities to thousands of residents.
The petitioners call upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-495 and to reinsert the Cowichan River into the Navigable Waters Protection Act.
Aboriginal Affairs November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' own national panel on elementary and secondary education on reserve said, “education reform must be based on strong, positive...outcomes, not on an average cost per student approach”.
They saw the indications of a gap in funding, the lack of equipment, few supports for special needs students and school facilities in disrepair.
The minister can act now to close that gap. Will he commit to providing equitable funding for on-reserve students?
Aboriginal Affairs November 22nd, 2013
Mr. Speaker, at the AFN youth summit this week, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs said he may consider withdrawing the proposed education legislation. B.C. first nation educators have already come out against the Conservative education plan and so have chiefs in Ontario and Quebec.
Why is the minister waiting? He should withdraw his proposal right now. What first nation educators, students and communities want to know is whether the minister will work with them instead of imposing legislation.
Aboriginal Affairs November 6th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, the courts have struck down parts of budget 2012. The Conservatives' unilateral changes to social assistance in Mi'kmaq communities targeted Canada's poorest citizens, and the Conservatives could not even say who their changes would affect.
Would the minister admit his mistake and abandon his plan to gut social assistance?
Aboriginal Affairs November 5th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, first nations schools on reserve can only dream of having $14,000 per student per direct delivery of education. In a recent CBC interview, it was indicated that the federal government spends well over $1 billion annually educating aboriginal children, although much of that money goes to provincial governments, since most of the kids go to provincial schools. When first nations kids on reserve go to provincial schools, they have to pay the provincial school rate, which means even less for the first nations students on reserve.
I come back to my original question. In the section on regulations, which is where the minister said the funding will be defined, it says that the minister may make any regulations. There is a huge amount of discretion in what the minister would do with regard to funding. Nowhere in the draft regulations or in this draft document does it talk about equitable funding comparable to provincial schools.
When will the government provide equitable, comparable funding to provincial schools for first nations on reserve? When?
Aboriginal Affairs November 5th, 2013
Mr. Speaker, we go from lack of consultation and accommodation with regard to resource development to lack of consultation and accommodation with regard to the first nation education act.
I asked the minister whether or not he would look at closing the funding gap. In the minister's response, he said that they would pay the cost of education at the secondary and elementary levels for first nations, but it was lacking in any kind of true commitment in detail.
I want to turn, for a moment, to a letter written on June 13, 2011, from the then provincial minister of education in British Columbia to the then minister of aboriginal affairs. There are a couple of points in here that are important. The minister is talking about a number of agreements that take place between B.C. first nations and the Province of British Columbia. He says that, “The form of agreement between the province and an interested first nation is significant. It is not a typical agreement as between the province and a service provider. It is a government-to-government agreement. Much of the language that typically is in a service agreement is not in this agreement. In this respect, it is unique and recognizes the TCA 2005 commitment to strengthen the relationship on a government-to-government basis”.
In the closing of the letter it says, “While the province and first nations often go forward on parallel agendas, the province does not provide oversight of first nations' education on first nations' lands, nor over the various initiatives of the FNSA or FNESC. This respects the integrity of the commitment of establishing a new relationship based on mutual respect and recognition”.
Those two points are important when we come to talk about funding.
I also want to mention the report “Nurturing the Learning Spirit of First Nations Students”. That report clearly outlined statutory funding that is needs-based, predictable, sustainable and used specifically for education purposes.
The minister led any listeners, and this House, to believe that somehow what is in the draft proposal meets that requirement. In fact, it does not.
I want to turn to something that comes from Australia. It is a document that talks about what ministerial obligations are.
In the introduction, it says:
how to determine whether a legislative provision imposes an obligation or confers a discretion;...
It goes on to talk about a particular section, section 33.
(1) states:
In any Act or instrument, the word 'may', if used to confer a power, indicates that the power may be exercised or not, at discretion.
(2) states:
In any Act or instrument, the word 'shall', if used to impose a duty, indicates that the duty must be performed.
When I look at the proposal the government has put forward, in section 31(1), on funding, it says in the notes:
This provision establishes that the Minister may fund a First Nation or a First Nation Education Authority to operate one or more schools.
It is clear that the proposed legislation does not require the government to come up with equitable funding, equitable comparable funding, to what provinces provide for their students.
When will the government provide that equitable funding?