Kellie Leitch

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think all members of this House express their condolences to the family and are deeply concerned with respect to this tragic issue.

As I have said multiple times in this House today, we have taken action and we will continue to take action. I want to commend those who are part of the special parliamentary committee that is looking into this issue.

I encourage all members of this House to join with the government. Let us make sure that we are taking action to deal with this tragic issue.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite mentioned, I think we all mourn when a family loses a loved one. As I mentioned before, we express our condolences. I express my condolences to the family of this young woman.

With respect to action, our government has taken action. We have invested in economic action plan 2014. We have invested additional funds with respect to a DNA-based missing persons index.

We have taken action. In fact, this government has focused substantially on action, and we encourage the opposition members to join us in that action.

[Aboriginal Affairs, February 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, first let me express my condolences to the family and friends of Loretta Saunders.

The one thing I will note is that our government has taken concrete action to deal with the tragic issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women. In fact, in economic action plan 2014, we will invest an additional $25 million to deal with this tragic issue.

What I say to the member opposite is that we have taken action and we will continue to do so. Why do you not stand up for aboriginal women?

[The Budget, February 14th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been focused on making sure women have access to jobs and that they can enjoy the prosperity of Canada.

Whether that be young women who now have access to the apprenticeship loan program or whether that be the young women I have met who are out learning skilled professional trades and will benefit from the Canada job grant, we are focused on making sure women have jobs and have a high quality of life for their families.

We encourage the Liberals on the opposite side to get with the program, and let us get Canadians jobs.

[Library and Archives Canada, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, the accusations are false. Original documents have and will be preserved.

[Library and Archives Canada, February 13th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to be here this evening. It has been a little while since I have been here for a late show.

I want to be very clear. What the member opposite has stated is absolutely false. It is concerning to me because, to the credit of public servants across the country, they take great care of all the documents that are made available not only to those of us in the House of Commons but also to the Canadian public.

The original materials have been and will be preserved, to answer one of the questions the member opposite had.

As for duplicate materials, some may be made available to the public; others have been disposed of in an environmentally conscious manner, as has been outlined previously in this place.

Information that was available in a library continues to be available online. This is a digital age. We are delighted that the archives and the libraries across the country have been able to digitize many materials so that we have those available to Canadians. And these are actually more accessible to Canadians.

Having grown up in northern Canada, coming to a national archive or to a library in a large central location was something that was unheard of to me. In Fort McMurray, Alberta, there are now these great things called “computers”, and I can look up anything online anywhere in the country, which is fabulous.

So I am delighted that we now have more Canadians and more individuals who have access to this information and in a responsible way, while ensuring that we are taking care of taxpayer dollars.

[Status of Women, December 10th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Mississauga South for her outstanding work on the committee for status of women on this final day of the 16 days of activism.

Preventing violence against women is a priority of this government and that is why we have taken decisive action, whether it be launching our popular proposals for local community projects to prevent cyber and sexual violence or introducing legislation that would give police and prosecutors new tools to address cyberbullying. Just yesterday, our government announced the RCMP enforcement team to combat human trafficking.

We are focused on ensuring Canadians are supported. I thank all Canadians who participated in the 16 days of activism against gender violence. By working together, we will actually deal with this issue.

[Status of Women, December 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already mentioned, we have invested significantly in ensuring communities across the country have had support.

Most important, during the 16 days of action against violence against women and girls, I encourage the NDP members opposite to wear a ribbon, get involved in a community project and ensure they attend a vigil tomorrow evening. These are things that Canadians care about. These are things that Canadians are participating in. It is what this caucus has been participating in every day over the last 16 days, and every day of the year.

[Aboriginal Affairs, December 5th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I have mentioned in the House before, we are focused and committed against any violence to women and girls.

Our investment in local-based community projects has been unprecedented. In fact, we have invested over $62 million since 2007 in local community projects. This is what individuals are asking for. This is what aboriginal Canadians have spoken to us about. In the last number of years, we have invested in seven very specific and targeted projects with aboriginal communities across the country.

I look forward to the NDP stepping up and helping us support these communities.

[Status of Women, November 25th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier today, this is the beginning of the 16 days of activism to end violence against women and girls. I want to commend all the parliamentarians this morning who participated in the excellent event with the YWCA, supporting shelters and ensuring we are moving forward on that file.

Just as I mentioned, we put forward a call for proposals on cyber and sexual violence. We are focused on community-based projects. In fact, we have had over 600 projects since 2007 to look at eliminating violence against women and girls. I encourage the New Democrats to support these programs. They never have in the past and I encourage them to do so now.