Linda Duncan

[Federal Sustainable Development Act, May 24th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, first, I have to correct the hon. member, whom I appreciate dialoguing with and enjoy working with. I think everybody in the House supports the idea that there should be sustainable development, but that does not necessarily mean that we think the act is as it should be. To be absolutely correct, yes, there was hard work done by the committee, but in fact the government chose to ignore the majority of the recommendations made by the first review of the committee.

When we reviewed the bill, one of the strong recommendations came from the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. She supported a proposal that many of our witnesses heard, which is that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples should be specifically referenced in the bill. This was backed up by the justice minister, who said this last November:

With the direction and leadership of [the] Prime Minister...our government will support Bill C-262. The bill acknowledges the application of the UN declaration in Canada and calls for the alignment of the laws of Canada with the UN declaration.

However, here we have this environmental bill, and the government is refusing to incorporate UNDRIP. Could the member please explain why the government has refused to incorporate UNDRIP in the bill and respect indigenous rights?

[Nuclear Disarmament, May 23rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, May 24 is International Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament, a day when women legislators jointly express their deep concern about the existential threats to humanity and the environment from climate change, nuclear weapons, and unresolved international conflicts, in particular those between nuclear-reliant nations.

Tomorrow, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will call on governments, parliaments, and civil society to take action to end the threat of nuclear war.

I have joined other women parliamentarians in expressing support for the UN General Assembly's decision for a high-level conference on disarmament to advance effective measures to build a framework for a nuclear weapon-free world. As women representatives, we are proud of our home countries and our national identities, but we also recognize a common humanity. We recognize the need to collaborate in building a peaceful, secure, sustainable, and just world.

I invite my fellow Canadian women legislators to join me in supporting this initiative for peace.

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to put the same question to our Conservative friends here. I am going to give them the answer, because they do not seem to want to answer it.

I am proud to say that I come from the province of Alberta, where the first carbon tax was imposed, as much as British Columbia likes to brag about it. In 2007, the then Progressive Conservative government, of which at least one of the member's colleagues was a member, introduced what was called a carbon levy, but it was a carbon tax. That remains, and it is simply rising in value. It goes into research on cleaner technology, most of that money having gone to cleaning up the fossil fuel industry.

The person they laud, Preston Manning, has endorsed this, as has Jack Mintz, who is apparently the greatest economist ever, as quoted by the Conservatives.

I remain puzzled. One may ask the obtuse question, “How much is the carbon tax going to cost?” One could sit down with a few accountants and quickly figure it out. However, is the issue really that the member is opposed a carbon tax or levy?

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Timmins—James Bay raised this point, but the member may be able to expand on it.

The big issue seems to be disclosure of information, and the government promised to be open and transparent. The Liberals should follow the advice they are given when they travel to all of these international meetings that the commissioner complained about. They should listen to Britain's representatives, who have come here several times to brief us. The British have legislated their reduction targets, and every five years they up the ante on them. They have appointed an independent commission that not only advises on how to meet those targets but provides an audit of how well they have done and reports it publicly.

Does my colleague think that this kind of disclosure would be useful in this chamber as well?

[Business of Supply, May 1st, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the member will be surprised by who first proposed that there be a price on carbon.

Jon Harding of Imperial Oil said, that any climate policy should ensure the cost is applied evenly across the economy, maximize market mechanisms and minimize complexity and administrative costs. Preston Manning of the Manning Foundation supports the idea of full-cost accounting. He said, “It's eventually got to come. It's just fairly basic concept that, with any production of energy, you've got to figure out what are the environmental impacts and then the cost of avoiding or mitigating them and then integrating that into the price of the product.” Jack Mintz, who the Conservative Party loves to quote, heads the University of Calgary's school of public policy. He said, “a carbon tax would allow Ottawa to cut subsidies to all forms of energy”, which the Harper government promised, “and allow the market to function.”

Which government, and it was not British Columbia, first imposed the carbon tax in March 2007?

[The Environment, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians have waited patiently for their governments to act, two caribou herds in British Columbia are almost extinct. The remaining herds of mountain and boreal woodland caribou in B.C. and Alberta are also on the brink of extirpation.

Both federal law and Treaty 8 obligations require the Minister of Environment to intervene and stop further degradation of the critical habitat. Promised spending on future conservation just will not cut it. Would the minister now consider safety-net orders at least to spur a completion of effective provincial range plans to save this iconic species?

[Tobacco Act, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, there has long been a concern about flavoured tobacco drawing in youth who begin smoking it at an early age, and then we have other Canadians addicted. I am wondering if the member supports adding menthol and cloves as prohibited additives in all tobacco products so as to discourage young people from being drawn toward tobacco products because they find them appealing.

[Aboriginal Cultural Property Repatriation Act, April 26th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, I would like to follow on the comments of my colleague. The experience in Alberta has been that many indigenous people are trying to repatriate items that were taken from them. Certainly in the period of colonialism, many artifacts were stolen. We just have to go to the Museum of Anthropology at the university in Vancouver to see all those artifacts that are stored away. Is the member not willing to include in his bill that surely the most important thing is to have measures to assist indigenous peoples of Canada who wish to repatriate artifacts that were taken from them, as opposed to people who have them trying to find a way to give them up? Does the member's bill deal with that? Is he willing to have measures such as that? Has he spoken with indigenous Canadians on how that might be incorporated into his bill?

[Business of Supply, April 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate how profoundly the member believes in her portfolio.

The point is that the Pope is beloved and he speaks up for human rights. Therefore, I think it has come as a bit of a shock to many, including the indigenous people of Canada, that he has rejected this request. We understand there may be complications and maybe there has to be some work done by the church leaders in Canada to approach him for that apology. That is why it is so important for all of in this place today, elected representatives, to support the indigenous people of Canada, to say that we are behind them, and that the Pope should apologize and deliver on part of the responsibilities for reconciliation.

[Business of Supply, April 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his lifelong dedication to this. I also thank him for raising the issue of the treaties.

As the member is aware, he has been working with me and with one of the historic treaty chiefs of Alberta, Chief Burnstick of Alexander First Nation. Because he is so frustrated at the lack of respect for the rights under the treaties, he has approached me and asked me to help him arrange a meeting with the Governor General. Many of the chiefs and the elders in Alberta still believe that the crown is represented by the Governor General, as representative of the Queen.

There is a deep sadness across the country that they, in good faith, signed treaties. As the former National Chief, Shawn Atleo, reminded us, we are all treaty people. Therefore, this is one of our many obligations under those treaties to seek this apology from the Pope as one small measure.