Megan Leslie

[Missing Aboriginal Women, May 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to the debate today with keen interest. I had an opportunity earlier to ask a question of my colleague, the member for St. Paul's, who moved this motion. I asked her why there should be an inquiry. Why, for example, in a Halifax courthouse, when two people have pleaded guilty to the murder of Loretta Saunders, do we need an inquiry? Why does her family want an inquiry? Why do activists in Halifax still want an inquiry, when those two people have pleaded guilty? Has justice not been served?

It is because violence against indigenous women is systemic. That is the real issue. That is what we need to get at with an inquiry. It is systemic in nature. It is both the cause of and is caused by poverty, poor health and mental health, economic insecurity, homelessness, lack of justice, addictions, and low educational attainment for indigenous women and girls. All of these things place these women in precarious situations where the risk of violence is greater. There is nothing that can realize justice except an inquiry into these issues.

I am really proud of the New Democrats' record on this issue. The member for Nanaimo—Cowichan has been a strong and consistent voice when it comes to the need for an inquiry. The member for Churchill, first as the status of women critic and now as the first nations, Inuit and Métis affairs critic, brought forward Motion No. 444, which calls for an inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women.

This fall, the NDP had an incredible day when our MPs flooded the House of Commons. There were enough of us present on that day that we were able to force a vote and take control of the House of Commons' debate for a day. It was an incredible thing to be part of. When members have the opportunity to take over debate, they can debate anything. There are a lot of really important issues that deserve the attention of the House, but we chose to debate murdered and missing indigenous women and the need for an inquiry.

I was so proud to be here that day, to sit in my seat and listen to the first NDP speaker on that debate, my colleague from Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, himself a residential school survivor who represents communities and comes from a community that know all too well the issue of murdered and missing indigenous women. He stood and gave an incredible, passionate, emotional speech, and that was one of my proudest moments in the House. I was so proud to know that these women, families, and communities realized just a bit of justice that day, not the justice of an inquiry but the justice of knowing that there is a group of MPs on the Hill and an entire political party that think this issue is important enough that we took control that day and debated this issue, and we are making it a priority.

Why have an inquiry? We have touched on it a little. The member for St. Paul's raised several very good reasons, and I want to add to those reasons. A national inquiry could actually compel witnesses' truthful testimony and could probe government institutions, like the RCMP and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. I will give credit to the RCMP. It has done an incredible job recently of realizing how important this issue is and that it has the power to do something. It put forward a report in which it gave us the numbers to show us how incredibly important this is. The numbers were stark, they were chilling, and I credit the RCMP for making sure that this is a priority.

A national inquiry is also important because it can give a voice to families who have lost loved ones and give them the justice they have been denied. It can raise the question of systemic racism against indigenous people in this country. That conversation can be had on a national level, and that conversation is not what we are going to get when these individual moments of justice are realized, like in the case I talked about earlier, where two people have pleaded guilty to murder.

We are not talking about systemic issues in a murder trial. We are talking about the specifics of an incident. However, when aboriginal women and girls are so much more likely to go missing or be killed because of who they are and the colour of their skin, it is about more than the plea of not guilty or guilty or the finding of guilty or not guilty in a courthouse.

We are not alone in this. There are so many organizations that have come forward and so many governments that have come forward. In fact, the Conservative government stands alone among governments and the majority of indigenous communities in opposing a national inquiry. They are outliers. The inquiry is an essential step in confronting the epidemic of murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada and realizing justice for the families who have lost their loved ones.

I will be proud to support the motion. The member for St. Paul's can count on my vote in the House.

[Missing Aboriginal Women, May 11th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for bringing the motion forward. She said in her speech that the statistics are eye opening but that we must also remember that they are real people. I could not agree more.

She brought up a few names, including that of Loretta Saunders. As we know, Loretta Saunders was a young Inuk woman going to St. Mary's University in Halifax, who was killed. Her killers have pleaded guilty and the justice system has worked. We will see what happens as these two continue to make their way through the justice system.

Loretta Saunders parents are actually still asking for an inquiry, even though the killers have pleaded guilty. Does the member agree that we do need an inquiry if we are to see justice truly served here, that it is not about these two individuals who killed Loretta Saunders, but it is the bigger issue we are trying to tackle here?

[Ethics, May 7th, 2015]

So much scandal, so few answers, so much evasion, Mr. Speaker, we cannot keep up. Let us try the Minister for Democratic Reform about the integrity of our electoral laws.

Former Conservative minister Peter Penashue's official agent has been charged with violating the Canada Elections Act. Will the Minister for Democratic Reform please tell the House that he will introducing amendments to the Elections Act to crack down on Conservatives who break our electoral laws and who knowingly provide the Chief Electoral Officer with false information?

[Industry, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, both the old-line parties have tax gifts for the wealthy instead of creating affordable child care spaces.

While our trade deficit is soaring, imports of industrial machinery actually fell. That is a bad sign for a manufacturing sector that suffered from Conservatives' neglect. We have lost more than 400,000 jobs under their watch alone. Fewer good manufacturing jobs means more families are struggling to pay the bills as costs like child care continue to rise. Will the Conservatives scrap handouts to the wealthy and instead invest in boosting job creation and creating affordable child care spaces?

[Child Care, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative economic plan is failing Canada. Under its mismanagement, we just posted another record trade deficit, swelling to $3 billion in March alone.

The Conservative plan is also failing families that face layoffs and growing job uncertainty while struggling with rising costs, and still the Conservatives have no plan to create even a single affordable child care space. When will the Conservatives stop ignoring the needs of Canadian families and deliver the NDP's plan for $15 a day child care?

[International Trade, May 5th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the numbers do not lie. The Conservatives' economic policy is getting us nowhere. According to Statistics Canada, Canada's trade deficit has reached $3 billion. The Conservative government's policies are making Canadian companies less competitive and getting in the way of creating of good jobs.

Will the Conservatives do something about this? What is their plan for reducing the trade deficit?

[National Defence, May 4th, 2015]

While the Prime Minister was traipsing around Baghdad and Kurdistan, coalition bombs killed 52 civilians, including seven children, in northern Syria. Since the start of the aerial offensive, the bombings have killed more than 2,000 people.

Can the Prime Minister finally tell us how and when he intends to get our troops out of this war?

[Taxation, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have lost their jobs under the Conservatives. Manufacturing and retail are especially hard hit, and yet Conservatives are still focused on handouts for the wealthy few.

The Conservatives' income-splitting scheme will give billions to the wealthy while 85% of Canadians will get nothing at all. It turns out that Conservative MPs stand to benefit more than most.

Why are the Conservatives stubbornly sticking to their income-splitting scheme that helps the wealthy while leaving middle-class families behind?

[Taxation, May 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, under the Conservatives, we have lost 400,000 well-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector alone. The middle class is struggling to make ends meet because their incomes are stagnating. The Conservatives' answer is reckless measures that further help the wealthy.

Today, we learn that income splitting is in fact more beneficial for the Conservative MPs. Why do the Conservatives insist on helping the wealthiest Canadians and abandoning the middle class?

[Mayworks Halifax Festival, May 4th, 2015]

Happy May Day, Mr. Speaker. May Day celebrations in Halifax and Dartmouth are in full swing, thanks to the organizers of Mayworks Halifax.

The goal of the first Mayworks Halifax festival in 2009 was to build bridges between the organizations of workers and artists throughout the Halifax region to create a fun, entertaining festival that would engage people in both a cultural and political way, and to build capacity in the labour movement, training new activists and creating new coalitions. That was three years ago and today, the festival is eagerly awaited by activists, artists and socially engaged audience members throughout the region.

Events include the Reel Justice film festival, plays like How Often Do I Dream, a workshop on the future of precarious work, and “Stand Up”, a mixed genre performance inspired by the life and legacy of Viola Desmond.

I thank the Halifax and Dartmouth District Labour Council for helping to build a culture and society that celebrates and recognizes the history and struggle of working people in Nova Scotia.