Mike Bossio

[Business of Supply, October 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague on his passion for this subject.

I am part of the indigenous committee and the study we are doing right now on suicide helps us understand the crises that exist in many of our indigenous communities. Our government has committed significant funds, $684 million, to the children and families fund to help deal with the crisis existing in our indigenous communities.

More important, if there is one thing we have come to understand in our committee, it is that only through a nation-to-nation relationship that leads to indigenous people establishing the priorities of their communities, and defining and implementing the programs associated with those priorities, are we really going to come up with the long-term solutions that are going to benefit all indigenous communities. Would the member opposite not agree that is where we need to get to?

[Business of Supply, October 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I work on the indigenous affairs committee together. Right now we are in the middle of a study on suicide. We have seen and heard first hand the crisis that exists in many of our indigenous communities.

Our government is making a record $8.4 billion investment in indigenous communities. As my other colleague has said, $684 of that is going to go to children and family services on reserves. This is a significant investment in the future of our indigenous children.

More important, and as we have heard so many times, it is the long-term sustainable funding, self-determination, and self-governance that really is going to get at the crux of the crisis that exists in first nations communities.

Would my colleague agree that engagement in the nation-to-nation process will help to get us to that position of self-determination and that is really going to provide the solutions necessary for first nations communities in the long term?

[Business of Supply, October 27th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her impassioned speech and advocacy in this area.

I am on the indigenous committee. We are doing a study right now on suicide within indigenous communities and have heard first-hand about a lot of the issues and concerns, as well as the terrible stories, that exist in our indigenous communities.

If there is one thing I have learned, it is that we need to empower indigenous peoples to set the priorities that will benefit their communities. Our government has shown tremendous support for the empowerment of our indigenous communities to establish that nation-to-nation relationship, and to provide a level of funding that will help to address some of the issues.

We need to be able to give our indigenous communities the ability to self-determine where those funds should go and where the priorities should be. That is only going to occur through this nation-to-nation relationship. It does not happen overnight. It has taken us a couple of centuries to get to where we are today with this abysmal situation. We need time to develop the types of programs that will benefit indigenous communities.

Would the member opposite not agree with that?

[Housing, October 25th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is Housing on the Hill Day, and I want to thank Bob Cottrell, president of All-Together Affordable Housing Corporation. Under Bob's leadership, this not-for-profit has expanded to include a five-unit building in Belleville for low-income individuals living with chronic illness. This has a significant local impact in combatting poverty.

On a national scale, our government's investment of $2.3 billion to expand access to affordable housing, including for seniors, will also make a great impact.

All-Together believes that every person has the right to live in dignity, the right to reside in sustainable housing that is safe, decent, affordable, and adapted to their needs. I could not agree more.

They say that home is where the heart is. I can attest that Bob Cottrell's heart is big enough to provide a home for many people. I applaud him for his continued efforts and thank him for his friendship.

[The Environment, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, on June 17, the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development tabled a unanimous report with recommendations on the federal sustainable development strategy and accompanying legislation. The fact this report received unanimous support from all three parties is testament to Canadians' desire to take the necessary steps to create a more sustainable future.

Earlier this month, our government tabled our first federal sustainable development strategy. Can the Minister of Environment advise the House of the progress our government has made on updating the federal sustainable development strategy?

[Canada Pension Plan, October 21st, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I would invite the hon. member to come to my riding to meet some seniors who are suffering today from a lack of savings and the pension plan that they have.

Given the precarious nature of employment today amongst our youth, and the massive increase in the cost of housing, my own son has been working two and three part-time jobs to try to get by. This is not a tax. It is an investment in future generations of Canadians that will allow them to live better than our seniors are living today.

Does the member deny that these facts exist? Is he completely out of touch with reality?

[Canada Pension Plan, October 21st, 2016]

Hon. member, I would invite you to come to my riding and—

[Paris Agreement, October 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the last time I looked this federation was a partnership. That is one aspect that has been missing for some time. Our government wants to once again be a leader on the climate file. That means working with our provincial and municipal counterparts, private land owners, different organizations like the Nature Conservancy, Ducks Unlimited, anyone we can in order to create a map of where these lands are protected municipality, provincially, federally, in these private organizations so we can get a better understanding of the protected areas and can make them part of the climate resiliency plan that our government is putting forward.

It is really about the partnership and the federal government wants to be a part of that partnership and wants to be a leader in that partnership.

[Paris Agreement, October 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, right now our environment committee is studying protected lands and we have seen the tremendous value that protected lands can provide in carbon sequestration, in capture.

In meeting with the Ontario Woodlot Association on the weekend and with many other groups, part of the Paris agreement is the 17 sustainable development goals. That really does work into sustainability within society as a whole. Protected lands and wetlands, etc., play a key part in us attaining that sustainability through carbon sequestration, sustainability through putting a price on carbon so the value of the carbon sequestration can be realized.

All of these things fit together in this puzzle of the 17 sustainable development goals.

[Paris Agreement, October 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I really do enjoy working with the hon. member on the environment committee. We do some great work together.

Yes, absolutely, this is all part and parcel of the process. Canada needs to provide leadership in the world today to try to use moral suasion to get all member countries in the world to meet targets that will help us reduce the impacts of climate change. Our government is doing that very important work. However, we cannot lead from behind. We have to get out in front, and that is what these proposed changes would enable us to do. They would enable us to take that leadership position in the world and provide an example to the rest of the world that even though the impact might be minimal from an overall climate standpoint, the impact from a leadership standpoint could be huge.