Niki Ashton

[Indigenous Affairs, May 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, last week at committee bureaucrats said the government would not have long-term solutions to clean drinking water on reserves before 2026, five years after they were promised. This is an unacceptable failure by the Prime Minister and his government. The minister at least acknowledged this, saying, “It's unacceptable in a country that is financially one of the most wealthy in the world”.

We are agreed, minister: it is. Can the minister outline what lessons he has learned during the last five years of failure that will allow him to deliver on a promise to end the inhumane conditions in 2021 by 2026?

[Business of Supply, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the race to get vaccines and administer them is obviously critical. I am proud to have joined my colleague, the MP for Vancouver Kingsway, back in December to push for early vaccinations for first nations and northern communities. Many were involved in this critical advocacy.

I want to acknowledge that the government responded to our calls. We have seen significant levels of vaccinations, particularly in first nations, and that is now opening up across the north in our province.

It is clear that the national level of vaccinations is not where it needs to be. Canada lacks vaccines. We did not have to be here. We had Connaught Laboratories, and the Conservatives and Liberals killed the lab. Canada is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. We have all the resources and human power to be able to produce what we need to deal with crises like this one.

What is the Liberal government doing to ensure that, going forward, Canada has the capacity to produce the life-saving vaccines we will need in the future?

[Port of Montreal Operations Act, 2021, April 29th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to say that I stand with our party in fighting this back-to-work legislation. Many of the points raised by the member resonated with me.

Could she speak to the implications of this attack on workers, not just on the Port of Montreal workers, but all workers across Canada?

[Port of Montreal Operations Act, 2021, April 28th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are gaslighting working people. We just heard from the member celebrating good union jobs. We heard this legislation is key to protecting union jobs. My goodness, let us respect what the workers of the Port of Montreal are saying themselves, the processes they have undertaken over a number of years to bargain collectively and fairly.

We heard the Conservative leader go on about the working class. Well, this is the test. Their support of back-to-work legislation is taking the side of the employer against union jobs, against working people. Why are the Conservatives trying to mislead Canadians, when their actions speak for themselves? They are on the side of the bosses, instead of standing up for the port workers in Montreal and instead of standing up for working people in this country.

[Proceedings on a Bill entitled An Act to Provide for the Resumption and Continuation of Operations at the Port of Montreal, April 28th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, this back-to-work legislation is an attack on the workers at the Port of Montreal. It is an attack on all Canadian workers. We know that the right to bargain collectively, to bargain fairly, is a fundamental right of working people. We know that it is a fundamental constitutional right.

The Liberals are out there talking about the middle class, and today they were out there talking about the National Day of Mourning, yet on this same day, they are bringing in legislation on the side of the employer. Let us not kid ourselves that is not exactly what it is, and it is taking the power away from workers.

How can the government claim to be on the side of working people, on the side of the middle class, while bringing in back-to-work legislation against the port workers of Montreal and against working people in this country?

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, April 27th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc for over a year. Canada has now lost 24,000 people: loved ones, friends and community members. In our region there is a ray of hope as people aged 18 and over can get the vaccine. First nations have been leading the vaccine efforts here. I acknowledge the leadership of chiefs, councillors, front-line workers and MKO.

In December, I joined the MP for Vancouver Kingsway in pushing for urgent federal action to get vaccines to indigenous and northern communities. The vaccine is critical, but it is also not enough. We need paid sick days for all workers.

The death of 13-year-old Emily Viegas must be a wake-up call. Many working people in industrial workplaces who are racialized or immigrants have paid for this crisis first with their lives, and now their children's. Coming out of this we need a different world where the elderly, first nations and the working class are not exploited and marginalized: a world where lives matter before profit.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 22nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, York Landing is now in the fifth week of chronic water outages during a pandemic.

The first nation has been forced to declare a state of emergency because their “state of the art” water treatment plant is not working. The band is now paying out of pocket for proper testing and bottled water. The Liberals will say they are monitoring the situation, but band-aids will not cut it.

The government's lack of sustained funding is the problem. What is the federal government going to do right now to fix the water treatment plant in York Landing?

[The Budget, April 22nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, my question is about the failure of this budget to deal with the priority of indigenous housing.

We know that indigenous communities have suffered some of the highest rates of COVID-19. A key factor in this is the housing crisis that exists in indigenous communities, a result of federal neglect over a number of decades.

There is an absolute housing crisis that requires federal investment. Why does this Liberal budget fail to have a strategy for and by indigenous communities when it comes to housing?

[The Budget, April 22nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, my question for my colleague is around working people. The Conservative leader talks a lot about standing up for the working class. However, the Conservatives have not supported federal leadership when it comes to paid sick days. We know from everybody, from public health experts to doctors, that paid sick days are critical in dealing with workplace outbreaks of COVID-19.

Does she agree that if we are going to actually stand up for working people, we need to see national leadership and provincial leadership in ensuring paid sick days for workers, so that they can stay home safely?

[The Budget, April 22nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, we know that during this pandemic, the rich have become richer and more and more Canadians are struggling. Despite the Liberals' long-time commitment to fight for the middle class and lift Canadians up, the budget does not include a wealth tax, which would be critical in ensuring that the rich pay their fair share of taxes and that everybody can be lifted up.

What do the Liberals have against the rich paying their fair share of taxes?