Niki Ashton

[Business of Supply, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, Canadians want answers. That was not an answer.

In the main estimates, the department is asking for $36 million for capital expenditures. However, the PBO's integrated monitoring database shows that the department only spent 22% of its capital funding in the first three quarters of the last fiscal year.

What is the most recent financial data that the minister has on this line item? Does he expect funding from last year to be carried over into the estimates currently before the House?

[Business of Supply, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Chair, indigenous peoples and Canadians are watching. We in the official opposition want answers. I will be spending my 15 minutes directing questions to the minister.

In the main estimates, the department is asking for $869 million for aboriginal rights and interests. However, the PBO's integrated monitoring database shows that the department only spent 13% of its allocated funding for this line in the first three-quarters of the last financial year.

What is the most recent financial data the minister has on this line item? What are the numbers?

[National Action Plan to Address Violence Against Women, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I am exceptionally proud to stand here and be part of the movement to bring a national action plan to address violence against women in Canada. I would like to thank my sisters and brothers in the NDP who have joined me in championing this critical issue.

Since the beginning of my time as an MP, in every region of the country I have heard from women who have experienced violence. These women are survivors and they are strong. I am honoured that they took it upon themselves to share their stories with me because they hoped that I and that we could make a difference. I want to thank all the people who placed their trust in me and our team to bring their voices forward in the House. I hope every parliamentarian will recognize that it is in his or her power right now to make a difference for women who have survived violence, women who live with violence, and women who dream of growing up and living in a world free of violence.

Women are strong as hell. All studies, statistics and common sense prove that when women are secure and thriving, so too are their families, their communities and our societies. When women are empowered to advocate for themselves and take up space in politics and business and activism, we see all people everywhere reap the benefits. This is the Canada in which I want to live.

Therefore, with the support of many, I have placed before the House a proposal to create a national action plan to end violence against women. The YWCA, the Canadian Network of Women's Shelters & Transition Houses, DAWN Canada, the Native Women's Association of Canada and the Families of Sisters in Spirit along with quite a few other major national anti-violence organizations have done tireless work to coordinate consensus and awareness around a national action plan, and I want to thank them for their work.

I have travelled across our country to talk to women and to hear from organizations on the ground about what a national action plan could mean to them. Everywhere I went, I heard similar stories about underfunding, lack of coordination and the frustration of not being able to see change at the systemic level.

In Victoria, B.C., we heard from Victoria Pruden at the Bridges for Women Society. She said:

We at Bridges for Women Society wholeheartedly support the call for a national plan of action on violence against women. Every day we see not only the human cost of violence to women and children, but the economic costs of violence and trauma to Canadians...we need a national action plan NOW.

Jenny Wright, the executive director of Marguerite's Place in Newfoundland, who works on the other end of the country bringing justice and safety to women, particularly sex workers, shared a similar message. She said:

Years of funding cuts and closures, and silencing of women's organizations are in themselves a pervasive form of violence against women. Federal policy must act to strengthen women's organizations and to secure sustainable funding, so they do not continue to be casualties of the fluctuations in our economy, political agendas, and our laws.

I am deeply grateful to the movement of like-minded women, to the movement of feminists who are pushing for this change. I would remind the members of the House that a national action plan has been enacted with great success elsewhere in the world, in countries like Australia and the United States. The vote on this motion could be the first among many positive steps toward healing and empowerment.

I have been east, west, north, south. I have been in urban centres and rural communities. I have been to first nations and Métis communities. What is clear is that we must listen to women. We must listen to their stories of intersectional oppression, to indigenous women, disabled women, women of colour, refugee women, queer women and trans women. They are all facing major systemic challenges, which leave them increasingly vulnerable to violence. There is much work we can do to help. All we need to do is listen to their words.

The need for action of this kind is one of the most urgent issues facing our country. I hope we can see past our partisan aspirations to take real action on this front. Let us not waste more time, and let us stand up in support of a national action plan to end violence against women.

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 13th, 2015]

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, we want to hear an apology from the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

He will not apologize even though the RCMP called first nations bacteria. He blamed aboriginal men for violence against aboriginal women instead of standing with the rest of us and supporting a national inquiry. He accused first nations youth in New Brunswick, who are growing up in abject poverty, of being lazy. He told Yukon first nations that they are not “real governments”. Enough is enough.

Does the minister recognize that his words are deeply disrespectful and his actions damaging to the relationship with indigenous peoples?

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 13th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the refusal of the minister to join the RCMP in apologizing for an unacceptable report that termed Idle No More activists as bacteria is another indication of a broken relationship. Instead of taking the opportunity to tell indigenous communities that they are respected and that the government wants to work with them, the parliamentary secretary accused me of not supporting law enforcement. Let me be clear. The RCMP did the right thing by apologizing. The minister, on the other hand, did not.

Will he stand in the House today and say he is sorry?

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the question is asking the government to clear its own record from last Friday, which it has not done.

The RCMP admitted that their comments were, as they called them “unfortunate” and that they do not represent the views of their organization. However, the government, yet again, has doubled down describing it as “absolutely abhorrent” that anyone would even ask for an apology on this kind of discriminatory language.

Therefore, I am asking the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, will he stand with the RCMP, apologize and make it clear that this kind of discriminatory language toward first nations is unacceptable?

[Aboriginal Affairs, May 12th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP recently apologized for comparing the Idle No More movement to bacteria. On Friday, I asked the government to do the same, but the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness called my request “abhorrent”.

Does the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs agree with her, or will he apologize to the House and condemn these discriminatory statements?

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, that was a great synopsis of what we are dealing with. The Conservative policy vis-à-vis Canadian women ranges from the era of the 1950s, and frankly the 1850s some days, especially when we talk about their regressive views on access to abortions and reproductive services.

However, let me bring it back to the debate today. We are talking about a very simple step of moving the categorization from luxury items, which we have all made the case that they are not, to essential items. With some simple steps, this change could be brought into effect. The Conservatives could follow the lead of numerous provinces that have done this very same thing.

As for waiting, I would like to remind the government that young people in Canada have had enough of these kinds of antics. If there is one demographic that is solidly opposed to the kinds of policies coming from the government, it is young Canadians. What better way to show some sense of listening, or reflection of the kinds of priorities that young people, particularly young women, are putting forward, then saying, “No tax on tampons. We're going to take this action”. Yet, once again, the Conservatives are willing to put it off; once again they avoid listening to the voices of Canadian women, and once again they are stuck in the 1950s, or maybe the 1850s.

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need to know that that kind of support, which is not support in and of itself, is not good enough.

We are talking about a case of unequal treatment and the need to recognize that this is an essential product, the need to recognize the kind of barriers that women face as a result of this situation. It is a simple act and an act, frankly, of leadership. However, what can Canadian women expect more from the government? The government time and time again has ignored measures that would help women achieve equality. In fact, it has taken measures that further serve to marginalize women, whether they are measures regarding taxation, economic policy or the government's failure to take action on missing and murdered indigenous women and violence against women.

I hope that the activists who have been pushing on this issue will continue to push, and to push beyond this so-called support of the government and call for immediate action as we in the NDP are calling for today.

[Business of Supply, May 8th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the member for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles.

Never before has the old feminist adage been more appropriate. In the case of today's opposition day motion, the political is very, very personal. Almost all women, and even a few men, are united in menstruation for most of their lives. The tampon tax has brought Canadians together, because in a country where the gender pay gap is twice the global average, our bodies deserve a tax break.

More than 85,000 Canadians have signed a petition calling on the federal government to stop charging HST and GST on menstruation products. I am very proud to be joining with them today in supporting my colleague from London—Fanshawe in calling on the government to classify menstrual products as an essential item, because guess what? They are. I am pretty sure that if men menstruated, they would never have been taxing tampons in the first place.

The remarkable thing about this motion is it is living proof of the political strength and savvy of grassroots feminist activism. This campaign began on the ground, or I should say online. I am consistently impressed and inspired by how young activists have actualized themselves and how they are changing the conversations we are having in our country through social media. This campaign went viral online and a few short months later, we are debating it here in the House of Commons.

This issue is clear and it is a matter of discrimination. Only those who menstruate are being taxed. Cisgender men get off tax free. The government is making $36 million every year exclusively off of women and trans men. To remove this tax would be to correct a clear case of gender-based discrimination.

Can the government really argue that tampons and pads are not essential products?

It is not just a matter of principle. For women living in poverty, in the most practical terms it is about economic security. Among adults 18 and older, women account for 54% of people living in poverty in Canada. More than one million adult women are living in poverty. Twenty-one per cent of single mothers in Canada raise their children while living in poverty, as opposed to 7% of single fathers.

Meanwhile, menstrual products are extremely expensive. For women who are living in poverty and women in shelters, we heard how onerous it is to buy these things. In fact, these women are so financially vulnerable that an extra $20 every month can be a real burden.

Corporate manufacturers know that they can charge a lot for tampons and pads because women have no choice in buying them. This underscores my point. We are talking about an essential product.

As Jen Zoratti wrote in the Winnipeg Free Press:

As for me, though, “that time of the month” is a minor inconvenience. For those who are living in poverty or are experiencing homelessness, it can be incredibly challenging. Many are forced to stretch their stocks of menstrual product, get creative or go without.

On the positive side, I feel incredibly happy to be here with my colleagues pushing for this change. The fact that women across the country have taken matters into their own hands to bring menstruation into the mainstream makes me proud to be a feminist.

I also want to note that the puns have been pretty great: “No tax on periods, period”, or on this issue there is “no womb for debate”.

The reality is we need more de-stigmatizing debates like this one. When women can take up space in this House, their House, our House, to talk about our bodies, our rights, and our reproductive health, we see the power of feminism in Parliament. I have to say that I am very proud to be NDP, because it is our party that chose to facilitate this dialogue between young women and their government.

Finally, we need to recognize that the gender gap in Canada is real and the government time and time again does nothing to address it. Economic issues are women's issues. Tax issues are women's issues. Gender-based discrimination can be perpetrated by the federal government as surely as it can be perpetrated by an individual on the street or in the workplace.

In closing, I want to thank the fierce women who started this campaign and the tens of thousands of women who have joined it. I want to give a shout-out to the men and my male colleagues who support this cause. My message today is let us pass this motion. Let us take immediate action rather than putting it off, because the argument is clear; the argument is accurate, and let us be honest, there is just no womb for debate.