Pam Damoff

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, there were a lot of members of our society mentioned in that, but I cannot cover all of them. I will speak to people living with disabilities in Canada. We certainly talked about bringing in a benefit for them but, in my opinion, more importantly, a robust employment strategy. Most of the people I have met who live with disabilities want to work, but their worth is not seen as much as other people's in our society. They are not hired and they are not paid. Working on an employment strategy is something I have been committed to for five years and I cannot say how happy I was, as were people I know who are living with disabilities and who want to work, to see the government taking action on that.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we need to be clear that we are not subsidizing any sectors specifically. Certainly, with Ford of Canada, it was the union that said it will be switching over to electric vehicle use. Quite frankly, industry is leading this charge. Industry is moving toward a green economy because it knows that it can be financially viable for the future if it makes that change. These kinds of changes are being led by industry, making investments in their businesses to ensure that we are moving to a greener future and that we are seeing a green recovery. The government can support that as we move forward.

In terms of the forestry industry, it is important that we support all sectors of the Canadian economy.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I would certainly agree with the member that infrastructure projects provide an excellent opportunity to bring Internet into communities that otherwise do not have it. There are a number of infrastructure projects and that is something I have been working on since the pandemic started. Just down the street from me at Six Nations in the middle of an urban area, they lack Internet access and it is quite unacceptable.

We have made commitments to bringing broadband to the country and I am proud of that, but there are opportunities, whether through various infrastructure projects, to partner with the proponent in building that to include high-speed Internet in their development.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I also have Terry Fox behind me in photographs and I hope the hon. member does not think those are props as well.

Since March, we have been fighting the pandemic. On yesterday's throne speech, the Prime Minister said that now was “not the time for austerity” and that the government “will have your back, whatever it takes” to keep people safe.

Yesterday's Speech from the Throne laid out four broad pillars.

The first is “Protecting Canadians from COVID-19”. We recently invested $19 billion in the safe restart agreement as well as $2 billion in a safe return to class fund. We will support provinces to increase their testing capacity. Our government has a vaccine strategy because we know the best way to end this pandemic is with a safe and effective vaccine.

The second pillar is “Helping Canadians through the pandemic”. I have talked about some of the measures we took during the first wave of the pandemic. We must continue to support those Canadians who lost their jobs, so we will be reforming the EI system to bring it into the 21st century.

The pandemic has been called a “she-cession” because of the disproportionate impact on women. That is why we cannot let the decades-long gains that have been made be rolled back because of the virus.

In the last session of Parliament, as vice-chair of the status of women committee, we tabled a report on the economic security of women. The lack of access to high-quality, affordable child care was identified as the number one barrier to women's economic security. Women bear a disproportionate responsibility for the unpaid care of children. If we are to support women coming out of the pandemic, we must recognize the need for a national accessible, affordable, inclusive and high-quality child care system. We will be expanding the women's entrepreneurs strategy.

We will extend the Canadian emergency wage subsidy to next summer. Certain industries, like travel, hospitality and cultural industries have been devastated and we will be introducing further supports for these hard-hit sectors of the economy.

The third pillar is “Building back better”. The pandemic has brought to the forefront gaps in our social systems. We must never again be in a situation where the army needs to care for our seniors.

Some time ago, I wrote to the Minister of Seniors, calling for national standards for long-term care, and was pleased to see this commitment in the throne speech. While long-term care falls under provincial jurisdiction, we must take whatever action we can to support seniors. They deserve no less.

Canadians living with disability have also been hit hard during the pandemic. We will bring forward a disability inclusion plan, which will include a new Canadian disability benefit and a robust employment strategy.

We are fortunate in Canada to have a robust health care system. The missing piece in that system has always been pharmacare. As former parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Health, I was proud to work on this issue. We remain, as a government, committed to a universal national pharmacare program.

Kids are still being diagnosed with cancer and I will continue to work with people like Sick Kids' Dr. David Malkin and survivor Helena Kirk to ensure $30 million is directed to children's cancer research, as promised in our platform.

I have heard loud and clear from Oakville North—Burlington residents that they support taking greater action on firearms. We have already banned military-style assault rifles and we will continue to implement our commitment to protect Canadians with red flag laws and strengthening measures to control the flow of illegal guns. I am hopeful that we can treat death by firearms as a public health issue.

During the pandemic, Halton Women's Place, SAVIS of Halton and Thrive Counselling stepped up to provide a safety net for those facing gender-based violence. We cannot build back better if all Canadians are not safe. We will accelerate investments in shelters and transitional housing and advance our national action plan on gender-based violence.

We will be investing in a vast array of infrastructure, including public transit, energy efficient retrofits and affordable housing.

We cannot lose focus on the other crisis we face: the climate crisis. Climate action will be at the cornerstone of our plan to support and create a million jobs across the country. Business owners and investors know that climate action is the key to future success.

We will make zero-emission vehicles more affordable. The news coming out of Unifor recently about EV production at Ford Canada in Oakville would indeed be great news for our community. This is an ideal opportunity to also invest in e-assist bikes as we look to support the move to electric vehicles.

We will ban single-use plastics next year and we will legislate Canada's goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 and immediately bring forward a plan to exceed our 2030 climate goal.

The fourth pillar is to stand up for who we are as Canadians.

I have been incredibly fortunate to work with the Minister of Indigenous Services and his team to support indigenous communities during the pandemic. Our historic investment in urban indigenous organizations like the Toronto Aboriginal Support Services Council is something of which I am particularly proud. We have remained committed to walk the shared path to reconciliation by accelerating work on the National Action Plan in response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' calls for justice, making a number of new investments and implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, including introducing legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the end of the year.

During the pandemic, another issue came to the forefront. The violence inflicted on Chief Allan Adam and the deaths of Regis Korchinski-Paquet and Ejaz Choudry motivated many Canadians to demand police reform and an end to systemic racism in Canada.

We are at a moment when we can take concrete steps to end systemic racism that indigenous people, Black and racialized Canadians have lived with for too long. We will introduce legislation and make investments in the criminal justice system, from diversion and sentencing to rehabilitation and records.

Prior to prorogation, as a member of the public safety committee, we were studying systemic racism and policing and we heard that enhanced civilian oversight of our law enforcement agencies, including the RCMP, was required. This, along with standards around the use of force and a shift to community-led policing, as well as declaring first nations policing an essential service, are all things we are committing to in the throne speech.

The throne speech sets out an ambitious plan for unprecedented times. Together, we can achieve these goals and I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House to deliver on this plan.

[Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply, September 24th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I am sharing my time with the member for Hochelaga.

I am speaking today from my riding. I would like to acknowledge that I am on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

This is my first opportunity to speak in the House since the pandemic began and I want to start by thanking all of the front-line workers, who are truly heroes without capes in our communities.

We have been facing the greatest health crisis of our lifetime. Our government responded with a full slate of measures to support Canadians, such as the Canada emergency response benefit, which helped nine million Canadians, and the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account, which supported businesses in my riding and across the country.

I heard from my constituents, who thanked me for these programs. Companies like Hunter Amenities, which was uncertain about the future of the 38-year-old business when the demand from hotels for shampoo and soap dried up overnight. Its owners told me that our programs allowed them to pivot to making hand sanitizer and bring their employees back to work.

Since March, we have seen unprecedented co-operation between all levels of government. We have seen people reaching out to their neighbours and showing kindness to each other.

We continue to fight the pandemic. As numbers continue to rise and we enter the second wave, I know many Canadians are afraid. Their kids have just gone back to school and they are worried—

[Business of Supply, March 9th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's speech and in it he talked about how investment was fleeing Canada. What are the facts? Global investment in 2018 was up 60% year over year. In 2019 it was up 19% year over year. In fact, in 2019 we had $66.8 billion of investment in Canada from global firms.

Could the hon. member perhaps correct what he was saying and speak about the fact that companies are, in fact, investing in Canada because they see it as a good place to put their money?

[Citizenship Act, February 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I am a little puzzled as to why we cannot do more than one thing at once. I highlighted the investments in education that were not made under the Conservative government. The Conservatives had 10 years to make a difference for indigenous children, and they did not.

We are actually investing in education. We are ensuring that young indigenous people have the best opportunity at life, something that we often take for granted. Certainly in my community, there are a lot of people who take it for granted that their kids may not have access to education.

I would argue that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations were not ranked in terms of having to address one recommendation before moving on to the next. We need to do all of the recommendations, and we certainly should be doing this one.

[Citizenship Act, February 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, that is an important question. I mentioned that during the film screening that I did, two new Canadians asked why they did not learn this. I find that when I go to talk to grade 5 students now, and I am sure other hon. members have had the same experience, I actually have young people asking me questions about our very deplorable history with indigenous peoples.

I gave the example of Canada Day. It would be amazing if on Canada Day we affirmed our citizenship and included this in the oath, and it provoked conversations among people in attendance about why we are including that and they asked to be told more about treaties. We could be making sure we are having those broader conversations.

[Citizenship Act, February 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that on a day when we are talking about reconciliation, the member opposite is trying to make this a partisan issue. This is an important issue and one that should be non-partisan, and it should not matter what party we belong to; we should all be conscious of making sure we are moving on the right path toward reconciliation. I would hope that members opposite would not make this a partisan issue.

[Citizenship Act, February 24th, 2020]

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga—Erin Mills.

I would like to start by acknowledging that we stand on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in support of our government's bill that would revise the oath or affirmation of citizenship. I am also extremely happy that Karina Scali has been shadowing me today, on a day when I am speaking on such an important bill.

As we know, the bill responds to call to action number 94 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report. It is important for newcomers to Canada to take on the responsibility of citizenship, and in doing so, with the passage of the bill, newcomers would state their commitment to respect the rights and treaties of indigenous peoples and recognize the significant contributions the Inuit, Métis and first nations have made to Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report lists 94 calls to action, with number 94 calling on the government to amend the oath of citizenship to specifically add a reference to the phrase “observe the laws of Canada including Treaties with Indigenous Peoples”.

In 2017 a few things happened that highlighted the need for the bill. In my riding, I hosted a screening of We Were Children, a film about residential school survivors. The profound impact of the residential school system is seen through the eyes of two children in this movie. It is a profound and disturbing film.

Following the screening, we had a panel discussion with three indigenous residents of Halton. There were two new Canadians in attendance who asked why they had never learned this part of Canada's history when they became Canadian citizens. Even those of us born in Canada have had a lack of education about the impact and trauma caused by the Canadian government's residential school system. It really hit home that we can do better.

That same year, during the summer, I had a young woman working in my Ottawa office as an intern. She decided she wanted to do an e-petition on this very issue. Working with Steven Paquette, an indigenous knowledge keeper in Oakville, she developed e-petition 1228, which called on the government to continue its consultation with indigenous peoples across our country. It also asked the government to modify the study guide to acknowledge treaty rights. The petition received almost 650 signatures and a response from the government. I am extremely proud of Mariam Manaa, who developed this petition. She made sure it was not developed in a way that came from her knowledge about the past. Rather, she worked with someone from our community who is indigenous and could guide her on the right way to move forward on that petition.

Mariam's petition highlighted the importance of consultation. The government has been conducting full and thoughtful consultation in order to bring the bill here today. It has also been conducting thorough consultation to update the citizenship guide, which should be forthcoming in the coming weeks.

There are those in the official opposition who have called the changes suggested by the bill a token gesture. Given the experience in my riding at the film screening and the conversations I had because I sponsored Mariam's e-petition, I would argue that this change is far from token or a waste of time. It is extremely important as we move along the path to reconciliation.

I have also heard during debate members of the Conservative party talk about the need to do more in indigenous communities. I would like to highlight that the government has made significant new investments of $21 billion through four budgets, which has resulted in the building or renovating of 62 new schools, the completion of 265 water and wastewater infrastructure projects and the approval of more than 508,000 requests for products, services and supports under Jordan's principle. There is also a new funding formula for K-to-12 education, which resulted in regional funding increases of almost 40%. The number of first nation schools offering full-day elementary kindergarten programs has increased from 30% to 59%.

Those are just a few examples of the steps we are taking and the investments we are making in indigenous peoples across the country. There is certainly a need to do more, but we are taking this seriously. We are making the necessary investments and making a commitment to reconciliation, something that is included in the bill.

Only by educating new Canadians and Canadians who have been on this land for generations about treaty rights, indigenous history and the trauma caused by policies like residential schools can we actually make progress on reconciliation. Unlike the Ford Conservative government, which immediately upon election cut mandatory indigenous curriculum from the Ontario high school education system, we firmly believe that education is an important component of reconciliation.

The proposed changes to the oath are the result of the government's consultation with national indigenous organizations on the precise wording of the oath of citizenship. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada included the following organizations in these consultations: the Assembly of First Nations, the Métis National Council, the ITK, and members of the Land Claims Agreement Coalition, which represents indigenous modern treaty organizations in governments in Canada.

There was support for the intent of the call to action, but through engagement, the need for a more precise and inclusive oath also became clear.

A key point that came up was that the term “indigenous” does not reflect all preferences of self-identification. I understand this point deeply through many conversations held over the years. I know that many people identify by their home community, homeland or territory, and that there are many ways to identify. The oath of citizenship and all Crown-indigenous relations need to be based on an understanding and respect for self-identity preferences, and at a broader level, reflect many experiences and histories.

Another example is the call to specifically include treaties in the oath of citizenship, which is deeply important. Treaties are foundational to the creation and future of Canada, and through consultations it became clear that this reference needed to be expanded. “Treaties with indigenous peoples” was not relevant to all indigenous peoples and therefore not inclusive of all indigenous experiences. For example, Inuit peoples generally are not party to existing pre-1975 treaties or their agreements with the Crown are not characterized as such.

As a result of these consultations, as well as our pre-existing understanding and commitment to respectful relationships, the new oath will read:

I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the Constitution, which recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen.

I am proud to support this bill for the revised oath of citizenship. This oath is much more than just words. It is a public declaration of joining the Canadian family and a commitment to Canadian values and traditions.

On Canada Day, I host a citizenship reaffirmation ceremony. It is my sincere hope that when we affirm aboriginal and treaty rights in the oath of citizenship this year, it will be an important reminder to all Canadians and will also serve to open conversations in my riding and across the country. The changes to the oath are also an important step in advancing reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people, continuing to build Crown-indigenous relations, and fulfilling the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action.

This bill is another step forward towards full implementation of call to action 94, and I am pleased to speak in support of it today. As members listen to the speeches and make their own decisions on whether or not to support this bill, I hope they recognize that sometimes it can be small actions that make a big difference in the lives of indigenous peoples, of new Canadians and, in fact, all of us here in Canada.