Paul Manly

[Petitions, June 7th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table two of the same petition today, which were initiated by constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith. The petitioners are really concerned about protecting British Columbia's endangered old-growth ecosystems from clear-cut logging. They know these old-growth forests provide immeasurable benefits in fighting climate change and in supporting biodiversity, as well as cultural, recreational and educational values. Over 160 people have been arrested trying to protect these forests.

The petitioners are calling upon the government to work with the Province of British Columbia and first nations to immediately halt the logging of endangered old-growth ecosystems, fund the long-term protection of old-growth ecosystems as a priority for Canada's climate action plan and reconciliation with indigenous people, support value-added forestry initiatives in partnership with first nations to ensure that Canada's forestry industry is sustainable and based on the harvesting of second- and third-growth forests, ban the export of raw logs and maximize the resources for local jobs.

The petitioners are also calling for a ban on the use of whole trees for wood pellet biofuel production, which is contrary to any climate action measures. It is really a horrible practice.

[Business of Supply, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member, my neighbour and colleague, for his very heartfelt speech. I hear him. I have adoptive family who went through the residential school system, and family friends who have dealt with the abuse. My father, who was a United Church minister, felt the guilt of the involvement of the church at the Alberni school and sat with Willie Blackwater through the Arthur Plint case.

We need to take these things seriously. I will support this motion and I recognize this is a genocide. I thank the member for his words and his commitment.

[Business of Supply, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I have brought up here is that this genocide that occurred with our residential school system carries on with children being apprehended and removed from their homes based on poverty and lack of affordable housing. There has been a call for indigenous housing designed by indigenous people that is culturally appropriate. In my riding, Tillicum Lelum and the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre have both put forward proposals for housing and want to see more funding for culturally appropriate indigenous housing, to ensure that indigenous people who face poverty or inadequate housing do not have their children removed from them for those reasons.

Does the hon. member think that we should have a fourth leg to the national housing strategy for urban indigenous people designed by urban indigenous people?

[Business of Supply, June 3rd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add my voice to the voices of those who are congratulating you today. You have always been very generous in allowing me time to speak, so thank you. I would also like to congratulate the hon. member for her dedication and commitment to these issues.

My good friend Bill Yoachim is the executive director of Kw'umut Lelun, which is the delegated aboriginal agency for child, family and community services on Vancouver Island. One thing he reminds me constantly is that the number one reason children are apprehended by the system is poverty and a lack of affordable, adequate housing.

The residential school system is a legacy we are dealing with, but having children in foster care is an outrageous legacy we are dealing with. It is a continuation of this system of apprehending children from their families. About 4.9% of children in this country are aboriginal, but 48% of children in care are aboriginal.

I would like the hon. member to comment on the continuation of this legacy of removing children from their families and their culture and what we should be doing about it.

[The Environment, June 3rd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, this government's so-called “climate accountability act” is climate action theatre. I have heard MPs say that this piece of legislation is better than nothing, patting themselves on the back for making meaningless changes.

The Canada Energy Regulator has reported that Canada will miss its Paris Agreement targets because of the oil and gas sector. Billions of taxpayer dollars continue to flow into the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Subsidies for fracking and fracked gas continue to increase.

Yesterday, to mark Environment Week, I put forward Motion No. 90 calling for a national ban on gas fracking in Canada. Fracking is a climate killer. Continuing to support and expand the fracked gas industry is incompatible with combatting climate change, protecting fresh water, maintaining a healthy environment and respecting indigenous sovereignty, rights and title.

Canada needs to stop engaging in climate action theatre and implement a national ban on fracking.

[Business of Supply, June 3rd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague and I are neighbours, so we share some of the territory that our ridings fall into for Lyackson and Stz'uminus. I have heard from constituents who are very upset and have been re-traumatized by this discovery, which was, of course, not surprising to those who have been listening all along.

I did a video for the Cowichan District Hospital in which I interviewed elders who talked about their treatment in residential schools and in the health care system. I would like to ask my hon. colleague if he could comment on the legacy of the Indian hospitals, which were also across this country, including in Nanaimo.

[Residential Schools, June 1st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the member is looking into the situation in his riding. I would tell him that anybody who has been speaking to indigenous people and learning about residential schools would not be surprised at all to hear this horrific news. Anybody who has been listening knows that children went missing, that children never returned from these schools, and that this was a horrific act of genocide inflicted by the Government of Canada.

Does the hon. member think we should have all of these sites secured? He mentioned that he was at a former residential school site. Should all of these sites be secured? Should the government be paying for ground-penetrating radar at all of these sites? Should all of the documentation related to children who died at these sites be released by the federal government, all levels of other governments and churches?

[Residential Schools, June 1st, 2021]

Madam Chair, this was not surprising at all. As horrific as the news is, anybody who has been paying attention has known about this for a long time.

My question relates to another set of institutions that were across the country. We had one right here in Nanaimo, the Nanaimo Indian Hospital. I have done a film. I have interviewed elders about experimental medication, experimental dental practices, experimental medical practices. This was on a former Department of National Defence site, which the Snuneymuxw First Nation is wanting to get back. It and has been delayed for 20 years. Crown Indigenous Relations needs to get this land turned over to Snuneymuxw First Nation as soon as possible.

What does the hon. member think about having documentation from these Indian hospitals released so this can be examined as well? It was not only residential schools; the Indian hospital system has an appalling and horrific track record.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 31st, 2021]

With regard to the government funding in the constituency of Nanaimo—Ladysmith, between October 21, 2019, and March 31, 2021: (a) what are the details of all the applications for funding, grants, loans, and loan guarantees received, broken down by the (i) name of the organization(s), (ii) government department, agency, or Crown corporation, (iii) program and any relevant sub-program, (iv) date of the application, (v) amount applied for, (vi) total amount of funding or loan approved; (b) what funds, grants, loans, and loan guarantees has the government issued and that did not require a direct application, broken down by the (i) name of the organization(s), (ii) government department, agency, or Crown corporation, (iii) program and any relevant sub-program, (iv) total amount of funding or loan approved; and (c) what projects have been funded by organizations responsible for sub-granting government funds, broken down by the (i) name of the recipient organization(s), (ii) name of the sub-granting organization, (iii) government department, agency, or Crown corporation, (iv) program and any relevant sub-program, (v) total amount of funding?

[Committees of the House, May 31st, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, there have been consultations among the parties and I believe, if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: That notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, during the debate on the business of supply, pursuant to Standing Order 81(4), later today, one additional period of 15 minutes be added for members of the Green Party.