Romeo Saganash

[Indigenous Affairs, October 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this government promised to make education for first nations children a priority. The Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs even presented a plan to the minister to help her government keep its promises, but she chose to ignore the department's recommendation. I asked the minister to justify her decision, but she did not give me an answer.

I am going to try again. Can the minister explain why she chose to ignore that plan?

Why does she continue to say one thing here and another outside the House?

[Indigenous Affairs, October 6th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, not only is the Prime Minister responsible for the youth file, but I believe I heard him promise a new nation-to-nation relationship with indigenous peoples.

Nevertheless, his government is not keeping the promise he made to indigenous youth. The new minister's briefing notes recommend that she honour that commitment, but she prefers to continue to shortchange them.

Can the minister explain once again how she justifies her decision to ignore her department's recommendation?

When will she stop saying one thing in the House and doing the opposite outside?

[Indigenous Affairs, October 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, at the time, the Minister of Justice was on the same side as the Assembly of First Nations in the fight to put an end to systemic discrimination against first nations children.

One has to wonder what happened between October 19 and 20, 2015, because the minister is now unrecognizable. I am giving her another chance to do something other than adopt the old, woefully unacceptable plan presented by Stephen Harper.

Can the minister tell us whether her government intends to fulfill its legal obligation to first nations children?

[Paris Agreement, October 4th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I will try to ask a short question.

We have been listening to this government for a year, and I am one of those people who are tired of hearing fine words without seeing any action. With the NDP's proposed amendment, we are reaching out. We invite the government to walk the talk and include indigenous peoples in this process.

Will the member agree to support our subamendment?

[Paris Agreement, October 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pontiac for his presentation.

My colleague from Edmonton Strathcona asked the member for King—Vaughan a very clear question, but she refused to answer it. I would like to come back to that because, as a lawyer, the member for Pontiac must know that the wording of a motion is important.

The NDP noticed that indigenous peoples were not mentioned in the motion. That is why we proposed this subamendment to include indigenous peoples in the equation in today's debate.

The question was very simple and requires only a yes or no answer: will the member for Pontiac support the NDP's subamendment?

[Paris Agreement, October 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member from Repentigny for her very interesting speech.

My question is on the fact that we now have a new government that is committed to respecting indigenous peoples, supposedly through a new nation to nation relationship, as the members opposite like to say ad nauseam. These indigenous issues come up both in the Vancouver declaration and in the Paris agreement. I was rather surprised to see that there is no mention of indigenous peoples in the main motion.

I would like the hon. member's opinion on this fundamental issue. The motion talks about the provinces and territories but omits an important constitutional player, namely Canada's indigenous peoples. How does the hon. member explain this omission?

[Indigenous Affairs, October 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in January, the government was found guilty of systemic discrimination against first nations children, yet the government continues to fight those children in court and ignore not one, but two compliance orders to protect those children.

Today we learned that the government never came up with a response to the court and that it just went ahead with an unacceptable old Stephen Harper plan.

Why does the minister think this plan satisfied her legal obligations?

[Indigenous Affairs, September 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, there will be no reconciliation without justice in this country. To achieve that, the government has to stop forcing residential school survivors to fight in court to get their compensation.

The Minister of Justice has to get rid of the endless procedural red tape that her department is imposing on residential school survivors.

On this day of recognition of residential school survivors, will the minister commit to doing that?

[Indigenous Affairs, September 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, today marks Orange Shirt Day, a day to honour residential school survivors, so let us recognize survivors who were left out of the residential school agreement. For example, the day scholars have a certified class action, and time is of the essence because plaintiffs are passing away. However, the government has refused to settle with them in good faith.

In honour of Orange Shirt Day, will the Minister of Justice finally commit to true reconciliation and stop fighting survivors in court?

[Orange Shirt Day, September 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Orange Shirt Day, because every child matters.

I would like to read a letter from an Oji-Cree teenager who wrote to me. She wrote:

Dear House of Commons.

Residential schools have played a huge role in the history of Canada. ...this needs to be told to every Canadian...to bring awareness and honour the survivors of residential schools and their families.

September 30th is known as Orange Shirt Day because on this day, an indigenous woman, Phyllis Webstad, was stripped of her orange shirt on the first day of school. This action symbolizes the way many Indigenous children were stripped of their identity and culture in Residential schools.

When you destroy a culture, a language and tradition, you demolish the foundation of a human being. Many indigenous people are still suffering in silence... That is why the goal of Orange Shirt Day is to bring comfort and closure to the survivors of Residential schools to remind them that we support them on their journey to healing.

I hope you all take the time to stand with us and bring hope for a better future.