Sheila Malcolmson

[Indian Act, June 20th, 2017]

Madam Speaker, noting the words of Sharon McIvor, who asked why consult on whether people can continue to be discriminated against, I will ask my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands if there is any reason to not either adopt the perfected bill as adopted and proposed by the Senate, which was informed by indigenous women, or else ask for an extension but not adopt a flawed bill, as is put before us by the government.

[The Environment, June 19th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I will note again for the member's information. This is not a Canadian product or a Canadian appetite. This is not trade. This is Wyoming coal to be burned in power plants in China. This has nothing to do with Canadian benefit.

Two weeks ago the government launched a review process of the Canadian Pilotage Act. A number of participants who will be invited are named, including indigenous groups, which I do not think is in keeping with the government's commitment to indigenous government in a nation-to-nation relationship. We will ensure that a government-to-government relationship is carried out.

However, the list does not mention local governments, such as the Gabriola Local Trust Committee, the Regional District of Nanaimo and Islands Trust Council, all the governments that are on record as opposed to the establishment of these new bulk anchorages. Neither does it include groups like the chamber of commerce or the Gabriolans Against Freighter Anchorages Society.

Will the minister's representative assure me that such groups that have a very strong stake in the outcome of this review will be warmly invited inside the process?

[The Environment, June 19th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, last time we had this conversation, we were talking about the government's willingness to support members of my community on Gabriola Island within my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith in their opposition to the proposal for five new commercial deep sea anchorages. These are causing great concern in my community, as is evidenced by the hundreds of petition signatures I have tabled in the House.

Gabriola Island is my home along with thousands of other people in my community. I feel strongly about it, especially given that the proposal to establish new anchorages is to facilitate exports of thermal coal from Wyoming, which no U.S. port would allow to exit through their ports. The port of Vancouver, despite universal opposition from surrounding British Columbia municipalities, agreed to facilitate their exports.

It has no visible community benefits. It threatens our community and our coastline and is creating great anxiety. We do not want the Minister of Transport to approve these anchorages. Not going forward with these anchorages would have multiple benefits.

First is the respect for the rights of indigenous people. It is Snuneymuxw First Nation territory. The environmental overview assessment described the process as inadequate. It said, “the lack of public and First Nations consultation leaves potential for significant effects to occur within social components...”

Second, we could save our coast from an oil spill. Five years ago when I was chair of Islands Trust Council, three bulk carriers within Plumper Sound dragged their anchors and came very close to landing on the shoreline. The Department of Ecology oil spill coordinator on the Washington State side, Dale Jensen, said that damage to fuel tanks on a cargo ship that size could have oiled the islands on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border.

Third, cancellation would give time for the industry to fix its reputation in existing anchorages. Plumper South, Protection Island, and Cowichan Bay all experience ongoing visual diesel smoke, generator noise, and excess light pollution. Industry has not chosen to mitigate any of those consequences. Again, this is all downside, no upside for these communities.

Fourth, it would allow decisions to be based on science, facts and evidence. The Conservative Party having gutted the Fisheries Act means the habitat impact on fisheries in our area has not been assessed.

Fifth, it would protect species at risk. We both have glass sponge reefs, amazing treasures of the deep ocean in the Salish Sea, which are not fully mapped and explored. This is also a transit and feeding area for the southern resident orca whale, which is listed as endangered or threatened under the Species at Risk Act.

It would build Canada's reputation as a country that is willing to act on climate change and it would support many elected bodies opposed to the anchorage establishment.

Will the minister assure residents of Gabriola Island and users of the Salish Sea that he will not approve the five bulk commercial anchorages off Gabriola Island?

[Status of Women, June 19th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, that was an inquiry my colleague called for.

Today, the minister unveiled a strategy on gender-based violence. While we do need data and RCMP training, there is absolutely nothing for front-line services to support survivors of sexual assault. Every night, 500 women and kids are turned away from domestic violence shelters in Canada—500 of them.

Why does this so-called anti-violence strategy have absolutely nothing for women fleeing violence and for the front-line workers who support them?

[Status of Women, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government was ready in 2004 with a perfect model that had full consultation. Everyone was delighted. It did not happen. Pay equity was in the NDP federal election platform. It was not in the Liberal election platform, but I was very pleased when they agreed with our motion to say let us do this. They took it on. They promised they would.

The recommendation of the all-party committee, the consensus of all parties, was that legislation would be tabled in the House this month, right now. Not a single witness at the committee study that was done said anything other than to enact the 2004 model. They did not say the government needed to consult. They said to get it done.

There is no reason in the world for the government to be talking about asbestos or what was in or out of their election platform, or ours. Pay equity was in ours. I have asked a hundred times this year when they will act. When will we see the legislation that will get Canadian women equal pay for work of equal value?

[Status of Women, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the government owes Canadian women economic justice. Equal pay for work of equal value is a fundamental human right. However, today, women in Canada continue to be paid far less than men for work of equal value. To fix this injustice, in February 2016 I moved a motion in this House to create a special committee on pay equity to implement the recommendations of the 2004 pay equity task force. That was adopted by this House and by the government opposite. A year ago that committee on pay equity tabled a report called “It's Time to Act”. It called for pay equity legislation to be tabled in June 2017. That is now. I did not think that a year later the government would still not have legislated equal pay for work of equal value.

The effects on women are real. Since 2004, the gender wage gap has cost Canadian women $640 billion in lost wages. That is $640 billion that successive Canadian governments owe Canadian women because of Liberal and Conservative failures to act. Without pay equity, that amount is growing every day. On average, women working in Canada full time year-round make only 77% of what their male counterparts earn.

I will list many more ways that this impacts women. Women have to work 14 additional years to earn the same pay that a man earns by age 65. Women do not earn enough during their working years, so when they retire, disproportionately, senior women fall into poverty in Canada. Early childhood educators often do not earn enough, so they either leave the profession or else they have to rely on a spouse to supplement and support them. Women are expected to take time out of the workforce to care for children and seniors, because they earn a lower wage than their male partner. Women are forced to work insecure jobs because they do not have enough savings to wait for better work. The low minimum wage means that women often cannot get themselves out of poverty. Women who are indigenous, visible minorities, transgendered, or living with disabilities experience an even wider wage gap.

What is the government doing? It is delaying justice again for women for no good reason. Oxfam Canada told the status of women committee this year that there are no barriers to the government moving forward with pay equity legislation now.

The government could follow the good examples of provinces that have proactive pay equity legislation, like Ontario and Quebec. My aunt, Kim Malcolmson, a social justice activist and feminist, was one of Ontario's first pay equity workers when its commission was established in the early 1980s.

I will keep fighting, as many generations of women have before, so that women have equal pay for work of equal value, no matter where they live in Canada. The current government is what is holding that process up. Thirteen years have passed since the Liberal 2004 pay equity task force report. It was a comprehensive blueprint for pay equity. A three-year study, with 113 recommendations, it stands up very well in the House, which supported it again a year and a half ago.

Barb Byers, former secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, testified at the special committee on pay equity. She said:

Let us also be mindful that women have been waiting for longer than 12 years. We've been waiting for decades and decades, and while we wait, the debt owed to those who are caught in the wage gap continues to mount. These are women with children to raise, women who deserve a dignified retirement....

Therefore, my question for the government is this. When exactly will it listen and introduce proactive pay equity legislation so that women will get the justice they deserve?

[Status of Women, June 15th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, violence against women in the Northwest Territories was nine times the national rate, according to StatsCan. About 80% of Northwest Territories communities do not have access to victim services. About 85% not have domestic violence shelters, and some women do not even have access to phones.

If this self-described feminist government truly believes in equality and ending violence against women, how will Liberals ensure every woman has support, and no woman is ever turned away from a shelter, no matter where she lives?

[Petitions, June 14th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I rise once again to bring voices from coastal B.C. to Parliament in support of a solution to the long-standing problem of abandoned vessels. They risk oil spills, put at risk local jobs, and risk our environment across the country.

Let us end the runaround and make the Coast Guard responsible for first action on abandoned vessels. Let us fix vessel registration to get the costs off taxpayers. Let us build a coast-wide strategy, co-operating with provinces and local governments. Let us act before vessels sink. Let us create good green jobs by supporting recycling and local salvage companies.

The petition is signed by people from Gabriola Island, Victoria, Nanaimo, and all of the directors of the Regional District of Nanaimo signing as individuals. I am honoured to have the support of many local governments for my legislation, Bill C-352. We know $1 million a year, as announced by the government this month, is inadequate to deal with the thousands of abandoned vessels left on all three of Canada's coasts.

[Families, Children and Social Development, June 13th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal child care announcement is a drop in the bucket, and those on the front lines are giving it a failing grade.

The Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada says the Liberals' approach “goes against all the evidence that quality child care is critical to the healthy development of all children”.

Liberals attacked the NDP's plan for universal affordable child care, saying it was too little and too slow. However, even Paul Martin's child care plan offered more annual funding than this one.

Why are the Liberals checking a box rather than giving real support to Canadian families?

[The Environment, June 8th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, this year World Oceans Day is focused on stopping marine debris. However, Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to clean up abandoned vessels littering our coasts. These vessels are a major source of oil spills and pollution, and they threaten jobs in aquaculture, commercial fishing, and tourism.

The recent Liberal announcement is a drop in the bucket. Of the thousands of abandoned vessels littering Canada's three coasts, exactly how many will $1 million clean up each year? Can the minister give us a number?