Todd Russell

[March 25th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to continue my questioning regarding an issue that was raised on March 18 with the Minister of State for the Status of Women. It was regarding her ungodly behaviour at the Charlottetown airport.

At that time she threw a tantrum. There was a raucous caused by the minister who threw her boots and berated security personnel. She yelled that the province of P.E.I. was a hellhole and that she was working her stern off, as we say in the province, for those people.

The question also spoke to the matter of whether the minister had breached aviation regulations. The regulations are very clear, that if one has persistent, consistent, belligerent behaviour, one is a level 3 threat.

That was the nature of the two questions, but it speaks to a broader attitude on the part of the former leader of the opposition who is now Prime Minister, when he said that those in Atlantic Canada had a culture of defeat. He was also quoted by our premier, Premier Danny Williams, that he did not need Newfoundland and Labrador to win an election.

There is an attitude expressed by those in the Conservative Party who hold very high positions, one being the Prime Minister and one being the Minister of State for the Status of Women.

I can say as a proud Labradorian from the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and as a proud Atlantic Canadian that we take offence to those types of comments. They denigrate who we are and our contribution to not only our own communities in our own region but to the country as a whole.

I would say to the Minister of State for the Status of Women that instead of having tantrums, instead of denigrating people, provinces and regions of this country that she should focus her attention on some very important issues.

She should be focused on what is happening to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, where a shelter for women in Montreal is losing its funding, a shelter that provides fantastic services to aboriginal women, children and communities.

The minister should be focused on the issues of murdered and missing aboriginal women, and moving forward to ensure that file is addressed in a proper way through a public inquiry.

She should be concentrating on the loss of funding for native shelters for women on certain reserves. She should be focused on assistance for women in third world countries.

These are the things that the minister should be focused on, not denigrating, not calling down the people of our smallest province but certainly one of our very important provinces.

[Aboriginal Affairs, March 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the financial situation at First Nations University has changed. The minister knows that.

The new arrangement puts money management in the hands of the University of Regina. First Nations University will concentrate on its academic work, which has always been high calibre. There are thousands of success stories of people who are now contributing to Canada as doctors, dental technicians, lawyers, social workers, teachers and scientists.

I ask again, why is the government so determined to kill rather than fix this vital educational institution?

[Aboriginal Affairs, March 23rd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have changed their minds on a lot of things lately: the national anthem, community access sites, the distribution of parliamentary junk mail.

First Nations University is another example of where the government needs to change its mind. No one is asking the Prime Minister to support the mistakes of the past. No one condones those mistakes, but they are past. They are now fixed, thanks to courageous people like Chief Lonechild and the president of the University of Regina, Dr. Timmons.

Will the Prime Minister give the new regime, not the old one but the new one, a chance?

[Aboriginal Affairs, March 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation has funded successful projects in my own riding, such as those carried out by Labrador Legal Services and Nunatsiavut. It has funded the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal which now has to slash services to aboriginal women and their families.

There are 27 projects in Manitoba, 19 in northern and southern Ontario, 17 in Saskatchewan and over 130 across the country, effective programs helping residential school survivors, whose work is now being cut short.

Why is the government intent upon perpetuating the legacy of residential schools?

[Aboriginal Affairs, March 22nd, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, according to his own department's evaluation of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, its programs are effective, working and achieving results. In fact, the report recommends renewal of the program. In response, the Conservative government is killing it.

The healing journey for many residential school survivors has only begun. Now the government is telling them that the journey is over. Why is the minister making a mockery of the residential schools apology? How can he justify this uncaring and heartless decision?

[Labrador Winter Games, March 19th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, on March 7, 23 teams representing communities large and small from every region of Labrador gathered in Happy Valley-Goose Bay for the 10th Labrador Winter Games. During the week that followed, they showed their skills, athletic ability and good sportsmanship in 14 different team and individual events.

The Labrador Winter Games bring together athletes, coaches, trainers, officials, volunteers and spectators from across Labrador and Canada. The games are a show of strength, agility, teamwork and fair play. They build community spirit and highlight the cultural richness of our region. They are a unique expression of what it means to be a Labradorian.

I extend special congratulations to team Cartwright for successfully defending the Labrador Cup from 2006. To the medallists, the teams, all the athletes who competed, the winter games board, the coordinators, the volunteers and the sponsors who make it all possible, I offer congratulations on their success and thanks for their hard work.

We all look forward to 2013 for the 30th anniversary Labrador Winter games.

[Status of Women, March 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian aviation regulations are explicit. Section 705 says that anyone at an airport who displays argumentative or disorderly behaviour or repeatedly shows belligerent behaviour has committed a level three offence. Anyone else would have been arrested and maybe even ended up on the no-fly list.

However, if a person is a Conservative minister, all he or she has to do is utter a weak, half-hearted apology. Is there something in those aviation regulations that exempts Conservative cabinet ministers?

[Status of Women, March 18th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, it has now been nearly a month since the disgraceful behaviour of the Minister of State for the Status of Women at the Charlottetown airport. However, the Prime Minister has still not imposed any sanctions or consequences on the minister for her outburst.

What does that say to the people of Prince Edward Island and all Atlantic Canadians? It says that if people slander one of the great provinces as a hellhole, they get to stay in cabinet. Why is the Prime Minister unwilling to fire his minister for her shameful behaviour?

[December 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, much of what the parliamentary secretary has spoken about in his four minutes was what we have heard so many times before.

He talks about justice. He just cannot speak about justice. He must seek justice. He must seek justice for the 520 documented murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls. He must seek justice for their families and for their communities. One could argue that he has to seek justice so that the Canadian society itself can heal.

However, I ask the fundamental question again. Very simply, what is stopping the Conservative government from launching a national public independent investigation into the 520 cases of murdered and/or missing aboriginal women and girls?

If the member can do all these other things, as he purports, why not have a national public independent investigation?

[December 3rd, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I rise in the House today to address a question that was raised on October 7 in this honourable place. At that time the question concerned the 520 cases of missing and/or murdered aboriginal women and girls. During that question I called upon the government to launch a full, public, national, independent investigation into these particular cases.

This call for a national investigation has been supported by aboriginal women's groups, women's groups generally, Amnesty International, NWAC. It is supported by myself and my colleagues of the Liberal Party, and so many more throughout this country.

We also are at a time when we are memorializing the memory of École Polytechnique and the violence against women, when 14 women were gunned down. We are in the midst of 16 days of activism against gender violence. Just a couple of months ago we had the fourth annual Sisters in Spirit vigils across this country. They were held in small towns and in large cities, and at each and every one of those vigils, they called for the government to launch an independent national investigation.

There are 520 cases of murdered and/or missing aboriginal women and girls. I ask in all seriousness and all sincerity, where else in this world would we have this astounding number of documented cases and the federal government does not rise and see it as a national tragedy, a blot on our reputation, and take appropriate action to deal with it?

It is a matter of sexualized and racialized violence. It is a matter of discrimination. The government has answered each and every time that we have invested in Sisters in Spirit. No doubt Sisters in Spirit has done tremendous work, research work. In fact, Sisters in Spirit has been pivotal in identifying the 520 cases of murdered and/or missing aboriginal women and girls.

However, such a tragedy requires more. I ask any Canadian out there to just look at the response when a non-aboriginal, middle-class, dare I say white person, goes missing in this country. The response is appropriate and it is always tragic. We see cars, helicopters, police forces and special agents out searching.

Has anyone heard about Maisy Odjick or Shannon Alexander, two aboriginal young women who went missing approximately a year ago? Did anyone see helicopters flying? Special agents out? Police cars? I bet people do not even recognize those names. They are among the 520 murdered and/or missing aboriginal women. Just pause for a moment and think why are the responses different. That hits the heart of the matter.

I ask the government once again and this is not the first time the question has been asked. It has been asked many times. Can we have a national investigation?