Yvonne Jones

[Pensions, May 13th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the ongoing economic challenges in my riding.

The town of Wabush was founded on iron ore mining, but with low global commodity prices, the company operating the mine, Cliffs Natural Resources, entered bankruptcy protection. While this may be an unavoidable circumstance in a free market economy, what has happened to the pensioners should not be unavoidable.

The Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act protects creditors. It gives them the confidence that they will not lose their investment. However, in the case of Wabush, the company's underfunded health and pension plans were left to languish while the company liquidated assets for its creditors.

Pension funds should not be allowed to be so terribly underfunded, nor should profitable companies be allowed to abandon their negotiated obligations to the very workers who made them profitable. We need to act now to protect Canadians who work their whole lives to build our companies and build our communities.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member and all my colleagues in the House of Commons for their support toward this issue.

It has been a long-awaited move of reconciliation with residential school survivors in Newfoundland and Labrador. We are very pleased that this week the Government of Canada and the survivors of five Newfoundland and Labrador residential schools reached an agreement in the settlement of a class action suit.

We are committed to moving past this sad and terrible chapter in our history, advancing—

[Indigenous Affairs, May 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we know that child and family services on reserve must be overhauled and we have started working toward that process. We are investing money into child and family services and we are doing it across the board through various departments of government.

Our initiatives this year have provided $600 million and more over five years to be invested in children and families on reserve. We are going to continue to do that because we know it is necessary, because we know it is needed, and we are committed to it.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated before, and as the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has said, we do not see a strong working relationship with indigenous people as an impediment to resource development of any kind in this country.

In fact, Mr. Perry Bellegarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has already said that veto is not utilized in free, prior, and informed consent in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I think collaboration and working together is the way forward, and that is the path we are on.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we would certainly like to thank Pauktuutit and IKT for their input into this process.

Missing and murdered indigenous women has been a priority for us since we have taken government. We are committed to seeing this inquiry through.

We are determined to work with all of those who have been impacted to ensure that this inquiry has the outcomes that are necessary for healing, and for reconciliation for so many women, children, and families across our country.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows that the Government of Canada is committed to achieving full reconciliation with former students. We have seen that this week with the ruling in Newfoundland and Labrador and the negotiated settlement. The member also knows that we have complied with all of Justice Perell's orders regarding documents related to St. Anne's.

We have met all of the timelines, including an updated narrative that is at least 1,200 pages that has been submitted, and the member knows that.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 11th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is committed to fairness in the independent assessment process. We have seen the negotiation that was just settled in Newfoundland and Labrador with residential school survivors. We are prepared to co-operate and ensure that all the necessary information is provided in legal proceedings. We have consented to many of the claimants' requests and parliamentary beliefs, such as those requests that had been outlined in the past.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, today is a historic day as the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs is speaking in New York at the United Nations, outlining that we will remove any objections that we have had to the United Nations designation of indigenous people.

Our support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a part of advancing our commitment to indigenous—

[Indigenous Affairs, April 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, first, we welcome the ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, and we respect the ruling. We have every intention to continue our partnership with Métis and non-status people in the country to advance them and move them forward.

In fact, the president of the Metis National Council has already said, “...the Trudeau government has already recognized the Métis Nation and is prepared to deal—

[Indigenous Affairs, April 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we far from justify. In fact, we too are very concerned about what has happened here.

We will continue to work with those involved, including the Catholic Church, to try to achieve the full reconciliation that is owed to those who are tragically impacted. Unfortunately, we have no control over the correspondence that has allowed it to be off the hook, which was originally sent by the former administration.