Yvonne Jones

[Indigenous Affairs, April 18th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to achieving reconciliation for all those who are tragically impacted. It seems that the previous government did create an unfortunate misjustice that has allowed it to not own up to the implications.

We pledge to the people, despite the actions of the former government, that we will continue to encourage them, and all parties, to reach a settlement and a reconciliation that is appropriate.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 15th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, if we are ever to move away from the colonialism that we have experienced over the many years of this country in dealing with indigenous governments and people, we have to start thinking differently to get a different result.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 15th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I reject the concept that acknowledging indigenous people and clarifying their rights within our country is an impediment to development of any resources.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 15th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in this new chapter of relations between Canada and our indigenous people, we certainly welcome the ruling and the clarity that this ruling gives.

We support and respect all indigenous people in this country, including first nations, Métis, and Inuit. This will be another chapter in which we will be able to lift up indigenous people throughout the country and maintain good on our commitment as a Liberal government in Canada.

[National Volunteer Week, April 15th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, this is National Volunteer Week, and I am pleased to recognize the many volunteers across my riding and in our country. I stand today to congratulate and recognize the well-over 1,000 volunteers who made two events possible in my riding recently.

The Labrador Winter Games, known as the Olympics of the north, has brought together 23 communities in the spirit of sport and sharing of culture in what is dubbed as the friendship games.

The second event, known as Cain's Quest, is the world's longest and toughest snowmobile endurance race throughout all regions of Labrador. It has gained national and international attention and participation from racers.

I want to congratulate the winners and the competitors for their cultural and innovative spirit to their teams, and all participants who help showcase Labrador to the world and to ourselves. We may have a small population, but we have a large geographic land mass, and we are people of large hearts as well.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 14th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I also want to point out that Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada has funded studies mitigating these challenges, which have been undertaken by first nations and the provincial governments.

We are looking forward to the department engaging with the provinces and first nations about longer-term transportation plans. In the cases that have been referenced here, they are more of a provincial responsibility and jurisdiction, but we want to assist and to help. It is a concern for us, and we understand the nature and the importance of this to the region.

The member should never hesitate to bring forward important issues on behalf of constituents to us as a government. We would be happy to respond and work with the member to ensure that we get the best results.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 14th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to respond to the question from my hon. colleague, the member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River. I want to thank the hon. member for bringing this important issue to Parliament. I know it is a concern that is shared by her constituents.

I live in a northern region of Canada, and I know the significant challenges that we face in winter when it comes to transportation, whether it be by air, ice roads, or snowmobile, which is the other preferred route that we have to use.

I want to first of all point out to the member that in the budget there was $255 million for roads and bridges that was allocated directly and specifically for first nation communities. No community in the north, or anywhere in this country, should have to face a shortage of essential supplies during the winter. However, we all know that it happens.

In my riding, as the member can appreciate, there are times of the year when we have to ship by vessel during a small window. It is not always easy to do that because of ice conditions, just like the challenges faced with reliable winter roads as well.

The network is essential and vital to remote communities like the one the member represents, and we know how much they rely upon these ice roads for essential services like fuel, food, medical supplies.

We also know, and have acknowledged as a government, that the reliability of those transportation modes are being tested. In part, it is due to climate change, a discussion that we all continue to have. Environment Canada has told us that the average annual temperature in Canada has warmed by 1.6°, so that is significant. It also means a shorter winter road season for many of our communities.

Typically, winter roads are open from mid-January to mid-March. Some can go longer, as we know. However, when the season is shortened due to weather, as we have seen in some years and in some communities like Wollaston Lake and Hatchet Lake First Nation, the communities that the member has referenced may have reduced access to the essential items they would normally receive by land.

There are systems in place, and I think the member recognizes that, to help these remote communities when these situations occur. For example, depending on a specific situation, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada makes additional funding available to first nations to subsidize the delivery of essential items by air. We have done that in the past. We also monitor the number of days that we are expected to provide that service, and we look at what we can do early on to mitigate any impact that could be placed upon the communities.

Our minister met with Chief Tsannie and the delegation from his first nation community regarding the winter roads issue. We have met with Hatchet Lake First Nation and its leadership to follow up as well. It is an issue that we have been dealing with, have dealt with, and will continue to deal with based on the urgency that the situation requires.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that we are very committed to home care. Looking at home care for Canadians today, we announced the initiatives that we would undertake around palliative care as well.

The other part is with regard to the health accord. We are looking to the provinces and territories. We will be working with them to develop a new health accord. That health accord will reflect the modern demands of the health care system, whether that be around mental health services or other health services. However, I can guarantee that these are priorities for us, and priorities that we will address in this mandate.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is dealing with tremendous challenges left behind by a former Progressive Conservative government, not unlike what we are dealing with regarding the challenges on debt and deficit that were left to us by the former Conservative government opposite.

However, do we govern in a country and do we bill our way back, or do we allow the country and that province to go bankrupt?

The people opposite may be prepared to run large deficits, run the people's country and the people's province into the ground, leaving nothing to rebuild from. The Liberals do not work that way. We look for a path forward, and sometimes that path is painful. However, Canadians will always have security, they will always have a government to depend upon, and they will not be left to their own devices.

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to share my time with the member for Winnipeg South.

I am very proud to speak to budget 2016.

Members talk about the reasons they get into politics. This budget is certainly a reflection of one of the reasons I got into politics; it is about reaching out to all Canadians, in a fair and balanced way, ensuring that they all have opportunities in this country. That applies to everyone, from the east to the west. This evening we will hear some interesting perspectives on the budget and how it is going to help Canadians from one end of the country to the other.

I have spent a number of years in politics, and I can guarantee that in representing people in my riding, and before that in my district at the provincial level, it has not always been easy. It is not always easy to advocate for people, especially in times when governments are not tuned in, not listening to the needs of the people, and when they do not always see the big picture, a vision for the country.

In the last number of years, people in ridings like mine that are remote, rural, northern, and indigenous, have not been listened to. When we look at the infrastructure deficit that we carry today, it is because there were governments in the country in the last 10 years that did not believe in many of these communities and many of these regions. These are regions that are northern, indigenous, remote, rural.

I am very pleased to see a budget like we have today that is reflecting those needs and looking at the reality of what investments it will take to be able to meet some of those demands.

Today as we speak, there is a budget coming down in Newfoundland and Labrador. I do not envy the job of the premier and his government, but I certainly have confidence in them to know that they will make the right decisions for the people in their province. They are carrying a huge deficit, and they have to make tough decisions. I am happy to say that I am part of a national government that recognizes this, and that has reached out in this budget to help provinces, like Newfoundland and Labrador, when it comes to creating jobs and new opportunities, to help provinces like Saskatchewan, Alberta, and many others.

This year we were able to increase the transfer dollars to Newfoundland and Labrador, and we were able to ensure that there were increases in health transfers over those of previous years. We were able to see increases in social transfers over those of previous years. We were able to ensure that there was proper fiscal stabilization investments that would be transferred to Newfoundland and Labrador.

It means partnering with provinces and territories. When a province is strong and its economy is strong, we all benefit. Our government is recognizing that. We are recognizing that, and we are partnering with provinces and territories to help them do the things they need to do to move infrastructure forward.

The other thing we are doing is we are recognizing that the challenges they have need to be dealt with.

Two years ago in my riding, under the former government, hundreds of people were laid off when the iron ore industry started to collapse. I saw four mines close in my region. At one point I saw a community with nearly 400 for sale signs on houses.

When I listen to the members opposite ask about what we are doing to help people who are unemployed, it is ironic. There were thousands of people in this country laid off and unemployed under the former government, people who received absolutely no support, absolutely zero support.

We have been able to work with communities like Wabush and Labrador West so we can ensure that we have better employment insurance benefits for them to help them through the transition. We have been able to work with them in their communities and in the province to secure new investors and new opportunity. We have been able to put more money into investing in skills training and diversifying skill levels. We have been reaching out to communities in this way all across the country.

We know that when we build stronger communities and when families have financial security, everyone contributes more to our country. That is why in our budget our government was adamant about raising the middle class, about allowing families to have opportunities and save for their children's future, to save for their retirement, and to be able to own a home.

This is the kind of balance that our government has had to tackle. We have done a great job in targeting so many middle-income families and low-income families that really need the government to give them a hand up in society.

That is why things like our child tax benefit program and our reformed income tax program will make a difference. In addition to that, we also realize that not all people live equally. We recognize that in northern regions the cost of living is much higher. That is why we included special initiatives within the budget to help. We have added more money to programs like nutrition north so families can look at providing more affordable food to their children.

We are also committed to doing a full review of the nutrition north program, to work with the communities that are impacted and to look at how we can expand this program so they have better quality food but, most important, affordable food when they need it.

We have also made changes to tax deductions for northern regions. For the first time in many years, we have given substantial increases under the northern tax reduction program, which will allow more families to have more money in their pocket to deal with the higher cost of living that they have to live with on a regular basis.

For the first time ever, I listened to a budget that referenced not just indigenous people, or first nations, or Métis, but actually referenced Inuit people and referenced areas like Nunavut, Nunatsiavut, Nunavik, all of those areas about which we never hear much. They are referenced in the context of investment, in investing money into critical programs across northern regions. I represent a large area of northern Inuit people and for the first time we will get investments in housing. We will be able to provide better housing, better support programs, and a better foundation to help them build their communities.

We have talked about suicide a lot in the House in the last few days. The Inuit regions of Canada have a suicide rate that is 10 times the national average. We have to get to the root causes of these problems. That is why this government is making one of the largest investments ever, more than $8 billion, for indigenous communities and indigenous people across the north.

We are prepared to tackle the most challenging issues that we face as a country. We are prepared to resolve those issues in collaboration with those who are impacted. We know in doing so all Canadians do better.