National Ribbon Skirt Day Act  Uqaqtittiji, I want to thank the member for sponsoring this bill. I have every respect for it, but unfortunately, it excludes Inuit cultural practices. I wonder if the member would be willing to see amendments to make sure all indigenous cultural practices are reflected in this bill.

Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  Uqaqtittiji, I, too, would like to give my condolences to the member for what has happened in his riding. It is always very sad to hear about these kinds of incidents of violence anywhere. I just wanted to ask a question in relation to what I asked a previous member. There have been a lot of gaps in the dental care and health care system.

Government Business No. 20—Proceedings on Bill C-31  Uqaqtittiji, the NDP has been supportive of the bill because it has been made obvious that there are gaps in the dental care program. This bill attempts to fill some of those gaps. Why, during this time of inflation, when families are forced to make difficult choices as to what they can afford for their dental care needs, which is an essential part of their overall health, do the Conservatives continue to play with these delay tactics?

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Uqaqtittiji, it is really unfortunate that the Conservatives are seeing this as a cost to Canadians, when it really has to be seen as a benefit to low-income families. Having said that, I think we also need to recognize the urgent issues we need to address, especially around mental health.

Canada Disability Benefit Act  Uqaqtittiji, inevitably, there will always be people with disabilities who cannot be gainfully employed. I hope they are not going to be ineligible because of that. I want to ask, instead, about indigenous peoples with disabilities and others who have disabilities who live in rural and remote communities, communities that have a higher cost of living.

Canada Disability Benefit Act  Uqaqtittiji, indigenous peoples with disabilities face extra challenges when trying to access services and, I am sure, will have extra challenges trying to access this benefit once it is available to them. I wonder if the member could agree that indigenous peoples with disabilities will need to get special provisions in trying to access these services, especially when they prefer to speak or be heard in their indigenous languages like Inuktitut, which is not a federal official language.

International Human Rights Act  Uqaqtittiji, I thank the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South for this thoughtful bill. I thank my constituents from Nunavut for trusting in me to represent their voice on such important matters as Bill C-281. I especially appreciate this opportunity, as I learned more about our laws in this bill and where our work as parliamentarians can make a difference for human rights domestically and internationally.

International Human Rights Act  Uqaqtittiji, I would like to thank the member for introducing this important bill. Canada has not yet responded to the United Nations call for Canada to develop an international human rights action strategy. I wonder if the member would agree to amend the bill so that it would require Canada to develop such an important strategy.

Cost of Living Relief Act, No. 2  Uqaqtittiji, the population of Nunavut is about 40,000 people. This bill, if passed, would help more than two million people. That is more than triple the number of people who live in Nunavut. Why is the member against targeted measures that would help all these millions of people in Canada?

Health  Uqaqtittiji, Nunavummiut deserve a government that takes indigenous mental health seriously. It is not enough for the government to announce only $11 million for the national Inuit suicide prevention strategy, despite committing to $228 million for indigenous mental health. Indigenous people rightfully expect more from the government, which continues to be all talk with no action.

Business of Supply  Uqaqtittiji, I was very recently in Greenland with other parliamentarians at the Arctic parliamentarians summit, and we had the great pleasure of visiting a greenhouse facility that runs on hydroponics. It was such a great example of what can happen in Arctic communities, and we need to model those kinds of examples.

Business of Supply  Uqaqtittiji, the first question I would ask is how they formulate profits over prices, because prices do not need to be at the cost of profits going to CEOs.

Business of Supply  Uqaqtittiji, the realities in Nunavut are very different from the other northern territories, NWT and Yukon, so food production is quite different. For Nunavut, one of the ways that improvements could be made is to better support hunters and harvesters who still rely on subsistence hunting, which they do not get enough support for.

Business of Supply  Uqaqtittiji, big grocery stores are taking too much from struggling Canadians. Much of the time the north experiences unique challenges. Unfortunately, the north is not immune to this issue. NorthMart, owned by the North West Company, reported net earnings of over $150 million in 2021.

Business of Supply  Uqaqtittiji, Canadians deserve answers. We deserve to learn why corporate greed is protected while Canadians pay more for food. This motion is a way to try to get some of those answers. Does the member agree that the agriculture committee should call the CEOs of the major grocery chains to come and explain their excessive profits?