National Council for Reconciliation Act  Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his work on the indigenous and northern affairs committee. I am really enthused to see the Conservative Party so ambitious on the truth and reconciliation calls to action. I know we will move forward in a really good way collaboratively dur

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Madam Speaker, that is exactly why we kept the number of seats limited to the three constitutional groups. It is important that, when we are talking about organizations, we are not cherry-picking organizations. There are three constitutional groups in section 35 of the Constitu

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Madam Speaker, there are three distinct groups that make up aboriginal people under the Constitution of Canada, which are the Métis, the first nations and the Inuit. They are represented by the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council. We

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Madam Speaker, we are looking at 15 seats on the national council for reconciliation. There are over 40 to 60 nations of first nations people across Canada. We have consistently said we are going to stick with the constitutional advocacy groups that are there. We want to make sur

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge that Canada's Parliament is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. As we gather to debate Bill C-29, I think that it is important to take a moment to explain the approach that the government took

Indigenous Disability Awareness Month  Mr. Speaker, November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. Many may be surprised to know that indigenous people have rates of disabilities three times higher than the average Canadian, many times without the support that many Canadians enjoy. However, they are some of the mo

Indigenous Affairs  Madam Speaker, I understand the question and I understand the intent of it. However, what we have seen in many of our indigenous communities as a result of intergenerational trauma is that indigenous communities are far more likely to be violent, far more likely to see abuses and

Indigenous Affairs  Madam Speaker, I acknowledge my hon. colleague from Nunavut for raising this very important question. I would like to start off by saying that I am speaking from my home in Eskasoni First Nation on unceded Mi'kmaq territory. The member is right that this is an important issue, a

Hurricane Fiona  Mr. Speaker, that is an important question. In the Mi’kmaq culture and in the Mi’kmaq language we have a term called netukulimk. It reminds us that we have a responsibility to each other, we have a responsibility to our communities and we have a responsibility to our nation. W

Hurricane Fiona  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her comments and her years of advocacy on this important file. It is one of the things that we learned growing up in an indigenous community, that within a language we are all connected. That is an important thing that I try to re

Hurricane Fiona  Mr. Speaker, what we need to do is move fast. However, to blame this disaster on bureaucrats or gatekeepers or whatever terminology the member wants to use is not seeing the actual problem in front of us. The actual problem is climate change. These disasters will happen, and the

Hurricane Fiona  Mr. Speaker, in times of crisis, Cape Bretoners come together. They unite for a common purpose, healing their neighbours, helping their neighbours. With that in mind, I have to start off by thanking the member for Cape Breton—Canso for sharing his technology and his screen name w

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Madam Speaker, I realize that the member was cut off in the delivery of her speech. I wonder if she would want to conclude with some thoughts and if she could direct her thoughts to the portions of the TRC calls to action around education that she supports. Does she think that th

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Mr. Speaker, I realize the Conservatives are very passionate about seeing call to action 56 implemented. I am wondering if he could speak to me about any of the other calls to action he would like us and his new leader to fast-track so we can prepare to move forward in a faster

National Council for Reconciliation Act  Mr. Speaker, as always, the member knows I am open to all kinds of suggestions from all parties on how we can improve this bill. I want to be clear on call to action 56. It requires the Prime Minister to respond to the national council for reconciliation's state of aboriginal pe