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Results: 1 - 15 of 30
View Jean Crowder Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jean Crowder Profile
2013-05-29 14:55 [p.17242]
Mr. Speaker, they are too busy to meet with Makivik, but they are not too busy to spy on first nations activists like Cindy Blackstock. Spying on Dr. Blackstock is a new low in the Conservative campaign to stall the human rights complaint. The Privacy Commissioner clearly said that the minister's department crossed the line.
Which other activists are having their privacy rights breached by the government? Will it now drop the campaign against Dr. Blackstock and provide the tribunal with the documents it needs?
View Bernard Valcourt Profile
CPC (NB)
Mr. Speaker, if the member is preoccupied with the kids living on reserve in this country, she should also be preoccupied with all of the families on reserve that are deprived of basic rights, which we in the House are trying to give them. I am talking about the matrimonial property legislation, which will come for third reading soon. I hope she votes on the right side of it if she really cares about native families.
View Jean Crowder Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jean Crowder Profile
2013-05-28 14:50 [p.17156]
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' attempts to stall a child welfare case at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal continue. We now have a copy of the investigation by the Privacy Commissioner. It confirms that the Conservatives violated privacy laws when they collected personal information about Dr. Cindy Blackstock. This has all the signs of retaliation over Dr. Blackstock's participation in the Human Rights Tribunal.
Will the minister today agree to stop stalling the case, implement the Privacy Commissioner's recommendations and finally give first nations children the justice they deserve?
View Bernard Valcourt Profile
CPC (NB)
Mr. Speaker, first of all, the premise of her question is totally false. The commissioner's report never referred to the Conservatives.
The fact of the matter is that we take Canadians' right to privacy very seriously. Most of the recommendations, if not all, were already being implemented. We shall fully implement the recommendations of the commissioner.
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
2013-05-24 11:53 [p.16981]
Mr. Speaker, the government has now been caught deliberately withholding thousands of pages of documents that it was obligated to disclose at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The government held back the most damaging pages, which proved without a doubt that the government has been underfunding child welfare for first nations children. Now it is trying to shut down the hearing.
It is decision time for these Conservatives: political damage control, or the welfare of aboriginal children?
View Leona Aglukkaq Profile
CPC (NU)
View Leona Aglukkaq Profile
2013-05-24 11:53 [p.16981]
Mr. Speaker, the government has already provided 120,000 pages to the tribunal and is abiding by the tribunal's rules to provide more information.
The opposition member should be speaking to Canadians about why those members do not support the matrimonial rights of aboriginal women who need the protection. Why does the member not support aboriginal women having the rights that she takes for granted?
View Jean Crowder Profile
NDP (BC)
Mr. Speaker, the government is once again trying to stall the equality in child welfare case at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, this time using as an excuse its failure to disclose tens of thousands of documents.
It has already spent $3 million trying to have this case dismissed. It would have been far better off to spend that money preparing for the case.
Would the minister commit to making these documents available and stop delaying the proceedings so first nation children get the justice they deserve?
View Bernard Valcourt Profile
CPC (NB)
Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the rhetoric of the NDP, which opposed a simple bill like Bill S-2 to give rights to children and women on reserves, its members stand to complain about the process that is before the court.
We have disclosed some 120,000 pages. There are more to come. It has chosen to go before the commission. We will follow the rules imposed upon us to give the documents that we have and that are relevant to the case.
View Andrew Scheer Profile
CPC (SK)
View Andrew Scheer Profile
2013-04-18 10:04 [p.15561]
I have the honour, pursuant to section 38 of the Public Service Disclosure Protection Act, to lay upon the table the special report of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner concerning an investigation into a disclosure of wrongdoing.
This report is deemed permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
View Mathieu Ravignat Profile
NDP (QC)
View Mathieu Ravignat Profile
2013-04-18 14:30 [p.15601]
Mr. Speaker, today's integrity commissioner's report on the former head of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is nothing short of shocking. The report states that Shirish Chotalia's behaviour as the former head constituted harassment and an abuse of her authority, that she mismanaged through intimidation and that she ordered employees of what should be an arm's-length organization to carry out government policy. It also stated that virtually no vetting occurred before the appointment of Ms. Chotalia.
Who on that side will take responsibility for this patronage debacle?
View Rob Nicholson Profile
CPC (ON)
View Rob Nicholson Profile
2013-04-18 14:31 [p.15601]
Mr. Speaker, the individual no longer works for the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which is an arm's-length agency operating independently from the government, and the tribunal has now addressed this matter.
View Mathieu Ravignat Profile
NDP (QC)
View Mathieu Ravignat Profile
2013-04-18 14:31 [p.15601]
Mr. Speaker, that perfectly illustrates this government's “laissez-faire, I don't care” attitude. The Conservatives are fully and completely responsible for the fiasco that resulted from that appointment.
In his report, Mario Dion said that proper procedures for verifying candidacies were not followed when Shirish Chotalia was appointed to chair the tribunal. This was their candidate, a candidate who “repeatedly harassed employees at all levels”.
When will the Conservatives apologize?
View Rob Nicholson Profile
CPC (ON)
View Rob Nicholson Profile
2013-04-18 14:32 [p.15601]
Mr. Speaker, the NDP always wants us to get involved and interfere with arm's-length organizations. That is exactly what the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is. It operates independently from the government. As he can see, the tribunal has now addressed this issue.
View Andrew Scheer Profile
CPC (SK)
View Andrew Scheer Profile
2013-04-15 15:08 [p.15414]
I have the honour to lay upon the table the 2012 annual report of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(e) this document is deemed to have been permanently referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
View Carol Hughes Profile
NDP (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise again and speak to the important issue at the heart of my question in October, the gap in funding for welfare services for on-reserve children in Canada and the incredible length the government has gone to discredit the work of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and its spokesperson, Cindy Blackstock.
In October, it had just been announced that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal would decide whether the government was retaliating against Ms. Blackstock as it investigates the society's complaint of unequal funding for welfare services in Canada's first nation communities. It is well known that millions of dollars in government resources were wasted on surveillance of Ms. Blackstock to discredit her. That is in keeping with the government's propensity to shoot the messenger instead of addressing the issue. However, the issue is bigger than any individual and is proving to be the government's biggest test.
The scourge of poverty in Canada's aboriginal community leads to any number of negative outcomes. Much of the discontent we are seeing in Canada's first nations, Inuit and Métis communities has roots in the inequity and the challenges that arise from it. In fact, in 2008, the Auditor General confirmed that substantial shortfalls in federal child welfare funding on reserves are jeopardizing children's safety.
The money the government wasted spying on Ms. Blackstock would have been better used addressing any number of pressing issues that would actually make a difference.
When coupled with frozen and inadequate budgets for education, the penny-pinching on welfare services entrenches a cycle of dependence that must be addressed if we are going to help create the conditions that will allow this generation to lift itself out of poverty.
It is well known that education in Canada's aboriginal communities is chronically under-funded and contributes significantly to the low number of high school graduates. For every ten children on reserve, only four will graduate high school. That limits employment opportunities, which in turn limits incomes and contributes to the cycle of poverty. With poverty comes health challenges and these same communities face inordinate rates of diabetes, suicide and the fastest growing rate of HIV infection in Canada.
What is discouraging is how the government has shown an incredible lack of concern on these issues. Last week, the House debated a New Democrat motion to recognize the broad based demand for action and the need for improvement of the economic outcomes of first nations, Inuit and Métis communities. New Democrats believe these challenges should be a central focus for budget 2013.
The government has to commit to action on treaty implementation and engage in full and meaningful consultation on legislation that affects the rights of aboriginal Canadians. This is not something we pulled out of thin air. Canada is required by domestic and international law to engage in these consultations and it is the only path forward that has any hope of truly changing outcomes for many of these communities.
In terms of unilateral action, there are avenues open to the government. It is entirely within the government's abilities to increase the budget for on-reserve welfare services. It could also lift the funding cap on education that all but ensures there will be no progress on the low number of aboriginal high school graduates.
Let me remind the government that the House unanimously voted a year ago this month in support of a motion to provide equitable funding for all first nation schools, based on Shannen's Dream. These motions are not meant to be passed and then forgotten; they are marching orders for the government. It is a shame the government ignores these motions. One year later the country has become electrified with the grassroots campaign that is based on both the inaction of the government on pressing issues, like education, funding and unequal welfare services, and the incredible liberties it has taken with legislation that directly affects first nations, Inuit and Métis without proper consultation.
Will the government take action on the cycle of poverty that grips far too many of Canada's aboriginal communities and increase the budgets for welfare services in those communities?
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