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Results: 61 - 75 of 501
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the opportunity to explain the process since the $10 million went to the National Centre on Truth and Reconciliation in 2016. We then had to move forward with the NCTR to figure out what the appropriate amount for the 2019 budget would be and then it was made clear to us that we had to engage with communities as to what the program design would be. That meant that they wanted indigenous-led, community-based, culturally sensitive as well as survivor-centric, and they wanted flexibility in the program. That is exactly what we are able to deliver now and they will have access to it.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Mr. Speaker, within hours of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report being released in December of 2015, the Prime Minister pledged to implement the calls to action. Six years later, the government’s own website, not updated since September of 2019, acknowledges a failure to get this done. Only a dozen of the 90-plus calls to action have been completed. When asked when they would be fulfilled, the minister would not offer a specific timeline.
Will the minister promise right here to deliver a comprehensive plan to address calls to action 71 through 76 by July 1?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, first, I want to remind the member that over 80% of the 76 calls to action under the sole or shared responsibility of the federal government are completed or well under way; the recent passage of Bill C-5, as an example, Bill C-8, Bill C-15. This will result in sustained and consistent action to advance Canada's shared journey of healing and reconciliation.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2021-06-07 14:46 [p.8021]
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, the head of Canada, likes to use buzzwords like “reconciliation” to look good on the world stage without actually fulfilling basic human rights on Canadian soil. The Government of Canada destroyed records on residential schools, erasing vital information. The Catholic church holds the remaining records on these institutions.
If indigenous lives are so important, as the Prime Minister likes to portray, why would he not do everything in his power instead of taking knees and making apologies? Why will the government not force the church to provide information that is rightfully ours?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I totally agree with the member, except for the destruction of documents by the Canadian government, which were all handed over to the National Centre on Truth and Reconciliation.
The residential school survivors and those dealing with it need to hear the Pope apologize explicitly for the Catholic Church's role in this tragedy to unlock the healing and support closure. The Prime Minister formally requested an apology when he met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, and our government continues to call on the Pope to apologize and to release all relevant documents. The Pope's statement on Sunday does not go far enough. The—
View Jody Wilson-Raybould Profile
Ind. (BC)
Mr. Speaker, in 2020, the UN Secretary-General noted that the “approach to and handling of mass graves has too rarely been respectful or lawful”. Canada has no legal framework to address the Tk'emlúps site or any other sites that will come to light. The legal framework led to the deaths of these children. That legal framework, the Indian Act, remains in place.
Will the Prime Minister do what is needed and establish a legal framework for mass and unmarked graves that meets human rights norms, including ensuring all records are kept and released, sites protected and criminal investigations conducted so that families can heal and are appropriately compensated?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the opportunity for the clarification.
Kukpi7 Casimir has made it very clear this was not a mass grave, although it is heartbreaking that we learned of the possibility of all the remains of children at the former Kamloops residential school.
We are reaching out to indigenous communities to make sure that all other communities, with the support of the NCTR, will be able to find their lost children, and we will make sure that this is done in a proper and legal way.
View Pierre Poilievre Profile
CPC (ON)
View Pierre Poilievre Profile
2021-06-04 11:22 [p.7970]
Madam Speaker, the discovery of a mass grave at a former residential school in Kamloops has shocked the entire nation, including my constituents in Carleton. The nation grieves the lost little ones and the families that lost them.
Since the news, I have spoken with the former chief from Kamloops, Manny Jules, who rightly reminded us of the need to immediately implement Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action 70 through 78.
For example, 74 calls upon the federal government “to work with the churches and Aboriginal...leaders to inform the families of children who died at residential schools of the child’s burial...and to respond to families’ wishes for appropriate commemoration ceremonies and markers, and reburial in home communities where requested.”
That is the very least we can do. It is only the start. Reconciliation is a long journey, and it requires action and action now, so we may move forward together.
View Sameer Zuberi Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Sameer Zuberi Profile
2021-06-04 11:23 [p.7970]
Madam Speaker, I speak to members now from the unceded traditional lands of the Kanien’kéha people, what we know of today as Montreal.
What happened to indigenous peoples in residential schools is unconscionable. The bodies of 215 children were found in a Kamloops residential school mass grave. This happened here in the Canada we call home. The residential school policy of “kill the Indian in the child” led to horrendous acts, acts the Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded amounted to cultural genocide.
I have elementary-aged girls. I cannot begin to imagine the terrible pain parents felt when their children were ripped from their loving homes and never came back. As a society, we must continue to fully reconcile with indigenous peoples through self-learning and self-reckoning, as difficult as this is.
Through this, I hope that we as a country will become an example of reconciliation.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-06-03 10:25 [p.7866]
moved:
That, given that,
(i) the discovery of the grave of 215 children at Kamloops Indian Residential School has led to an outpouring of grief and anger across Canada,
(ii) the vast majority of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action remain uncompleted, despite the clear path to justice and reconciliation that the Commission provides,
(iii) survivors, families and nations are demanding concrete action to advance real reconciliation, as opposed to just more words and symbolic gestures,
the House call on the government to:
(a) cease its belligerent and litigious approach to justice for Indigenous children by immediately dropping its appeal before the Federal Court in file numbers T-1621-19 (compensation) and T-1559-20 (Jordan's Principle for non-status First Nations kids recognized by their nations) and to recognize the government's legal obligation to fully comply with Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders in this regard;
(b) agree to sit down with the St. Anne's residential school survivors organization Peetabeck Keway Keykaywin Association to find a just solution to the fact that survivors’ access to justice has been denied as a consequence of the actions of government lawyers in suppressing evidence at the Independent Assessment Process;
(c) accelerate the implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, including by providing immediate funding for further investigation into the deaths and disappearances of children at residential schools in compliance with calls to action 71 to 76;
(d) provide survivors, their families, and their communities with appropriate resources to assist with the emotional, physical, spiritual, mental, and cultural trauma resulting from residential schools; and
(e) within 10 days, table a progress report on actions taken in compliance with paragraphs (a) through (d) of the present motion, and that this report be deemed to have been referred to the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs for consideration upon tabling.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.
I come to the House from the unceded territories of the Algonquin nation. I rise today to present our opposition day motion in this House to call on the Liberal government to do the work that it has delayed for so long.
The discovery at a former residential school in Kamloops was shocking and horrifying. It was a moment when Canadians, people across this country, came together and looked in horror at what Canada has done, and is continuing to do, to indigenous people. When 215 little kids, indigenous children, were found buried at that school, Canadians were shocked. They were shocked because this was clearly not a school. This was clearly not a place of education. This was an institution designed, clearly, to eliminate indigenous people.
In this moment, Canadians across the country have participated in memorials, placing children's shoes at various places, to reflect on what this means. What does it mean that 215 children were buried without letting their families know, that these children were stripped from their parents, stripped of their language, their identity, their sense of self, taken to an institution and then killed there? What does this leave in terms of a legacy? What does this mean about Canada? What does this mean about our country?
People are asking these questions. People are wondering how it is possible that this could happen to little kids, how this could happen to children. People are now demanding more than just condolences. The broad consensus among people is that it is not good enough for the Liberal government to just express sadness and grieving. This is an opportunity, a moment that demands action and justice. The only response to this horrific discovery is a commitment to justice today.
What I find incredibly hypocritical and, more important than me, what indigenous people and people across Canada find hypocritical is that on the one hand we have a Prime Minister who could stand in this House and at a press conference and say that he is sorry or express condolences about this horrific discovery, but in the very same breath be ordering lawyers to fight indigenous kids in court.
It is not just fighting these kids in court. These kids were the subject matter of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal hearing, and that tribunal made very clear orders on the government, stating that they were clearly unjustly denied equal funding, and that there needs to be a remedy. The government is not just fighting indigenous kids in court; it is fighting a human rights tribunal decision that states that these kids deserve equal funding.
How hypocritical is it? How flagrant is this denial of justice, when on the one hand the Prime Minister and the Liberal government claim to care about indigenous kids who lost their lives in a residential school and in the same breath are fighting them in court? On top of that, this very same Prime Minister and the Liberal government are fighting residential school survivors in court.
People ask the questions, “What can we do? What can we do to move forward on reconciliation? What can we do to move forward to achieve justice for indigenous people?” One very concrete, clear step would be for the government to stop fighting indigenous people in court. That is a concrete step that it could take right now.
What has become very clear is that symbolic gestures are not good enough. We need concrete action.
I rise in the House to ask the Liberal government to do the work it has put off for far too long.
The discovery of 215 children buried at the site of the Kamloops residential school shocked the country. Families, indigenous communities and people all over the country are mourning the loss of these children.
This discovery is further proof of genocidal acts in Canada. Residential schools were designed to kill indigenous people, to kill the Indian in the child, and to take away their language, culture, traditions and, ultimately, their lives.
The survivors, families and nations demand that beyond the symbolic gestures, concrete measures be taken to move toward meaningful reconciliation.
What happened and what is happening to indigenous people can be described by no other word than one of the harshest: It is a genocide. It is clear. All of the elements of a genocide are present. The actions taken by the Canadian government have been designed to destroy a people, to eliminate a people.
In light of this discovery, in light of this clear decision by Canada to eliminate a people, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission lays out a path to justice, a real path to justice, a path that the Prime Minister committed to implementing entirely. Six years of Liberal government, six years of the Prime Minister being in power, and only a fraction of those 94 calls to action have been implemented. That is simply wrong.
We know that the government is delaying, because we see the difference in action, in priority, when the Liberals care about something. When they want something to happen, they move quickly. We saw the government move incredibly quickly, incredibly fast to deliver financial backing for banks at the beginning of this pandemic right away. There was no question, no hesitation. Massive sums of money were used to back up banks immediately without any hesitation. Where was that same commitment to indigenous people?
Commitments were made by the Prime Minister in 2015, and six years later, a fraction of those calls to action were implemented. On top of that, what people find very cynical is that while in 2019 a promise was made to ensure that any indigenous community that needed financial support for closure, to search for additional burial sites, would receive funding, two years later, nothing happened until this horrible discovery, and then the government decided to act. While it is important to act, it makes people feel very cynical about a government that makes a promise two years ago and does nothing until it is pressured by this horrific discovery.
I want to lay out, in my remaining minute and a half, what we are asking for. We are asking for the government to take concrete steps, not symbolic gestures, real steps: end the legal battles against children who are simply entitled to basic human rights and dignity, end the legal battles against survivors of residential schools, put in place an accelerated plan to deliver action on all 94 calls to action. We want to see priority given to those. We want to see supports for people who are survivors of residential schools and their communities. We want to see a progress report tabled within 10 days to see that the government is actually following up.
What we saw in Kamloops, which has shocked this entire country and left people reeling, is something that should be a moment for us to take action. It is not enough to lower the flags at half-mast. It is not enough to express condolences when the government has the power to act. In this case, action means justice for indigenous people. We have laid out the course for immediate action to walk that path.
View Mark Gerretsen Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the NDP for bringing forward this motion today so we can have a very important discussion about a very important topic.
Admittedly, I do not know the intricacies of the legal dispute that is going on. I am not aware of what those are exactly. I note that the member did not reference them in his speech. I would like to understand what the legal challenge is that the member is essentially asking to be dropped. I am wondering if he could inform the House.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-06-03 10:36 [p.7868]
Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, one of the pre-eminent reputable bodies in this country, lays out a path for what human rights are and how those decisions are made.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal made a number of decisions that clearly stated that Canada was not equally funding indigenous children and that the government should comply with the ruling of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Instead of complying with that order, the Liberal government and this Prime Minister are fighting those kids, those who were denied equal funding, in court.
There is currently a court date set in two weeks. The Prime Minister has given orders to the government lawyers to fight these children in court. We are asking the Prime Minister to call off those lawyers and stop fighting those kids in court.
View Elizabeth May Profile
GP (BC)
View Elizabeth May Profile
2021-06-03 10:37 [p.7868]
Mr. Speaker, clearly this is an important supply day motion, and we will be voting for it, of course. This is completely consistent with what our party has been calling for as well.
The timing today is certainly momentous. We are on the anniversary date of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and only a few days out from the sixth anniversary of the tabling of the report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, so I thank my hon. colleague for bringing this forward.
I would put to my hon. colleague, if he would agree that, as my own MLA, who is the Green MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, Adam Olsen, said in the B.C. legislature, the reason we have not acted is that, in this country, as horrible as it is to recognize it, “some children matter less.”
I ask the hon. member if he agrees.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-06-03 10:38 [p.7868]
Mr. Speaker, sadly, we can go even further and say that some lives matter less. That is the reality. That is what we are up against. That is fundamentally the inherent problem. That is why there is inherently so much injustice against indigenous people. It is because indigenous lives have mattered less in this country, and they continue to matter less.
That is why the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls delivered specific calls for justice. That is why the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made its calls to action. It has been so clear that indigenous lives have not mattered in this country. We are demanding that these lives matter, and we are demanding justice.
Results: 61 - 75 of 501 | Page: 5 of 34

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