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Results: 136 - 150 of 497
View Jenica Atwin Profile
Lib. (NB)
View Jenica Atwin Profile
2021-05-11 12:56 [p.7043]
Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to Bill C-30 and to share some of my reflections, not only on the government's budget and its implementation, but also on how the government views its relationship to Canadians.
I have been open in my critique of this budget. There is some good, and there are some things to be optimistic about, but ultimately this long-anticipated budget lacks the courage required to lead this country into a bold, new future. Canadians were not given a clear picture of what concrete steps will be taken to lift us up from our darkest hour. What we all need is leadership.
A leader speaks with clarity. Instead, we often spin our wheels with mixed messaging. The government has clearly indicated that we will be net-zero by 2050, while missing the point entirely that the decade we are currently in is actually the most important to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
A leader speaks with consistency. On the one hand, the government declared a climate emergency in 2019. Then, within the month, it had purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline to shepherd it through construction and more than double oil sands production.
A leader acts with integrity. The government says that no relationship is more important than its relationship with indigenous peoples, yet court injunctions are being enforced on unceded lands across this country in the name of law and order. Reconciliation has lost its meaning.
This budget is just another example of symbolism over substance, where we maintain the status quo under the guise of transformation. I am certain I am not the only one who feels as though the last 14 months have simultaneously trickled by at a snail's pace and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Last March, the world had to stop. We had to stop travelling, stop going to the office and stop enjoying Sunday dinners with grandparents. We had to adapt. Week by week, month by month, we were tested. We saw COVID sweep through long-term care homes as residents had no access to PPE or rapid testing. We closed our borders as a nation and many provinces chose to do the same. In those early months, there was no certainty about vaccine production timelines. All the while, tremors were shaking the economy, hitting small and medium-sized businesses the hardest.
We now find ourselves 14 months into this pandemic, and the Deputy Prime Minister has tabled a budget said to focus on Canadians and the middle class, and those seeking to join it. This middle-class obsession is yet another way to avoid talking about the widening gap between those experiencing extreme poverty and the wealthy elite.
We are in the throws of a housing crisis from coast to coast to coast. Not only is it becoming more and more difficult for young people to purchase their first home, but people cannot afford apartments as rental market prices are skyrocketing. People across the nation still do not have access to a primary care provider, mental health care professionals or the ability to pay for their medications they require to live.
Research published last month exposed that over half of Canadians, 53% of them, are within $200 of not being able to cover their monthly bills. This includes the 30% who report they are already insolvent with no money left at month's end to cover their payments. This is unacceptable. How have we let income inequality reach this point? How is it that we are unwilling to face it down directly?
Instead, our government would rather reflect wistfully on the middle class, while banks increase their profits and children go hungry. People are having a hard time. The people we work for. They have done their best to manage so far, but I have felt the increased weight of it all in their correspondences to my office over the last month or two.
People's financial reserves are exhausted. Their emotional reserves are exhausted. They do not need insincerity from their government. They need to be seen. When over half of our population is living with the anxiety of maybe not being able to make ends meet, or already being unable to do so, perhaps this middle-class concept is a little more than a relic of a bygone era.
It is important to name things as they are so we can approach them with integrity. I want us to have real conversations about offering stability, health and well-being to Canadians, meeting them where they are at, understanding the urgency and acting. This budget is a missed opportunity to truly offer Canadians a shift to directly improve their quality of life.
I had been hoping that one lesson taught by the pandemic would have been that we were able to act quickly and put in place life-changing programs, such as the Canadian emergency response benefit. In many cases, it kept people quite literally alive. However, even with the CERB, the government demonstrated indifference to the most vulnerable. We determined an amount that would be livable, knowing full well that we were continuing to ask persons with disabilities, seniors and those on social assistance to live on much less.
We had a chance to offer Canadians the stability of a ground floor to ensure that basic needs are met. We could have offered a collective sigh of relief with a guaranteed basic income. Instead, many Canadians are still holding their breath. I will not hold mine while I wait for the promises of the government to come through.
Another lesson I was had hoped to see reflected in the budget was the need to address racism and systemic inequality. We are still waiting for action on missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people. Words will not protect them. Words will not have their cases investigated the way they should be, and words will not root out hate and white supremacy in our society.
The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat should have a robust plan to reach into every corner of our institutions to confront the vectors of power that have been at play since colonization began. Racism kills. We must adopt Joyce's principle that aims to guarantee that indigenous people have equitable access to all health and social services and to the highest attainable standard without discrimination.
We also need concrete, long-lasting actions for change in the Criminal Code, police enforcement and the carceral system. We know that our society will not be able to thrive until we break down the barriers that prevent people from living their full lives. Until there are real reparations and real justice, we cannot talk about reconciliation.
This budget is supposed to be about building a more resilient Canada, one that is better, fairer, more prosperous and more innovative, but without implementing a guaranteed livable income, I do not see how it will help Canadians to be more prosperous. While refusing to hike the capital gains tax and a reticence to impose a significant wealth tax, this has nothing to do with being better or more fair.
Who will bear the brunt of the deficits anticipated for the next decades? It is one thing to announce long-overdue investments in health care and housing, but these were needed decades ago. Will the government have the courage to implement a tax to target the large corporations that are profiting off this pandemic? As things stand, these corporations are the ones building back better and they are doing it on the backs of Canadians.
The minister also said that this budget is in line with the global shift to a green, clean economy. Everyone here should know without any surprise that I strongly support that vision, but I wish I was able to believe that this statement had value beyond the rhetorical. I see the situation we are facing as a potential opportunity. As the entire world looks to shift away from fossil fuels, we are given an incentive to figure it out now, to invest in innovation that will meet the energy demand with renewable energy or that will reduce our total energy demand.
The economic opportunity of new industries combined with an effort to redirect workers to these sectors holds immense potential. I know that some Canadians, indeed some members of this House, see me as an idealist or perhaps even naive, but my commitment to the rotational workers in my home province and beyond is real. I believe with every fibre of my being that their best futures are not travelling to and from Alberta for dwindling work in a dying industry. Their knowledge and skills can be transferred to benefit the economy of the future, one that is sustainable and renewable, one they can proudly leave to their children and grandchildren. That takes courage to stand one's ground and to do what is right, even when some people do not like it.
I know that with all of my colleagues in this House, we share the common objective of improving the lives of Canadians, but I also know we see different ways of getting there. As a woman, a mother and an educator, I want to put the emphasis on the well-being of people above all. I know that with a healthy and happy society, we can all thrive. What we need is a government with the courage to lead, a government that will share a vision for Canada that inspires us and a resolve to charge forward in that direction with confidence. This is how we will transform our society. This is how we will build the Canada of tomorrow.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-05-11 14:26 [p.7058]
Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight, the Prime Minister takes a knee at a Black Lives Matter protest, and then turns around and sends the military to spy on those protesters.
We just learned that the military spied on protesters to learn how protesters organize, who the major actors were and what the core narratives were all the while using the pandemic and the crisis in long-term care as an excuse, which makes no sense.
These are people who are concerned about systemic racism killing Black people. Why did the Prime Minister send the military to spy on concerned people who are raising their voices about systemic racism and how it kills Black people?
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-05-11 14:27 [p.7058]
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the leader of the NDP that these reports are extremely concerning. People have a right to gather and protest, and we are looking into this matter. These reports are very disturbing.
We know that there are systemic challenges that the military is facing that must be addressed. It is a priority for this government that we promote equality, equity and inclusion in all of our activities, including in the Canadian Armed Forces, and we will be following up on those troubling reports.
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jagmeet Singh Profile
2021-05-11 14:28 [p.7058]
Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the Prime Minister sent the Canadian Forces to spy on Black Lives Matter protestors and that he used the pandemic and the health care crisis as an excuse. That makes no sense, because there is no connection. The BLM movement is about racial justice.
Did the Prime Minister send the Canadian Forces to spy on other protestors demanding racial justice in other provinces, such as Quebec?
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-05-11 14:28 [p.7058]
Mr. Speaker, like the leader of the NDP, I am extremely concerned about these reports and information that came out this morning. It is definitely extremely disturbing. That is why we are going to follow up on this issue, because people across Canada must be free to protest and show that they disagree with the policies of the government and our society. We will always be there to defend freedom of expression and the freedom to protest. At the same time, we recognize that within the military there are challenges related to racism and systemic discrimination. We will follow up on that as well.
View Jenny Kwan Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jenny Kwan Profile
2021-05-11 18:49 [p.7095]
Madam Speaker, racism and structural inequity existed even before the pandemic, but COVID-19 has shone a light for many on the serious inequality in our country.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been public actions and calls against anti-Asian violence and racism; mass public protest movements against police violence, and to say that Black lives matter; rallies to call for justice for migrant workers; and people gathering in the streets to protest the resource extraction and development taking place on unceded indigenous land without free, prior and informed consent, and calling for a true reconciliation that dismantles colonial institutions and laws.
Transformative changes are needed in our laws, governments and institutions to reconcile and make reparations for Canada's colonial history, to root out systemic discrimination and to eliminate the root causes of poverty and inequality. Equality of rights is supposed to be at the core of Canadian law, as enshrined in our charter, yet this is not the reality for far too many people.
People do not have equal access to housing. There is no national rights-based approach to housing. There is no national urban indigenous housing plan that is by indigenous, for indigenous. Law enforcement disproportionately affects Black and indigenous people. People living with addictions cannot access the health care that they need, and instead they are criminalized. People do not enjoy equitable access to supports for early intervention, mental health and addiction. The chronic underfunding and defunding of these services is a sample of the systemic racism that exists within government.
Canada must take bold action to tackle systemic racism and recognize that racial disparities in education, learning, employment, food and water security, health and child welfare, housing and homelessness, income and social assistance, immigration and newcomer settlement, justice and policing, and poverty are persistent and real.
To improve safety for members of our community, we must invest in people. Canada can afford to have a guaranteed livable income so that everyone will have access to income, food security, safe housing and safe transportation. The Atlanta incident is a reminder of the intersections and the deadly effects of not only racism, but also misogyny. We must also address policy issues that increase people's vulnerability to violence, including fighting against the stigma that sex workers face.
While we are often tempted to think that racism is a problem confined to the United States, the truth is that racist verbal and physical attacks on Asian Canadians are on a sharp rise. According to Bloomberg, Vancouver is the Asian hate capital of North America. In Vancouver, anti-Asian hate crimes have gone up 717%. Every attack is aimed at stripping us of our sense of safety and dignity. It is a clear message to say that we are not wanted and that we do not belong.
I am glad that the House of Commons unanimously adopted my motion that calls on the government to include anti-Asian racism in Canada's anti-racism strategy and in all anti-racism policies and programs. However, we need to ensure that NGOs are provided the resources they need to help fight against Asian hate and provide support to victims. NGOs have the trust of, and relationships with, the people on the ground. They can break down cultural and language barriers, but they cannot do this from the side of their desks. Dedicated stable and predictable core funding, not just project funding, is needed to tackle this essential work.
I call on the government to take action to support the community.
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
2021-05-11 18:53 [p.7096]
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague across the way for her advocacy on behalf of her own communities and other Asian communities.
Like millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, our government is very concerned by the proliferation of anti-Asian hatred and racism in Canada and in other parts of the world. Anti-Asian racism, discrimination and stigma have no place in Canada, and we condemn all forms of them.
By taking a stand, it reminds us that contrary to what many believe, anti-Asian racism is not new to Canada. Anti-Asian racism has a long history in Canada.
In a society governed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Multiculturalism Act and the Human Rights Act, hatred and racism have absolutely no place in Canada today. They pose a direct threat to the foundation of our democratic institutions, to the security of our communities and to our nationwide efforts to combat the pandemic that we face today.
Statistics Canada data, the unprecedented work of national pan-Asian organizations and data from law enforcement agencies show unequivocally that anti-Asian hatred is currently a sordid reality for far too many Canadians.
We are determined to take every measure necessary to work with the Asian communities in order to put an end to anti-Asian racism.
We have already made record investments to combat racism, including anti-Asian racism, through Canada's $45-million anti-Asian racism strategy. The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat is working closely with Asian communities to help ensure that the federal government consistently addresses anti-Asian racism in all its programs and policies, not only in its anti-racism policies and programs.
Through budget 2021, we are investing $11 million in the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to facilitate initiatives, like the establishment of a national coalition to support Asian Canadian communities. The Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat is also collaborating with Asian organizations to see anti-Asian racism addressed in the upcoming Asian Heritage Month activities. This year's theme is recognition, resilience and resolve, an important theme to urge all Canadians to come together to combat all forms of anti-Asian racism and discrimination.
Our digital citizen initiative also supported the work of key Asian community organizations to fight anti-Asian racism.
Through budget 2021, we also invested in improving the collection and use of disaggregated data. The anti-racism strategy also provides support to the Department of Public Safety. It seeks to develop a national framework and guidelines to better respond to hate crimes, hate incidents and hate speech.
We recognize that there is much more that we need to do.
That is why our government remains committed to taking concrete action to fight anti-Asian racism. Canada's anti-racism strategy, along with all other related government programs and policies, must be introduced and designed to be effective in combatting anti-Asian racism.
View Jenny Kwan Profile
NDP (BC)
View Jenny Kwan Profile
2021-05-11 18:57 [p.7097]
Madam Speaker, May is Asian Heritage Month. This is the second Asian Heritage Month to take place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and rising anti-Asian hate.
To the Asian community, let this be a month to strengthen our connection to our heritage, history and community to find the strength, resilience and love that we need to fight against racism and hate. Let us hold each other in solidarity and care as our communities grieve the ongoing pandemic tragedies, especially our South Asian community with the devastating crisis in India now.
Inclusion and justice mean that all entities required for dignified living, such as income, health care and housing are accessible, and that essential workers on the front lines, including migrant workers and undocumented workers, are recognized and protected.
There must be a comprehensive and co-ordinated response to rising hate crimes that prioritizes support for NGOs on the ground. Systemic racism at all policy levels must be addressed. The government has an urgent responsibility to act.
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
2021-05-11 18:58 [p.7097]
Madam Speaker, anti-Asian racism is unacceptable in Canada today. We all have a role to play in preventing and stopping the spread of stigma and racism, whether online, on our streets, in our homes or in the workplace.
Unfortunately, what we have witnessed over the past year shows us that, right now, the anti-Asian racism that exists in Canada stems from hatred and misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data from Statistics Canada, law enforcement and Asian community organizations across the country shows that anti-Asian racism is bringing fear and violence to far too many of our communities.
That is why our government is committed to doing everything it can through Canada's anti-racism strategy, including the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat, and in partnership with communities of Asian descent, to combat hatred towards people of Asian descent.
View Andy Fillmore Profile
Lib. (NS)
View Andy Fillmore Profile
2021-05-06 11:01 [p.6765]
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-30, which would implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 19, 2021.
At the outset, it bears recognizing that budget 2021 is unlike most budgets tabled in the House throughout Canada’s short but storied history. Much has been written about the length of the budget, and, yes, it is the longest budget in our history. It is also the first federal budget in Canadian history to be tabled by a woman finance minister, a glass ceiling long overdue for shattering, and it does come with over two years past since the previous budget, budget 2019.
Budget 2021 is truly one of a kind, one might say unprecedented, much like these last two years have been, as Canadians persevere through the worst global pandemic health crisis in recent memory. This unique budget responds to these unique times, the serious challenges created and exacerbated by COVID-19. It lays the foundation for a more prosperous future, a more inclusive future, a greener future and a future that we can be proud to pass on to our kids and grandkids, knowing that we seized the moment and emerged from this dark period in our history with a bold vision for a better Canada and the courage to act on it.
While it is prudent for the government to begin charting our path out of this pandemic, that is not to say that it is yet behind us, far from it. In fact, today, here in Nova Scotia, we are under lockdown. Our schools and shops have moved online, and strict gathering restrictions are in effect; this, as the third wave and its more dangerous, more contagious variants are hammering Nova Scotia with its highest daily case rates of COVID-19 since the start of this pandemic. It is a reminder to all of us how quickly things can change, even with leadership that listens to and respects the expert advice of public health officials.
Not long ago, Nova Scotia was the envy of Canada, with low cases and no community transmission. All it took was one thoughtless group of interprovincial travellers and, just like that, COVID-19 began to spread across our province like wildfire.
We are in a race. It is variants versus vaccines.
That is why on the morning of my birthday, as soon as I became eligible, I signed up for the first vaccine I could, the AstraZeneca. Yesterday, I got my first jab at Boyd’s Pharmasave, a new pharmacy in north end Halifax, opened by Greg Richard and celebrated for its inclusive approach to pharmacy, particularly for the LGBTQ2+ people. I thank Greg.
Getting vaccinated and defeating COVID-19 are the first steps to the economic recovery outlined in this budget. The sooner everyone is vaccinated; the sooner life returns to something more like normal, the sooner we are safe, the sooner we can hug our loved ones, the sooner our businesses can open up again and the sooner we can all go back to work.
As our vaccine rollout continues on schedule, putting Canada consistently in the top three of the G20 for vaccines administered by population, budget 2021 would extend our substantial and effective COVID-19 financial aid programs to Canadians and to the businesses at which they work and upon which they rely.
A year ago, when COVID-19 ground Canada to a sudden halt, the impact on our daily lives and our local economies was immediate. Our government sprang into action. From day one, we promised we would be there for Canadians, and that is exactly what we have done.
Here are the numbers to prove it: nine million Canadians received the Canada emergency response benefit, putting food on the table for out-of-work families; $2 billion for businesses and non-profits through the emergency rent subsidy; 4.4 million Canadian jobs protected through the emergency wage subsidy; and $8 out of every $10 in financial aid to Canadians through this pandemic has come via our federal government.
We promised we would be there for Canadians for as long as it takes, and this budget keeps that promise.
First, the budget will extend flexible access to EI benefits for one more year until the fall of 2022. These changes have made it easier for Canadians to qualify for higher benefits sooner. Next, we will be extending the Canada recovery benefit until September 25 to cover Canadians who do not qualify EI, like self-employed and gig workers. The budget also includes new measures for low-income workers, a significant $8.9-billion investment to expand the Canada workers benefit for one million Canadians, lifting one hundred thousand people out of poverty. Other parties have talked about it, but we are the ones doing it. This budget will introduce a $15-an-hour federal minimal wage.
For businesses being asked to lockdown to help stop the spread, like those in my riding today, the budget will extend the Canada emergency rent subsidy to the end of September. For businesses that have seen a drop in revenue because of COVID-19, the budget will also extend the Canada emergency wage subsidy to the end of September. We are going further, introducing a brand new program we are calling the Canada hiring benefit. For businesses experiencing a decline in revenues, this subsidy will make it easier for businesses to hire back laid-off workers or to bring on new ones.
All told, these investments are our plan to support Canadians in regaining the one million jobs lost to the pandemic. We have done it before, and we will do it again.
The pandemic has exposed an urgent need for national action on child care. From the day our finance minister assumed that office, she has made it clear that fighting the so-called “she-cession” is a priority of our feminist government. We cannot allow the legacy of this pandemic to be the scaling back of all the hard-fought advances that women have made in workforce.
That is why budget 2021 makes a generational investment to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Our plan aims to slash fees for parents with children in regulated child care by half on average by 2022, with the goal of reaching $10 per day child care on average by 2026. This is a necessary investment, one that is a long time coming. While other parties have talked about doing it, we are the ones actually doing it, putting $30 billion on the table to finally get this done for Canadian families.
I come to the House from a long career in city planning in the public, private and academic sectors, including in my hometown of Halifax, the riding I am now honoured to represent as a member of Parliament. That career showed me first-hand and up close how vitally important housing was to a community. Without access to housing that is safe, secure, dignified and at a price people can afford, every other goal a person has in life becomes secondary.
I made the jump into politics in 2015, and became the first city planner elected to this place, because I believed the federal government needed to do more to support the communities Canadians called home, to help undo the decade of neglect by the previous government when it came to community investment, including in affordable housing.
We spared no time getting to work, and today Canadians have a federal government that is finally making the necessary investments in housing. The national housing strategy, released in 2017, has already delivered $25 billion in housing projects, and remains on track to reach $70 billion by 2027-28.
At home in Halifax, as our population rapidly grows, so does the need for more affordable housing. I recently announced the new Canada-Nova Scotia targeted housing benefit, which provides $200 a month to qualifying, low-income, vulnerable individuals to help pay for housing.
To help increase housing supply, our federal government has made major investments in Halifax so far this year, including $8.6 million under the rapid housing initiative to create 52 units in Halifax via three projects in partnership with the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, the North End Community Health Centre and Adsum for Women and Children.
Because of the success of the rapid housing initiative which, as its title suggests, invests in projects that can create affordable housing quickly, budget 2021 proposes a $1.5 billion top-up to this program. This funding will create up to 4,500 permanent, affordable homes on top of the 4,700 we already have built under this initiative, all within 12 months.
This budget recognizes that building an equitable Canada requires targeted investments that support marginalized communities. To continue down the path of reconciliation, this budget invests $18 billion in indigenous communities, including another $6 billion for infrastructure and $2.2 billion to end the tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls once and for all.
To fight systemic racism and empower under-represented communities, the budget makes a number of substantial investments, including $200 million toward the Black-led philanthropic endowment fund to support Black-led charities and organizations serving youth; new funding to combat hate and racism during COVID-19, particularly against Asian Canadians; and enhancing the communities at risk security infrastructure program to protect communities at risk of hate-motivated crimes.
For our seniors, we are building on our progress made; 25% fewer seniors live in poverty than when we took office in 2015. Budget 2021 goes even further by increasing old age security by 10% for seniors aged 75 and older. Today, our investments in senior benefits are over double our expenditure in the Canada child benefit. By 2026, our investments in seniors will surpass the total expenditure of the Canada health transfer and equalization payments combined.
This is a historic budget. Certainly, its size makes it difficult to speak to all the important investments it proposes. In short, this is the budget that will lead Canada out of the pandemic, chart our economic recovery and build a brighter tomorrow. I hope all members in the House will join me in voting in favour.
View Han Dong Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Han Dong Profile
2021-05-05 15:02 [p.6678]
Mr. Speaker, each May, Canadians across this country mark Asian Heritage Month by recognizing the contributions of Asian Canadians in building our great nation from coast to coast to coast. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a significant increase in reported cases of anti-Asian racism, which has left many in my community of Don Valley North extremely concerned. We know that in Canada, diversity is one of our greatest strengths and there is no place for hate and intolerance.
Can the Prime Minister please tell this House the importance this year’s Asian Heritage Month holds?
View Justin Trudeau Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Justin Trudeau Profile
2021-05-05 15:03 [p.6678]
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Don Valley North for his leadership and for his continuous efforts to combat anti-Asian racism.
Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity to celebrate the immeasurable contributions that Canadians of Asian descent have brought to shape Canada. This year’s theme is recognition, resilience and resolve, an important theme to urge all Canadians to come together to combat all forms of racism and discrimination. As we celebrate Asian Heritage Month, we are committed to fighting all forms of discrimination through important measures, such as Canada's anti-racism strategy 2019-2022, and we will keep at it.
View Jean Yip Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Jean Yip Profile
2021-05-03 14:49 [p.6529]
Mr. Speaker, May is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. It is a time to commemorate all the achievements and contributions Asian-Canadians have made to this country. However, spurred on by pandemic fears, anti-Asian racism continues to rise in Canada, including in Scarborough, where earlier this month a man was sent to the hospital after being assaulted at a restaurant, and graffiti was found outside the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto. That is why today I am asking the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth what our government is doing to combat anti-Asian racism.
View Bardish Chagger Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Bardish Chagger Profile
2021-05-03 14:50 [p.6529]
Mr. Speaker, the work by the member for Scarborough—Agincourt to combat anti-Asian racism remains necessary and is noticed.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of May as Asian Heritage Month, yet Canadians of Asian descent continue to face violence fuelled by ignorance. Our government implemented Canada's anti-racism strategy, including the anti-racism secretariat, and launched the Digital Citizen Initiative to counter anti-Asian racism. Through budget 2021, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation will establish a national coalition of Asian-Canadian communities and create a fund for racialized communities impacted by the increased acts of racism during the pandemic.
This Asian Heritage Month, I urge all to stand together against anti-Asian racism.
View Jack Harris Profile
NDP (NL)
View Jack Harris Profile
2021-04-29 17:57 [p.6448]
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak to Bill C-228, an act to establish a federal framework to reduce recidivism, presented by the hon. member for Tobique—Mactaquac.
Let me first commend the member for bringing forth this bill. He is a first-time member, and it is to his credit that he has gotten his private member's bill to this stage so early in his political career. He has spoken with great passion and empathy about this issue in the House from his experience in his community and the extraordinary work done by a friend of his, Monty Lewis in assisting ex-offenders.
It is also notable that the bill is coming from a Conservative member of the House. That is because we often hear from Conservatives, who see themselves as so-called “tough on crime”, seeking stiffer punishment, mandatory minimums and lengthier sentences for crimes in hopes of protecting the public, but which have not proven to do so.
It is not very often we hear from them of the importance of rehabilitation and reintegration into the community for an offender when released from prison. This does serve to protect the public and is an important element in the improvement of society. The rehabilitation of an offender is a significant principle of sentencing and must be considered by a judge, along with other elements.
What we want to avoid is an offender reoffending. That is probably the simplest definition of recidivism, which is not a commonly used word outside the field of corrections. The bill calls for the development of a national framework to reduce recidivism to be developed within a year by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and reported to the House of Commons.
This is to be done in consultation with the provinces, with indigenous governing bodies and organizations, and other stakeholders, including NGOs, such as the John Howard and Elizabeth Fry Societies, and other organizations and groups that work with ex-offenders.
It recognizes the need for the framework to include measures to ensure that those who are released from prison have adequate and ongoing resources, as well as employment opportunities to aid their transition and reintegration back into the community, all with the goal of reducing the likelihood of reoffending but also helping the person become a productive and contributing member of society along the way.
Employment is extremely important and basic to rehabilitation. Having a job and the opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency and the independence that comes with that is crucial and gives people some control over their life and future. A representative of the John Howard Society in my riding of St. John's East has recently stressed the need for employment skills development programs pre-release as a means to help ex-offenders get more quickly on their feet as they seek to reintegrate and build a better life.
It is hoped that consultations coming from this bill will result in productive recommendations for measures to assist in aiding rehabilitation and thereby avoiding recidivism and in helping individuals overcome the obstacles that may have contributed to their being incarcerated in the first place.
This could include helping those with a lack of access or with barriers to education and training, or those dealing with drugs and other addictions, which can be a huge factor in the lives of some of those who have been incarcerated. The bill provides an important opportunity to focus on the needs of ex-offenders and enhance the programs and resources that could be made available.
The preamble of the bill also recognizes that the purpose of the correctional system is, in part, to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders, both in the penitentiaries and in the community. One factor that is now well known is that there is a shocking over-representation of indigenous men and women, Black Canadians and persons of colour in our prisons. In 2020, according to the correctional investigator, indigenous people accounted for 30% of the prison population but only 5% of the Canadian population. Black inmates were 10% of the prison population but only 4% of the Canadian population.
What has been revealed recently is that there is also a racial bias in the tools used to assess inmates on their rehabilitation potential and their security standing when they serve in the prison itself, whether they had to serve in minimum, medium or maximum security. Black and indigenous inmates are more likely to get maximum security ratings and be assigned the worst scores on a potential for rehabilitation assessment.
The result is that they have restricted access to programs for rehabilitation within the prison, less access to parole, thereby serving a longer portion of their sentence in prison. Having fewer opportunities for programs is obviously detrimental to those incarcerated.
An amendment to address this now included in the bill was proposed by me and accepted, most graciously, at the committee stage by the member for Tobique—Mactaquac and supported by the committee. It is a provision that the framework must, “evaluate and improve risk assessment instruments and procedures to address racial and cultural biases and ensure that all people who are incarcerated have access to appropriate programs that will help reduce recidivism.”
I believe this will enhance the framework on recidivism and hopefully eliminate at least one element of systemic racism in our society, which has such negative consequences. I want to once again commend the member for this legislative initiative and offer my support for its adoption at third reading.
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