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Results: 1 - 15 of 45
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Thank you very much.
Good morning, Ministers. It's great to see you both again.
I'll start with Minister Bennett, if I could. Minister, talking about the $27 million that was released last week, that was previously announced funding to uncover what are believed to be thousands of indigenous children buried in unmarked graves at residential schools across the country.
Minister, why did it take two years to release that money?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
What we had been told, obviously, was that we needed to get money to the NCTR to be able to work on the registries, but our advice was that we needed to go to communities and experts to make sure that the design of the program would be respectful and meet the needs of communities. In that engagement over the last year, we were able to determine that it had to be indigenous led, community based, survivor centric, as well as culturally sensitive. They wanted the flexibility to know that whatever the community needed would be funded in a way that would indeed meet the needs of that community—things like gatherings and commemoration, research or archeological expertise. The program that was launched last Wednesday will be very flexible.
We really want communities to know that we'll be there to support them in their way forward.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
What was the delay, the fact that it was announced two years ago and that this previously announced funding all of a sudden was made ready? Was it just a coincidence that it's just all of a sudden made, or what happened?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
What happens is that you need to design the program. Then you need to go to Treasury Board, and all of that has been taking place since I met with the NCTR and with former Commissioner Marie Wilson in November of last year. We then designed the program based on the very best advice we had, and it was able to be released last week.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
You understand where I'm coming from here. It was previously announced two years ago and just got finalized, released and ready to go, but it almost seemed like it took that tragedy, that discovery, for the government to finally release the cash.
I'll move on because I do have a number of other questions.
As you know, our leader, Erin O'Toole, wrote to the Prime Minister asking a number of things, four points specifically. The one I want to ask about is the plan to address the TRC calls to action 71 through 76 and to develop a concrete action plan by July 1. Is that something the government is able to commit to?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Jamie, call 71 is a provincial one that deals with the coroners. That is not under federal purview, and on 72 to 76, as I explained, we're well on our way. It is the money that has gone to the National Centre on Truth and Reconciliation for it to be able to develop the death registries. There is also more money going forward to them as they do their important work as well as the money to go to communities that was in this recent announcement. When we look at calls 72 to 76, we really do believe that we have a plan to be able to honour what was in those calls to action.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Can you commit to that action plan—releasing it to the public and to us—that as of July 1 of this year you will have a concrete road map on how you're going to get there?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Absolutely, Jamie. We have a plan for every one of the calls to action that is a federal responsibility or shared responsibility and, as you know, we're either completed or are well under way with 80% of them.
Obviously, with what's happened just now, with Bill C-5 and Bill C-8, as well as Bill C-15, we are making tremendous progress on the calls to action, and we really do believe that calls to action 72 to 76 are well under way.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Well, Minister, prior to the announcement of the $27 million, that previously announced funding of two years ago—sorry to bounce back to that—how much funding has already gone out to communities to assist in investigating unmarked graves across Canada outside of that $27 million?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
As we understand it, and as you know, the Tk'emlúps community did receive $40,000 from Heritage Canada in the pathway to healing. There have been many different avenues, but this money in budget 2019 is dedicated exactly to calls to action 72 to 76.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Minister, as you know, the Tk'emlúps first nation is paying for security and commemorations and other costs associated with the discovery of those graves. They've asked for short-term funding from the government, as I'm sure you know, to assist them with that. Is that something the government is investigating? If yes, has money been provided? If no, is there a timeline on when they might see that?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Sure.
Minister Miller and his department are providing whatever Tk'emlúps needs by way of security and mental health supports, and we will work with Kúkpi7 Casimir on anything around gatherings or the kind of commemoration they are planning.
View Marcus Powlowski Profile
Lib. (ON)
My questions are for Minister Bennett—or perhaps Mr. Quan-Watson can answer.
Murray Sinclair, former senator, in a recent statement relating to the bodies that were found in Kamloops, suggested that churches have documents related to missing and dead children that they haven't disclosed. I've also heard the suggestion that perhaps even the Vatican has such documents. Do we believe that there are such documents out there? What have we done to try to secure those documents?
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
As the Prime Minister has stated—he reached out to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and spoke with them on Monday—I think we've been very clear that we expect the church to release all relevant documents. I understand that the diocese in Vancouver is open to that. We are hearing from the bishops in the north on their willingness. I do believe that we need these documents from the church. The Canadian government has handed over all relevant documents and it is really time, in order to do the work of identifying these lost children, that the records the churches hold must be handed over, and we will continue to pursue that.
View Marcus Powlowski Profile
Lib. (ON)
Do we have the legal power now to require the churches to release such documents? If we don't have the legal power, I would suggest that certainly in Parliament we have the ability to give ourselves the legal power to require the churches to hand over those documents. Are there any such plans, or do you think the laws already exist?
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