Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for advocating for Poplar River First Nation. The department is working with the community and has provided services and alternative means to get services and supplies to the community. We are working with the community to look at alternatives for replacing the barge. I will always meet with any chief who wishes to, at a time that works for both of us.
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Mr. Speaker, first let me thank the member opposite for her constant advocacy for equity. That is exactly what our government is pursuing. We made historic investments in indigenous communities and with indigenous peoples. We passed legislation to empower indigenous communities to reassert control over their own child and family welfare. We have settled negotiations with indigenous people in terms…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for her ongoing advocacy for equity and fairness for first nations children. In fact, the government has been fully complying with Jordan's principle. We will continue to do that. Not only that, but the parties are negotiating on a final agreement. As the House knows, we have an agreement in principle that we are working with all the parties to finali…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Northwest Territories for his unwavering advocacy for the health of people in Northwest Territories. Nurses have always been the backbone of our health care system. I think we can all say a huge thanks for the efforts of nurses, especially through the pandemic. They have put up such an effort to protect us all, and they have been unwavering in t…
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Madam Chair, indeed, I met with a group of women from Quebec just recently to talk about their concerns and to talk about the opportunities ahead for indigenous women and indigenous women in leadership. I will continue to meet with indigenous women's groups, and indeed all indigenous communities and families across the country, to make sure that we can course correct as we do this important work t…
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Mr. Chair, it is such an honour for me to be here today. Kwe kwe. Unukut. Tansi. Hello. Bonjour. I will be sharing my time with the member for Fredericton. We are talking about this tonight, and tomorrow, May 5, is Red Dress Day. Tomorrow, many across the country will wear red or hang a red dress in a public space to grieve and remember the far too many missing and murdered indigenous women and gi…
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Madam Chair, I do not agree with the member's assessment, although I do agree with her firm commitment to ongoing sustainable and equitable funding for indigenous communities. I will say that the $2.2 billion in budget 2021 was about the framework for the actions and the plan. The billions of dollars in budget 2022 over many different files relate to indigenous communities for housing and infrastr…
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Madam Chair, it is important that we continue to stay focused on the most vulnerable in our communities. The member opposite knows that I share the perspective that when those among us who have the least opportunity are empowered by a government that invests in things like affordable housing, access to clean water, supports for mental health and wellness, and ensuring that no child goes without su…
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Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to rise in the House during Mental Health Week to talk about the overlay of extreme mental health needs in indigenous communities as a result of the history of colonization and oppression in this country. That is why this government takes it so seriously. In fact, we have designated $425 million toward indigenous mental health-specific programs. There is more mone…
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Mr. Speaker, with regard to the COVID-19 vaccination requirement for federal public servants, information from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario is as follows: In response to (a), the answer is one; in response to (b), the answer is zero.
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Madam Speaker, I am so grateful for the question, because the member raises something that is critically important. It should be important to all Canadians, but it certainly is important to our government: the connection between the environmental destruction that we have seen in Canada and around the world and the disproportionate impact it has on indigenous people. I was, for example, in Wabaseem…
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Mr. Speaker, I share the member's deep concern for the mental health of all indigenous people who are struggling with so many crises that have led to increases of all kinds of substance use problems and disorders. We have been working closely with first nations communities on programs and supports that are indigenous-led and that will lead to better mental health outcomes and better health for ind…
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Madam Chair, the federal government has an important role to play in supporting provinces and territories to deliver on their responsibilities for health care, including mental health and substance use care. Beyond that, we also have an important responsibility to provide support for first nations and indigenous communities and ensure they have the right supports as they choose and that those supp…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sharing my time tonight with the member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River. I am joining the House today from the Robinson-Superior Treaty territory. I am actually on Fort William first nation as we speak. We are deeply saddened and concerned by the number of people losing their lives because of opioids and addiction. It is a serious problem that affects every region of the country. Bef…
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Madam Chair, I think the member opposite knows that is exactly the journey we have been on. We have been working with provinces and territories on making sure people can access safer supply. In fact, just a few months ago, prior to being the Minister of Indigenous Services, I was so pleased to announce funding for four safer supply projects in British Columbia. Of course, this relies on those stro…
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Madam Chair, there is a lot of work happening at various levels of government to consider decriminalization. As I said earlier in response to other colleagues, I believe that there is no one perfect approach. It will be multiple things that will help people who use substances and that will help their families. The first thing we have to do, and I fully agree with my colleagues in this regard, is t…
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Mr. Speaker, I can reassure the member this government has every intention of working hand in glove with indigenous communities to raise all long-term boil water advisories. Our work is paying off. In fact, 74% of long-term boil water advisories have been lifted since we have been in government. We have another 16% of the long-term boil water advisories under construction and we will not rest unti…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the member knows this, but in November 2015, when we came into power, there were 105 long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on first nations across this country. We worked with communities, each with its own set of specific challenges. We allocated billions of dollars, and we have been able to lift the majority of those water advisories. We will continu…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her passion, because we share it. This is a top priority for our government, to end long-term drinking water advisories across the country. That is why we have invested billions of dollars. That is why we are working so closely with communities just like the ones she mentioned. We will get this done together in partnership with first nations communities.
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Mr. Speaker, it is without a doubt that everyone deserves clean drinking water, no matter where they live in this country. That is why we have invested billions of dollars in clean drinking water, in partnership with first nations communities across the country. We have also committed to 100% of operations and maintenance funding. We are working with the partners who are still experiencing clean d…
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Mr. Speaker, my heart goes out to everyone who has suffered so tremendously through this flooding experience, including indigenous people who are disproportionately impacted not just by this climate-related event, but by many others. My team has been working very closely to coordinate services with the Province of B.C. and has announced funding of $4.4 million through the emergency management assi…
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Mr. Speaker, as it is my first time to rise in the House, I want to thank the constituents of Thunder Bay—Superior North for electing me yet again for a third time. It is with a profound sense of responsibility that I assume this role as Minister of Indigenous Services. So many indigenous people live in the communities I represent, and I am so proud to have this role. Absolutely, housing is a prio…
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to see the opposition play games with Canadians' national security. The member knows full well that unredacted documents were provided to an appropriate committee of parliamentarians who have the expertise and clearance to review documents that are sensitive in nature. We will never put Canadians' national security at risk, and I really hope the member opposite und…
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the member opposite does not respect institutions, nor does the member opposite respect national security. Do not take it from me. Take it from Thomas Juneau, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa. He said, “This is a big setback for the parliamentary oversight of intelligence in Canada and, more broadly, for efforts to improve transparency and accountabi…
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have been doing on this side of the House. We have been following the science and the evidence. We have been working hard to make sure that the sacrifices Canadians have made over the past year and a half are not wasted. We will continue to take prudent measures to relax measures on the border based on science and evidence. Today is a good day. Starting July 5,…
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Mr. Speaker, first, over 36.3 million doses of vaccines have been shipped and 32.2 million doses administered. We are, indeed, making progress. Today, there is good news for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers and others with right of entry to Canada: Because of their full vaccination status, they will be able to avoid some measures of quarantine, including the obligation to stay in a hotel. We w…
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Mr. Speaker, again, the member opposite knows that those unredacted documents have been provided to a committee of parliamentarians that has the appropriate oversight to look at them in a safe way that protects Canadians' national security. However, why take it from me? Let us listen to Stephanie Carvin, a professor at Carleton University. She said, “This bulldozer approach to national security is…
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Madam Speaker, again, as we have said, those documents were fully provided in an unredacted manner to NSICOP, the appropriate committee of parliamentarians to review security documents of this nature. Let us hear what Thomas Juneau, associate professor at the University of Ottawa said. In regard to the opposition's choice to pull out of NSICOP, he said, “This is a big setback for the parliamentary…
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Madam Speaker, what will inevitably ruin Canadians' vacations plans is any member of their families becoming sick with COVID-19. Every step of the way, we have relied on science and evidence to protect Canadians, to ensure that our communities are safe and increasingly free of COVID-19. We have done a great job together. It is really due to Canadians' hard work at protecting each other and the man…
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Brampton North, first of all, for her ongoing and continued advocacy for her constituents. Her work is tremendous and I am so grateful to have her as a partner in that work. What Canadians can do is continue to step up to get vaccinated. We are the number one vaccinator in the G7. That speaks to the hard work of the immunizers, but it also speaks to the willin…
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Madam Speaker, on this side of the House we will never play games with national security. Canadians expect us to be mature and appropriate in the way that we treat documents of this nature. I will quote Stephanie Carvin, associate professor at Carleton University. She said, “This bulldozer approach to national security is misguided, dangerous and will result in a less transparent system overall.” …
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Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have invested in research and science. In fact, one of the very first things we did when we saw COVID-19 approaching Canada's shores was to stimulate the research and science community with a massive investment of money to ensure that our scientists and researchers were equipped to study COVID-19, potential solutions to COVID-19 treatments and indeed vaccines.…
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Madam Speaker, on this side, we will never play games with Canadians' national security and privacy concerns. That is why we have a special committee to review documents of this nature that are sensitive in nature. If the member of the opposition does not believe me, let us listen to Stephen Saideman, Paterson Chair of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He said, “The question rig…
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Madam Speaker, the member knows full well that the unredacted documents are with NSICOP, fully unredacted, for appropriate review to protect national security. Let us hear more from Thomas Juneau, the associate professor at the University of Ottawa. He said, “What is going on now is several steps above what is normal. The public criticism of NSICOP and the withdrawal of its members damages the con…
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Madam Speaker, let me respond again with some of the criticism that we heard from the national security expert community yesterday after the announcement of the Leader of the Opposition's decision to pull out of NSICOP. Let us listen to Stephanie Carvin, association professor at Carleton University. She said, “This bulldozer approach to national security is misguided, dangerous and will result in …
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Madam Speaker, on this side of the House, we will not play partisan games with national security. Yesterday the Leader of the Opposition, in his announcement to pull out of NSICOP, was roundly criticized by a number of security experts, including, for example, Stephen Saideman, Paterson Chair of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs. He said the Leader of the Opposition is “earning t…
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Mr. Speaker, once again, we see the Conservatives playing games with national security. On this side of the House, we will never do that. In fact, the Public Health Agency of Canada has provided fully unredacted documents to the appropriate committee of parliamentarians with the appropriate security clearance. I have written to the committee to suggest that if it were to study this issue, that wou…
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, the Liberal government will never play games with Canadians' national security. We will continue to operate in a way that protects the privacy and security concerns of Canadians, and that is why the Public Health Agency of Canada has provided fully unredacted documents to the committee. I am sad to hear that the Conservatives will not participate in such an …
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Mr. Speaker, I am so grateful to the public health officers across the country who have worked for so long to protect Canadians from COVID-19. In fact, I know many of them personally and I know they have done their absolute best to protect the citizens in their care. Just like them, we will never do anything to put Canadians' national security at risk. We will continue to be open and transparent a…
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Mr. Speaker, again, on this side of the House, this Liberal government will never play games with national security, like we see the Conservative Party doing right now. The member opposite knows that there is a committee of parliamentarians that has the appropriate level of security clearance to review these documents. Those documents have been provided to that committee, fully unredacted. I have …
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Mr. Speaker, first let me say that my heart goes out to everyone who has struggled with COVID-19 or lost someone to this disease. The member is absolutely right. We all must do better to protect people from infection with COVID-19 and that is why we have been there for provinces and territories. Let us just talk about vaccination for a minute. Over 34 million vaccines were sent to the provinces an…
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have been transparent with Canadians that our first and most important job is to protect their health and to prevent against the importation of the virus. As I just mentioned to the member's colleague, over 34 million vaccines have been shipped to the provinces and territories to date, and 65.6% of Canadians have received one dose. Canada is the first in the G7, th…
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Mr. Speaker, we have done a tremendous amount of work to lower drug prices in this country and we will continue to work with all stakeholders to do that. Canada has among the highest patent medicine prices in the world and these high prices negatively affect the ability of patients to access new medicines. We will continue to work with all stakeholders to make sure that we can drive these prices d…
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Mr. Speaker, yet again we see the Conservative Party playing really dangerous games with national security. We will never do that on this side of the House. We understand that there is an appropriate way to release documents in a way that protects their privacy and their national security aspects, and those documents have been released in a fully unredacted fashion to a committee of parliamentaria…
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Mr. Speaker, the National Microbiology Laboratory is a secure facility, and everyone working at it or visiting the lab must undergo security screening and adhere to the strictest protocols, procedures and policies. This is very important, not only to the lab but to Canada and Canadians. I want to thank the lab during Public Service Week for its incredible work in helping Canadians through COVID-19…
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Mr. Speaker, that is quite a piece of conflation. What I will say is that I have fully shared, through the Public Health Agency of Canada and through its president, Iain Stewart, fully unredacted documents to a committee of parliamentarians for their review. Therefore, in fact, those documents are available for review in a way that does not compromise privacy or national security issues.
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Mr. Speaker, I spent three hours at the committee answering questions from parliamentarians and repeatedly referring the parliamentarians to the statement of the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, who has submitted all the documents, unredacted, to the appropriate committee of parliamentarians that can review those documents.
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Mr. Speaker, again I see the member opposite is putting words in my mouth. In fact, I spent three hours at committee; it was approximately my 26th appearance in front of the House committees this season. I will say that I was fully transparent with the committee, and I reminded the committee that the fully unredacted documents are with NSICOP, a committee of parliamentarians that has the appropria…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has some of the strongest measures to protect against the importation of COVID-19. We have been guided by science and evidence, and Canadians have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last year and a half to protect each other. We will continue to use that science and evidence as we adjust the border measures to reflect the best science and evidence, and to ensure that we pro…
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Mr. Speaker, every step of the way, the National Microbiology Lab has been working so hard to protect Canadians through COVID‑19. I want to thank the hard-working lab employees during this national week of recognition of public servants. In fact, they were one of the first labs in the world to be able to create a PCR test from the original genetic sequence. We have incredible scientists and resear…
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