Transcription

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“Today we mark the anniversary of the 2019 release of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 231 calls for justice were clearly laid out for the government, yet far too many are still unfulfilled. The pathway is clear to protect Indigenous women, girls and Two-spirit people from systemic violence.

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Transcription:

2025-05-29 15:51 [p.119]

https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Hou…

Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands: Mr. Speaker, I had not intended to give a Caesar-like speech. We are not burying the member. I am tempted, of course, as ever, to praise him because we are friends.

I do not think the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot will be gone long from this place, and I do not know if the official residence of Stornoway is now found within the borders of Battle River—Crowfoot, but I am sure that all things will be revealed. I hope the member for Battle River—Crowfoot will be back here.

I want to ask him a question, very briefly, because it is my first time taking the floor today. The hon. member for Calgary Centre pointed out how many Conservative ideas are in this Speech from the Throne. I think it could have been a Speech from the Throne from a Conservative government. I wonder if the member for Battle River—Crowfoot will be tempted to vote for it.

Damien Kurek, MP for Battle River—Crowfoot: Mr. Speaker, my colleague’s remarks, and especially our work at the National Prayer Breakfast together, have always been something I have appreciated. In the interim, I look forward to being able to spend a bit more time in a tractor cab.

The one thing about being in a tractor cab is that it does not heckle, but like government, it requires maintenance, fuel and direction; it requires everything. If we do not take care of it, it breaks down, and we have to call the mechanic. Do members know who I think the best mechanic to fix our country is? I can say to my friends that his name is Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservatives.

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Transcription

2025-05-27 13:20 [p.19] https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Hou…

Elizabeth May, MP for Saanich–Gulf Islands: Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. As you may be aware, although the hon. member for Vancouver East is some distance from the Chair, there unfortunately has been more heckling than one would want on the day when we receive the Speech from the Throne.

Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

Elizabeth May: I am being heckled as I make this point, Mr. Speaker.

In your election, there were many commitments made in this place from many quarters that we want to see better decorum in Parliament. On the part of my ability to understand and hear the member who is right next to me, the heckling was too loud.

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Transcription

2025-05-26 12:16 [p.10] https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Hou…

Thank you Mr. Speaker and congratulations. To everyone, and especially the new MPs, I rise to congratulate our new Speaker and to congratulate all the members elected in this place, whether for the first time or, for our Dean of the House, the 13th time. Congratulations again to every member here.

I reflect on what it was like when I witnessed the first Speaker election after I was first elected. We elected the Honourable Member for Regina Qu’Appelle. I’ll never forget, the Leader of the Official Opposition, the late Jack Layton, said “we pledge never to heckle.” That was a wonderful moment. I stood on behalf of the entire Green caucus, as I do today, and pledge again never to heckle and to do everything possible, Mr. Speaker, to make your work in protecting our rights and ensuring the effective and efficient and honourable conduct of this place, such that there will be no need for warnings on CPAC or any other network.

Again, to everyone here, let’s try our very best. I pause briefly to congratulate the Prime Minister on his maiden speech and again congratulate him for brevity. We look forward to more speeches from our Prime Minister, from the leaders of the Official Opposition, and from parties, whether recognised or unrecognised, we are all here for the same reason. We work for Canada, we work for our constituents, and with your wise counsel, Mr. Speaker, we will work hard to make this a Parliament that Canadians can be justifiably proud of Canadian democracy.

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Monsieur le président, c’est un grand honneur de prendre la parole aujourd’hui durant cette session exceptionnelle. Malheureusement, ce n’est pas possible pour moi de participer en personne.

Because of my inability to be on an airplane at this point in my life due to having had a stroke, and I am, as you see, quite well recovering, I cannot participate in person, which means I also cannot vote, which is a terrible shame. I participate in this way because I want to make sure this election for the Speaker takes into account what I think are the essential elements for the next Speaker of the House.

Nous devons suivre nos règles.

For me, this is essential. If you walk down that back corridor we have there behind the Speaker’s chair, you will see the portraits of former Speakers. I do think you should pause in front of the portrait of Lucien Lamoureux, who served this place from 1966 to 1974. He was the best of all of our Speakers. He personified nonpartisanship. In fact, elected as a Liberal in the government of Lester B. Pearson, when he ran for re-election as a sitting Speaker, he did so twice as an independent. He also applied our rules, which meant he was not always popular, and he was not elected. He was able to enforce the rules. Everyone who has spoken has said our rules are important, but on a daily basis we ignore Standing Orders 16 and 18, which require that we respect one another and that we treat each other with respect.

Je suis tout à fait d’accord avec les mots de mon collègue le députée de Hull—Aylmer. Le respect fait partie des choses les plus importantes, mais à chaque fois, nous avons, comme d’habitude, une approche qui ignorait nos règles.

We ignore our rules our rules at our peril. I do cite the hon. member for Nipissing—Timiskaming for his service, and the tragedy that unfolded in this place could have been avoided if we had followed our rules.

Nous avons des règles pour la reconnaissance des visiteurs dans la tribune du Président. Dans ce cas, c’est clair que les règles concernant la reconnaissance de cet homme ont été enfreintes.

I know that, because I tried to convince the former speaker to recognize someone whom I thought did deserve recognition in our gallery, only to be told that Dr. David Suzuki did not qualify, so I know the rules represent a steep hill to climb to recognize someone in the gallery. I cannot imagine how this happened, but I also agree words are not enough. That moment in this House brought back the words of the late Irving Abella, who said that in our history it was easier to gain entry to Canada as a Nazi than as a Jew. I think we have to do more than say we are sorry; I think we have to atone and open up the records of the Deschênes Commission. We actually have to look at our history, just as we do on the day of truth and reconciliation for the injustices and genocide toward indigenous peoples.

Nous devons suivre nos règles.

The Speaker’s role is essential in being the only person who can decide who speaks in question period. It has been 40 years that the Speaker has broken the rules every single day, regardless of what Speaker we are talking about, by accepting a list from a party whip that tells him or her who speaks and in what order. That abomination has moved the system of rewards and punishments from the Speaker to the party whip, and the party whips are not the people we want to please if we want this place to operate with respect to make Canadians look at our House of Commons and think “There is a place I respect; that is democracy in action.”

Nous pouvons essayer plus fort et nous pouvons être meilleurs. C’est possible.

All of the those running in this election are more than qualified to be good Speakers of the House. If it was my honour to fill that role, I cannot tell you how overwhelmed I would be. However, I think it is not likely, and I encourage members to vote for the person they think will be their best Speaker.

I pledge my support to the next Speaker, whoever is brave enough to go back to following our rules that only the Speaker chooses who speaks in question period, as was confirmed when the hon. member for Regina—Qu’Appelle was the Speaker of the House when he confirmed it back in April 2013 on a point of order from the late Mark Warawa. It would no doubt improve our proceedings enormously.

With that, I wish you all the best of luck.

Je souhaite à mes collègues bonne chance dans les élections à la présidence.

I miss you all and I cannot wait to see you all again. You know that I love you all, I really miss you and I want to give you a big hug.

Thank you very much.

Best of luck and God bless you.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 13/02/2023 19:52:07
Context: Debate

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Mr. Speaker, the thoughtful speech by the hon. member for Kitchener Centre anticipates much of what I would say.

We have not done enough in the year that we have had since Bill C-7 passed to know, with any degree of certainty, that we have moved up to our obligations when passing that act to fully study what it would mean to extend medical assistance in dying to those who are dealing with deep suffering that comes from a mental health issue, but not from a medical diagnosis of traditional medicines, such as ALS, cancer or the other cases that moved us forward on a trajectory.

I want to briefly canvass what brought us here in terms of the way in which the Parliament of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada have dealt with medical assistance in dying and I want to suggest, in closing, that when one looks to the Supreme Court of Canada for guidance, I do not believe we can say that the Supreme Court of Canada’s guidance take us to the availability of MAID in cases of deep mental health distress.

Going way back, as the member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands, I want to reflect on one of the champions, heroes, one might even say a martyr on the issue of access to medical assistance in dying. I speak of Sue Rodriguez. She lived in North Saanich, in the electoral districts that I am honoured to represent. She had ALS. She famously said, “whose body is this? Who owns my life?” She went all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada back in 1993 in an effort to get access to the alleviation of suffering for a disease that would kill her. This was not in doubt. The Supreme Court of Canada, in 1993, denied her request.

As others have mentioned in this place over the last couple of days of discussion, a colleague and friend of many of us and a dear friend of mine, Svend Robinson, stayed with Sue Rodriguez when a doctor assisted her illegally and she took her own life, probably the first public case in Canada. The courts took a long time to change and that decision in 1993 was not changed until 2015 in the Carter case.

In the Carter case, the Supreme Court of Canada found, taking a different view of it, that the charter rights in section 7 to life, liberty and security of the person were violated by not allowing a person to make such a decision and having access to medical assistance in dying. The Carter case changed things by putting it squarely to the Parliament of Canada that it had to deal with this now.

I will quote from the Carter case. The Supreme Court of Canada said, “competent adults who seek such assistance as a result of a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes enduring and intolerable suffering”. That was the basis for creating legal access to medical assistance in dying.

When Bill C-14 went through, I tried so hard. I put forward amendments saying we have to allow advance directives, that it is not right not to allow someone who knows that they are terminally ill and are facing incredible suffering, that it is their choice and they should be able to access medical assistance in dying with an advance directive. Back when Bill C-14 went through, my amendments were rejected in the House and similar amendments then were passed in the Senate, and we will all recall it came back here without accepting those amendments.

Bill C-7 repaired that, but opened the door to something entirely different. I do think it is entirely different to say that when people are suffering, incredible, intolerable suffering, due to a deep, chronic and unsolvable mental health condition, they should also have access to medical assistance in dying.

I will go back and say what the political promises were when we started down this road. I first want to address the medical conditions. When Bill C-14 was first debated, we had a lot of members in this place asking about palliative care and if people would choose medical assistance in dying if they had the option for palliative care. We heard many promises from the government benches that we would see increased funding for palliative care. That has not happened. That is one thing that concerns me greatly.

We have also heard, since we passed Bill C-7, that there would be more supports for mental health. That has not happened either.

What would we do if we were serious about making sure that every Canadian could exercise, fully, their rights, under section 7 of the charter, to life, liberty and security of the person?

At least, one would know that the health care system should be working well. I am pleased to see that the premiers accepted the federal offer today. I hope that the federal government will defend our public health care system with every ounce of its energy and make sure that the deals with the provinces are specific and tied to outcomes and results.

However, our health care system is in trouble. I was just talking to an incredible indigenous woman. I will not say her name. It was a private conversation. She is Cree. She lost a dear friend recently because that Cree dear friend could not get access to medical care in time to diagnose and treat her cancer. She leaves two small children behind.

The health care system in the country is not equal any more than the litany of deeply racist and distressing conditions in which the system works against justice for indigenous peoples. We all know it. In the context of the health care system, how can we not know it? We know it.

In terms of mental health care supports, we know it even more deeply, that the suicide rates among youth in this country are a huge source of concern. We know that mental health issues have been worsened among our youth, through the pandemic, through isolation, through all kinds of things, through being preyed on by social media.

We know that our schools, universities and post-graduate programs are failing young people because they cannot get the mental health supports that they need when they need them. They need help to avoid addictions and to kick addictions. Our young people need so much help and we are failing them.

Opening up MAID is not a solution to solvable mental health care issues where we are just falling down on the job because we are not providing the mental health supports that we have promised over the years.

What would we do if we wanted to be serious about section 7 rights? We would bring in a guaranteed livable income, to ensure that no Canadian is living in poverty, poverty being the number-one social determinant of ill health, in terms of physical health and mental health. We address poverty and end it through guaranteed livable income.

We could do more, as I mentioned, for the end-of-life issues, access to palliative care. There is such a thing as having a good death. We do not like talking about death in our society. We are all supposed to be young and preferably sexy forever. Let us face it: people get old and it is a lovely experience. It is a good thing to be healthy in old age and enjoy it right up to the moment when it is whatever one thinks is going to happen to oneself, meet one’s makers or feed the worms, whatever. A good death is a good thing.

Medical assistance in dying does give people that option of a good death, surrounded by family, feeling loved. I am very supportive of the work that we have done in Bill C-14 and half of what we did in Bill C-7, but where are the mental health supports?

Again, to the point that the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay made, I totally agree. Yes, housing. Yes, supports. Yes, ending poverty.

However, I do think that we have to explore and open up. In the next year, let us get serious at looking at non-traditional therapies for people dealing with what appears to be irremediable depression. Do psychedelics make a difference? I am not going to prescribe. As the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay said, do not take health advice from politicians.

However, the evidence is coming in on using such products as psilocybin to actually trigger something that results not just in a bit less suffering and mental health conditions. There are certainly papers out there that are peer-reviewed and very interesting, that one can cure depression. I certainly would not want to turn my back on a potential cure and then embrace medical assistance in dying for people who could be cured.

Neither do I want to turn my back on people who are suffering and saying that we are making them wait another year and asking why we are doing that. These are not easy issues but these issues, life and death issues, are at the heart of the sacred and they are at the heart of our work in Parliament.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 14/12/2022 16:19:35
Context: Tribute

Mme Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, PV): Monsieur le Président, je remercie tous mes collègues de tous leurs mots pour rendre hommage à notre collègue et ami Jim Carr; particulièrement les mots du premier ministre, du député de Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, de la députée d’Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia et du député d’Okanagan-Sud—Kootenay-Ouest.

Je pense que tout le monde a partagé les mêmes émotions parce que nous avons perdu quelqu’un de très proche et que tout le monde aime beaucoup.

I had the great honour to know Jim for quite a long time. We got to know each other through an organization that is playing quite a role here at COP15. The International Institute for Sustainable Development is based in Winnipeg. Jim was a member of the board, and I overlapped with him on the board for five years beginning in 2000. He went on to be the vice-chair of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and I saw the influence of that experience in working on sustainable development in his work in Parliament. It bound us together as friends before we met in the chamber as fellow members of Parliament.

There have been many words said about Jim’s enormous depth of character, his range of interests, and none of them superficial. Imagine being interested in music, but being able to play oboe at a symphony orchestra; being concerned with the rights of peoples around the world, and serving to meet those ends in Parliament.

In his work in community, particularly to the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, I want to mention knowing what a strong advocate for the Jewish community Jim Carr always was with his Russian-Jewish descendants having come to Canada in 1906. He never forgot those roots.

Jim was also, of course a journalist. However, so much has been mentioned, I can only think of one thing that has not been shared yet, but I think a lot of us knew. Jim was really funny. He had a killer sense of humour. He could have perhaps been a professional impersonator. I do not know how many members ever got to see his quite killing imitation of JFK. He had Kennedyesque looks, and he pulled off a Boston accent like nobody’s business. He was enormously gifted, and he shared those talents with us all.

The president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Richard Florizone, said on the statement from that organization that Jim was “the rare polymath”. That is a tribute to the ways in which he was able to come into our lives, into policy, into politics, into the arts, into community, into business, and never superficially. He has left an enormous impact throughout his life on so many different facets of our society. No doubt, the Prime Minister is exactly right: He loved this country, every inch of it.

I will cherish the memory, but it is almost impossible to believe it was only seven days ago that I hugged Jim next to his desk when Bill C-235 passed. It was a distinct honour, and one I do not take for granted, that he asked me to be his official seconder. It is rare to ask someone who is not in one’s own party to second one’s bill, but I hold it as a cherished memory. I never would have believed that when I hugged him to congratulate him on Bill C-235, building a green prairie economy act, that it was the last time I would get to hug him.

We knew his days were not many, but each day made a difference, as he said every day he passed my desk to walk down to take his spot in the front row. I would say “Jim, how are you?”. He would say “Every day is a blessing”. Let us remember his words and live our lives to be worthy of that knowledge that every day is a blessing. Let us use each day as a blessing in the service of our Lord, whatever faith we follow. Let us remember that every day is a blessing.

We are honoured to have known Jim, love him, and I will miss him. Deepest condolences and sympathy to Colleen and all the family.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 07/12/2022 21:56:37
Context: Debate

Mme Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, PV): Madame la Présidente, c’est encore un honneur de prendre la parole ce soir pour ce débat tellement grave, sombre et important.

I am here this evening on the traditional territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka, an area known as Montreal, within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. In the time I have, reflecting on all the important speeches given tonight, I want to focus on what we were told in the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two-Spirit people-plus.

The hon. member from northern Manitoba just was mentioning that, in looking at this debate, we have a question of what we have done in relation to those calls for justice. I am struck by, two and a half years from the calls for justice, how little we actually look at what the inquiry told us to do.

C’était tellement clair, dans le rapport d’enquête. La première chose que tout le monde, chaque Canadien et Canadienne, a l’obligation de faire, c’est de lire le rapport.

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès): We received advice and instructions, sitting in the Grand Hall of the peoples in the Museum of History on that crowded June day, in receiving this very important report. The commissioner said, “Every Canadian, please read it.” We should take stock: Have we read it? Do we understand what it said?

Obviously, the killing of indigenous women and girls continues and accelerates. The recent killings, the charges laid in Manitoba in Winnipeg, and the four women killed in that serial killing remind us, if we did not need reminding before, that we have not responded to the report of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. What did they tell us to do? They told us to read the report, accept that this is a genocide and move on to actually implementing the recommendations.

We just refer to a few of those recommendations that we fight for, many of us in this place, every day. One of the recommendations of the inquiry was to bring in a guaranteed livable income to eradicate poverty. The reason so many indigenous women and girls and men are vulnerable to killings and vulnerable to violence is that they are poor. Economic injustice as well as racism are at the heart of why so many indigenous women and girls go missing. The inquiry called for justice. Bring in a guaranteed livable income.

It also called for us to end what are called man camps by indigenous women and girls. They are large construction projects, usually dedicated to resource extraction, the resource extraction itself violating the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the man camps. I know it has been controversial and people who work in those industries say “Don’t paint us all as violent criminals”. No, but we recognize that proximity to large camps full of workers and that men who are away from their families are subject, themselves, to trauma and addiction are conditions that lead to the increased vulnerability of indigenous women nearby. That was an inquiry recommendation and we have expanded the man camps instead of ending them.

Another key recommendation was that we move to provide supports for indigenous women and girls who have been the victims of violence, including that there be trauma counsellors and that there be assistance to get through the criminal justice system. These are important recommendations.

I want to draw our attention to another area where there is no mystery as to how indigenous women and girls were killed. They were killed by the police. Chantel Moore was killed in June 2020. She was a Nuu-chah-nulth woman from Vancouver Island who had recently moved to Edmundston, New Brunswick. There is no question as to how she died. She died at the hands of a police officer on a wellness check. In the intersection between mental health responses and police, far too many vulnerable women and indigenous women end up in a morgue. That is not a wellness check and we need to really look at what happened, particularly in the case of Chantel Moore. I will say in this House again that I think she was murdered. The facts point in that direction and her family waits for answers.

We have an obligation in this place not to take note; we have to take action.

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