Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 04/05/2022 22:49:55
Context: Debate

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Madam Chair, it is an honour to rise today toward the end of the debate. We have some time left and some more speakers, but I think this take-note debate has been one of sincerity and has been heartfelt. I think we have seen some real change in the way we are able to discuss things in this place to say and to accept the inquiry.

I remember when the inquiry came out, not quite three years ago. When the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and two-spirited inquiry first said that this is a genocide, there was a great deal of response in the media as if that might not be the case. It has been stated by members on all sides of the House today without question. That gives a sense that we have made progress in understanding the scope, scale and gravity of the issue.

I want to start by acknowledging that we are here on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe peoples. I want to just also acknowledge the territory that I am honoured to represent here in Parliament, my riding name of Saanich—Gulf Islands being a corrupted English pronunciation of WSANEC, the WSANEC nation of the Coast Salish peoples. I am deeply indebted to the peoples of our territory.

I want to also begin by saying that I will be splitting my time with the honourable and terrific member of Parliament for Edmonton Griesbach.

There is a lot that has been said. With the time remaining for me it would be hard to add a great deal more, but in preparing for this and whenever I think about the inquiry, I do not want to talk about statistics. I just want to say as a woman from the culture of women, recognizing the privilege of the colour of my skin, that I am so lucky. I have a bunch of great women friends, but it is only my indigenous women friends who say things casually like, “I was left for dead in a dumpster”. I hardly know any close indigenous women friends who have not had the experience of the loss of close family members, particularly in the downtown east side in Vancouver. That statement of “I was left for dead in a dumpster” was actually in the context of sitting in a circle after this report came out in Victoria with a woman who I thought I knew really well. Her anglicized name is Rose Henry. She goes by the Tsilhqot’in name now of Grandma Rosa. I had no idea that my friend Rose, as a kid, had been left for dead in a dumpster after being beaten and abused.

These experiences are not statistics. These are our friends, our mothers, our aunties and our children. The levels of abuse and casual violence against indigenous women and girls is appalling and a human rights abuse. We have not responded with the urgency that we must. We went for years, as I am sure colleagues will remember, demanding that we get an inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We got the inquiry. We got the recommendations, but women and girls are still going missing on a routine basis. Indigenous women and girls are still marginalized and at risk and we have 231 calls for justice to make that not the case any more. In the time remaining for me, I want to emphasize a few of them that stand out.

Call for justice 4.5, that I have mentioned tonight in questions and comments, is a call for a guaranteed livable income that will end the marginalization and take women and girls from being in a position of great risk to being safer by the security of having enough money to not be in poverty. It is pretty straightforward.

We also know from this inquiry that women who have gone missing are quite often, through their marginalized economic status, forced to hitchhike. They do not own a car. They are not going to be getting safe and affordable ground transportation because there is none. Our ground transportation system in this country is worse than that in most developing countries. Think about that. This report came out before Greyhound withdrew service right across Canada. I talk to my Nuu-chah-nulth friends, particularly Chief Judith Sayers of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation. She has been a prominent supporter of a local bus company called Wilson’s bus lines that has been trying to stay afloat, trying to connect services. The government needs to acknowledge that we need VIA Rail to work for the marginalized.

We also need to address the huge threat of wellness checks in which indigenous women and girls die. A wellness check should not result in an inquiry and a coroner’s report. This also needs urgent attention.

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-06-11 12:05 [p.8282]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the report on the killing of Chantel Moore was made public. It does not add up. There were no actual witnesses. There are no video recordings, and there are no audio recordings. The physical evidence does not really support the officer’s story that he feared for his life as a petite 26-year-old indigenous woman came at him with a knife. The knife was not found near her body, had no fingerprints and was found under a box.

Can the Minister of Indigenous Services give the House some hope that we will get to the bottom of this and that wellness checks will stop resulting in the deaths of indigenous people?

Joël Lightbound (Louis-Hébert)
2021-06-11 12:06 [p.8282]

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Chantel Moore through these difficult times.

Following the tragic passing of Ms. Moore after an interaction with the Edmundston Police Force, the minister has spoken with the New Brunswick regional chief and the president of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council to discuss wellness checks and the different roles of police in our communities.

In situations such as these, it is essential that there be a timely, transparent and independent investigation in order to provide answers to the many difficult, but important, questions people have. While questions about the investigation and the findings should be directed to the province, we continue to do our important work of modernizing police structures, updating standards regarding the use of force and establishing increased oversight of law enforcement.

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So, deep breath, and apologies for gaps.

Let’s start with today. June 6^th. We have been asked by Kukpi7 Roseanne Casimir, Chief of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc, to join in prayer at 10 am today. It is Kukpi7 Roseanne’s work that led to hiring an expert in underground radar readings to uncover the preliminary results she released May 27^th. Through my dear friend and former Green Victoria candidate Racelle Kooy (who is now living back in her home territory) that I heard of the call for a National Day of Prayer. https://www.castanetkamloops.net/news/Kamloops/336047/Mourners-encouraged-to-take-part-in-day-of-prayer-on-Sunday-following-discovery-of-Tk-emlups-remains

The most powerful statement yet has been my MLA’s words in the BC Legislature. Adam Olsen’s speech drew widespread attention, including in this insightful column from Rob Shaw that noted how hard the NDP tried to defeat Adam last fall. https://theorca.ca/resident-pod/when-the-unimaginable-is-all-too-imaginable/ In the federal Parliament we held a late night debate in which all I tried to do was read as much of Adam’s speech into the record as I could. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-vBW9pUQEQ

The pain and loss (especially for Indigenous peoples, but also for settler culture allies) is real and deep. Indigenous friends have suggested that we pause. That we stop and postpone the political debate, inevitable finger pointing, and instead just  listen and mourn together for those dear children, their souls, their families and for the many more not yet accounted for. We are heading down a long road. And we cannot let this be a “news story” where we turn the page and fail to take on the work that we are required to do. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission set out a path. It will not an easy one. Let us pray. Whether we believe in God or not, let us mourn.

On Friday, I marked the anniversary of the killing of 26-year old, Nuu-Chah-Nulth woman Chantel Moore with a statement in parliament. On June 4, 2020, Chantel was killed by a police officer in Edmundston, NB.  As I made the statement, our extraordinary Green MP Jenica Atwin joined Chantel’s mother, Martha Martin, at a ceremony in Fredericton to mourn her death and demand justice. In solidarity, national Green leader Annamie Paul issued a strong statement with specific recommendations to end the threat of death by “wellness check.”

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2021/06/04/news/cries-for%20action-one-year-after-chantel-moore-killed-police (This link is behind a pop-up paywall.)

Although the Quebec policy inquiry review was submitted on her death in December, the family still has no answers as to why a tall, muscular cop felt so threatened by a small Indigenous woman that he shot her at least five times. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/chantel-moore-indigenous-police-shooting-1.6052529

Say her name and keep demanding #justiceforChantel.

For the rest of this little Sunday letter, the good news first.

The TMX (formerly Kinder Morgan) pipeline suffered a serious blow with the news that its insurer will not renew the policy. Lloyds of London was the first global insurer to decide to reject fossil fuel infrastructure from their policies.  The Canadian Energy Regulator – CER (which used to be called the NEB) attempted to assist the Crown corporation now building TRMX with our money by agreeing to an outrageous request from TMX to keep the name of its insurers confidential. So we only found out Argo Insurance was an insurer when it announced this week it would not renew the TMX policy.  David Snowden, senior VP of group communications at Argo Group US, wrote “This type of project is not currently within Argo’s risk appetite.”

Charlene Aleck of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation Sacred Trust Initiative urged more insurance companies to refuse to insure this risky project: “In addition to fuelling the climate crisis, this pipeline represents an ongoing violation of Indigenous rights. The lack of free, prior and informed consent is a material risk that most insurers have not fully captured, and that needs to change. We are calling on the rest of the Lloyd’s syndicates, as well as AIG, Chubb, and Liberty Mutual, to follow Argo’s path.”

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/insurance-provider-for-trans-mountain-pipeline-says-it-won-t-renew-policy-1.5454981

Looking for more good news is hard.

I am so grateful to my dear friend and colleague Paul Manly (Green MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith) and his chief of staff Ilan Goldenblatt. They are at Fairy Creek this weekend to let the land protectors know we strongly support them.  I am still trying to sort my own logistics to join them.  Meanwhile, once again, I need to give a huge shout out to Adam Olsen for his work in exposing the cynical, colonial, patronizing approach of the Horgan government toward the Pacheedaht First Nation. Under what was supposed to be a commitment to respect Indigenous sovereignty, the government has engineered a despicable agreement that Adam outlines here: https://www.cheknews.ca/opinion-forest-agreement-betrays-premiers-commitments-on-indigenous-reconciliation-812114/

Please read the details, but Adam’s bottom line conclusion says it all: “The BC NDP is effectively using BC Liberal policy to put Indigenous Nations in the centre of conflicts and use the language of reconciliation to cover for their inaction.”

Meanwhile, back in Ottawa, the C-12 clause by clause process will likely wrap up tomorrow with no Green amendments passed. The deal between the Liberals and NDP for modest improvements are indeed improvements. The main item is the insertion of a 2026 “interim greenhouse gas emissions objective.”  But the first milestone year remains 2030, the advisory committee is multistakeholder and not expert or independent (despite a sleight of hand amendment to say the non-independent body will provide “independent advice,”) with no carbon budgets and no legally enforceable method to hold any minister to account. Meanwhile, the government is still subsidizing fossil fuels and committed to TMX.  Here is my question to Minister Wilkinson asking him to explain why my amendment to base government action on science was rejected:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVciiBgRLc8

I am heartened by growing support from 350.org and Leadnow to oppose the ReconAfrica proposed oil and gas project in Namibia, near the UNSECO World Heritage Site at the Okavango Delta.  Thanks to nearly 900 people who signed the petition I presented this week (and especially to local activists Vicky Husband, Doug Funk and Shelagh Levy):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1ecRdMcYk

Speaking of Shelagh, I am really excited for our next SGI-Green book club event featuring Seth Klein and his wonderful book “The Good War.” Seth and I will explore how we get societies to move on climate as though our lives depended on it, which they do. Join us on Tuesday, June 14^th, 7 pm BC time.  Please register in advance for this event here.

And for a really exciting book event involving my daughter Cate, dear friends Sylvia Olsen (“Growing up Elizabeth May”), Lynne Quarmby (her new book “Watermelon Snow: Science, Art and a Lone Polar Bear”) and Anu Rao (whom some of you will know thru Seachange, with her book “One Earth: People of Colour Protecting our Planet”) plus an activist I do not know, but am excited to hear, Nafeesa Alibhai, check out “Story Telling for Change” – coming up next Saturday morning June 12th: https://www.banyen.com/events/Storytelling-for-Change

This week marks the start of midnight sittings in parliament to try to push through as much legislation as possible before we break June 23^rd for summer recess. Please help me by signing petitions listed below and join in the events I have included here.  One great event I should have promoted more was the Twenty Year Anniversary of Fair Vote Canada!  I have not had so much fun for ages. We had over 400 attendees for Judy Rebick, Andrew Coyne, Hugh Segal and me.  Watch it here video and recommit to fighting against FPTP every chance we get!

Keep Calm and Carry on!!

Much love,

Elizabeth

PS another cheer for Paul Manly! Paul made a statement calling attention to Motion M-90 for a national ban on gas fracking, which he put forward on Wednesday.

Petitions

e-3159 Ban new strip mines in the Rocky Mountains (closes June 5)

e-3383 Clarify the safe operation of the DND Rifle Range (closes June 6)

e-3433 Cancel the $19 billion competition to purchase the 88 new combat aircraft (closes June 18)

e-3353 Create and fund the National Council of Tree Science Research (closes June 21)

e-3330 Establish a National Council of Reconciliation (closes June 28)

e-3164 Implement a national living wage (closes June 29)

e-3348 Canada‘s alleged political interference in Haiti (closes July 29)

e-3408 Work with First Nations to immediately halt old-growth logging (closes September 8)

Saanich-Gulf Islands Greens
http://www.sgigreenparty.ca/

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-06-04 11:03 [p.7966]

Madam Speaker, I rise this morning on a very sombre occasion. It is June 4, the first anniversary of the killing of a beautiful young mother and member of the community of the Nuu-chah-nulth. Chantel Moore was killed a year ago today. As I speak here, the hon. member for Fredericton is with Chantel Moore’s mother at a memorial service in Fredericton.

It has been a year since Chantel Moore was killed. We know the name of her killer. He is a member of the Edmundston, New Brunswick police force. He killed her on the threshold of her home. She was shot five times. This was in the course of a wellness check.

I am wearing yellow. It was Chantel Moore’s favourite colour. Her mother would like us to wear yellow for all of the indigenous people who have been shot, killed and injured by police forces across Canada.

Since Chantel’s killing, two more members of the same indigenous nation have been shot by the RCMP. This must stop. Let us fight for Chantel Moore, her memory and the truth.

The post Elizabeth May’s statement one year after the killing of Chantel Moore appeared first on Elizabeth May.

Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-06-01 20:44 [p.7798]

Madam Chair, to my hon. colleague and parliamentary secretary, it is a hard thing to acknowledge as settler culture Canadians that our entire society has been built on dispossessing indigenous peoples of their lands. The residential school system was part of the institutionalized racism and genocide to break down the culture, the societies and civilizations that were here before European settlers.

I am wondering if the hon. member would return to the question, and I know it is a tough question, that was just asked by the member for Vancouver East. Can we admit that we are the beneficiaries of a genocide?

Pam Damoff (Oakville North—Burlington)
2021-06-01 20:44 [p.7798]

Madam Chair, when we think about how our country was founded, we see it was founded on racism, and it was founded on colonialism. As a result, indigenous peoples not only had to deal with this 150 years ago but also continue to deal with it today. We see systemic racism in policing. We see systemic racism in our health care system in Canada. Often we look south of the border and seem to think that we are better than people who live in the United States, and we are not.

The racism and colonialism that continues to exist in Canada is unacceptable. All Canadians have to take responsibility for that, and all of us have to take action to make sure that we end the racism and colonialism that continues to exist today.

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-06-01 22:09 [p.7810]

Mr. Speaker, I begin by acknowledging that I am on the territory of W_SÁNEC people and I speak in SENCOTEN and raise my hands to you.
[Member spoke in SENCOTEN]

[English]

I particularly raise my hands today to one of my dearest friends, a constituent who is also my MLA. I am not using my words tonight. I am using his words. Adam Olsen is a member of Tsartlip First Nation. He spoke these words yesterday in the British Columbia legislature:
We know that if these children were not indigenous but rather European that we would not have been slow to act…. Deep down, we know that in our society it’s just a fact…. Some children matter less.

We know underneath the shiny, happy facade of Canada…there lurks a grotesque and shameful past. For 30 years, my relatives have been sharing their experiences from these despicable institutions. For 30 years, their stories have been hushed. Our relatives have been told that [Canada and] Canadians…don’t want to hear their stories. They have been told to stop lying. They’ve been told to stop embellishing.

There was a statement from this institution that noted the unimaginable proportions of this tragedy. This is an incredibly unfortunate characterization of the situation that we carry. For Indigenous People, the story is not shocking, nor is it unimaginable. This is the trauma our families have carried for generations….

As we continue to grapple with missing and murdered indigenous women and children, hanging red dresses in recognition of our current reality, what is uncovered in Kamloops [reminds us] that this storyline is not new. It has been in the imagination—indeed in the nightmares—of our relatives for the past 130 years. It is the terror that our ancestors have lived with.

The only reason to call it unimaginable would be because these institutions, these Crown governments…and the people that populated these chambers in the past either haven’t been listening to our stories or they’ve cared less. It is a reality in our country that some children have mattered less. These are both terrible considerations.

There is nothing to imagine for those who have been paying attention. Our Elders and our families have been sharing the grim details of their experiences in residential schools for decades. That is the record of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

You don’t have to imagine it. You just have to believe it and care enough to act with the urgency that you would if it was your child that didn’t return home from school. It’s your kids going to school, not coming home, not being there when their parents are there to pick them up….

Duncan Campbell Scott, deputy superintendent of Indian Affairs from 1913 to 1932, is often associated with saying, “Kill the Indian, save the man”….
Residential schools were a critical tool in the process of “kill the Indian,” in Scott’s words. Deliberately breaking up families by forcing children to residential schools was a tool to expedite the process of dispossessing Indigenous Peoples of their lands and resources….

There have always been stories in our families of our relatives that didn’t come home, the children that died and were buried there with little or no notification to the families….

I wish I could say that indigenous children are no longer forcibly removed from their communities. However, I can’t. I wish I could say that indigenous people were not dramatically overrepresented in fatalities at the hands of police, the criminal justice system, homelessness, suicide, addictions and drug poisoning, all statistics you don’t want to be overrepresented in….

We must stop referring to what we know like we didn’t know it. We must stop pretending it was better than it was. We must stop acting like we came by this wealth through honest means because we did not. This land and the resources this Crown government depends on came from the dispossession of indigenous people. For decades, this provincial government [and I will insert federal] has benefited from the lands and resources that were secured through residential schools and other disgraceful policies.

I’m so grateful for the incredible public response to this tragedy facing our relatives in Kamloops and the Interior. I’m grateful for the demands from our family and friends and neighbours…ensuring government responds as if it were our child that didn’t come home from school.

This is indeed a heavy burden, but it’s one we can all make lighter if we carry it together. HÍSW_?E SIÁM.

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With the possibility of a fall election looming, the government must push through important legislation before the end of June.

Green MPs have been monitoring legislation and submitting amendments to ensure that the bills are strong and meaningful to their constituents.

Elizabeth will host a virtual Community Meeting for constituents of Saanich – Gulf Islands this Friday, May 28th at 7:00 pm PDT. See the end of this newsletter for more details.

This week and last

Paul responded to the Budget Implementation Act, Bill C-30. He noted positive elements in the budget, such as plans for affordable childcare and increased funding for the creation of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. Ultimately, however, he stated that the budget does not adequately address today’s challenges. He called for more protections for old-growth forests and better post-pandemic recovery support for Canada’s small and medium sized business.

In adjournment proceedings, Paul elaborated on why GDP is a poor measure of success. He advocated for adopting a model that measures environmental and social factors in addition to economic activity, like the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

Elizabeth responded to the Prime Minister’s official apology to Italian-Canadians interned during the Second World War.

Elizabeth put forward 37 amendments to Bill C-12, Canada’s Net-Zero Climate Accountability Act. This is more than the NDP and CPC amendments combined. Last week Elizabeth questioned the Minister of Environment about Bill C-12 at committee, listing the keys areas where the bill needs to be made stronger to keep global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees C.

In light of the most recent conflict between Israel and Palestine and preceding the ceasefire, Paul and Elizabeth signed a letter along with 21 other MPs from 4 parties (all except the CPC) and 2 Senators, asking Trudeau to do more to protect human rights and international law. The letter was sent through the Canada – Palestine Parliamentarian Friendship Group, of which Paul is Vice President.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

On Friday, Jenica responded to Bill C-5, which would establish a National Day of Reconciliation. She called attention to the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children buried on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC. “Apologies, payouts, even days of recognition, will never be enough,” she said. She laid out how Canada’s genocide of Indigenous peoples matches the UN’s definition section by section. And she called for more action from the government: more work towards reconciliation, and more action on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Questions and Statements

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Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands)
2021-05-14 10:17 [p.7231]

Madam Speaker, I am torn on this matter and I am going to be very candid with the minister. I am rarely less than decisive. I fully support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but the process by which we come to this place has left indigenous communities, first nations, Métis and Inuit, divided on the matter. The right path, the right way to vote, is not at all clear to me, and it certainly is the case that we cannot wait any longer to take the steps we need to take for reconciliation.
There are a number of very significant first nations policy analysts and a number of legal analysts who are on both sides, and of first nations themselves that say they were not consulted in the development of Bill C-15. It is therefore really important that we hear the different perspectives and we ask the hon. minister if he does not regret that there was—

Hon. David Lametti (LaSalle—Émard—Verdun)
2021-05-14 10:18 [p.7231]

Madam Speaker, I agree with the member’s observation that it is rare that she is less than decisive on a matter. I always appreciate her opinions and I take this question very seriously.
Yes, in a minority government context, we consulted as many indigenous leadership groups in a variety of forms as we possibly could. As I said, they had an impact on the original Romeo Saganash bill before tabling. We continued to consult, and they had an impact on the bill at committee. I commit to the hon. member that I will continue to consult as many indigenous leadership groups as I possibly can, in particular in the development of the action plan as we move forward.

I would just point out to her that although there is disagreement, there is an increasing trend, particularly after the last set of amendments in committee, to be supportive of the bill on the part of indigenous leadership.

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Speaker: Ms. May
Time: 15/04/2021 18:17:52
Context: Questions and Comments

Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP): Madam Speaker, this may be my only opportunity to speak to the legislation before us.

I am deeply troubled by the fact that this government, which professes the high purposes of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples appears in practice to decide that free, prior and informed consent means to continue to coerce first nations until they give consent to a decision that has already been made. I refer to the Trans Mountain pipeline as an example, which the Government of Canada bought without conferring with first nations, as we should have done. It continues, as elected members of council of the first nation in my territory, which I am honoured to represent, the territory of the WSANEC Nation, have told me that the TMX, now a Crown corporation, comes to them offering money to try to get them to stop objecting. That is not free or prior consent, and yet that is what is being practised right now—

Arif Virani (Parkdale—High Park)
2021-04-15 18:19 [p.5712]

Madam Speaker, this is an important issue. It is an issue that is obviously a dynamic one and an issue that will be considered on an ongoing basis.
However, what I was about to relate from Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond I think captures the idea in response to the member’s question. She said, as counsel for the AFN, that “The idea that free, prior and informed consent is some kind of a veto is simply not supported, and that is not how it’s operationalized.” That is an important point to register.

With respect to the timing of the negotiations and the timing of the outreach to first nations communities, be they elected leaders, hereditary chiefs or other individuals, that is a very valid point that the member is raising, and something that we will continue to work on as a government and as all parliamentarians to ensure that this consultation is sought at the earliest possible opportunity.

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