(Neuf heures quarante minutes)
M. Birnbaum : Good morning. This morning, I will be questioning the Minister
responsible for Indigenous Affairs on the follow-up to the Viens Report. We'll
remember that this report has 142 very serious and important recommendations that go to the heart of how our indigenous
communities in Québec can be served properly in the most basic of areas, be
that health and social services, schooling, access to justice, youth protection
services. We're talking about correcting longstanding wrongs. The Premier of
Québec made an apology, one that was necessary and required, in the month of
October. That apology, to have meaning, must be followed up by serious action,
and I'll be spending two hours in debate with the Minister responsible this
morning, finding out where those actions are and when they will happen.
More specifically, and
this is an important example, there are families in our Indigenous communities
who are still waiting for information on children who disappeared or who died a
decade ago. They need access to information. This Government's response was on
the back of a napkin to insert amendments in a law about pharmacies on this
matter. And the Minister continues to defend that process, whereas the families
themselves and the leaders of Aboriginal communities have said : No, we
want this solved properly with our involvement, properly done with
consultation. The Protectrice du citoyen said the same thing, and now we're
waiting for action.
Now, I think it's
important as well to note that the context today is rather
special. Ordinary workers in Québec, small businesses, people looking to return to their families are,
at the moment, in a terribly difficult position because of blockades that are
preventing train traffic from properly continuing in Québec. This is really serious, it's gone on now for a while. We're
talking about a conflict with its roots in British Columbia. It seems clear to
us that it's time for the Prime Minister of Canada to insure
promptly, through dialogue and negotiation, that this situation gets fixed. It's absurd that ordinary citizens are being put at
some risk. The economy is starting to be affected, there are some important
products that are not making their way to market, and people are paying a
price.
So this situation has to be fixed. It seems to us absolutely evident that
the Prime Minister of Canada has some work to do and work to be done very
promptly.
Mme Greig
(Kelly) : I do want to ask you about both
topics you kind of touched on, but to start, there was a request for a special
law on the missing children. Is that something you support and why or why not?
M. Birnbaum :
We absolutely support what indigenous families and indigenous leaders have said
has to be done so that they can get access to information about tragedies, some
of which happened more than a decade ago, about families that were torn apart,
about children who are missing, children who have died and whose place of
burial is unknown.
Now, this Government
chose to move quickly with a minimum of consultation and threw together some
amendments in a law on pharmacies. The leadership of the community has said :
No, that's not the way to go. You bet this is a serious problem, and, if the
Government shares that view, they will deposit a designated law and they will
do the proper consultation on it.
Mme Greig
(Kelly) : Where do you think reconciliation is
right now in Québec? I mean, there are these headlines about the blockades
happening and then the public is sometimes split on that, but where do you see
reconciliation headed in Québec?
M. Birnbaum :
We have a long way to go. It starts with governments setting the table in a
manner that reflects trust, confidence and commitment. I'll be asking the
minister about all of those three things which don't appear to be present at
the moment. To build on the tremendous gaps and services available to the
indigenous people in Québec, you need to get to work. An apology isn't enough.
It's time to get to work, to designate funds, to set
out mandates and plans, to show indigenous leaders that you are serious about a
nation to nation dialog. I'm not sure that's what we're at this morning.
Mme Greig
(Kelly) : In terms of the blockades,
yesterday, Mr. Legault called on Justin Trudeau to act. Justin Trudeau of
course is abroad right now. What do you think needs to be done? Should Trudeau
be coming home to deal with this problem and, if that is the case, how quickly
do you want to see this resolved?
M. Birnbaum : Finding solutions and starting to talk tomorrow is not good enough,
and the key player, it would seem to us, in finding solutions is the Prime Minister of Canada. We expect the Premier of Québec to be
effective and not simply be screaming at the problem to be effective in making
that solution begin to happen, and it has to start happening today.
Mme Greig (Kelly) : So Justin Trudeau should come back for this.
M. Birnbaum :
Well, it seems to us that there is a need for the Prime Minister of Canada to
take the leadership necessary to get a negotiated solution through dialog. That
can't start tomorrow. It better start today.
Mme Greig
(Kelly) : Thank you very much.
(Fin à 9 h 46)