Indigenous issues debated at Curve Lake First Nation
Peterborough-Kawartha riding candidates share their views on missing, murdered Indigenous women
CURVE LAKE — Federal candidates spoke to how their party would further the work on missing and murdered Indigenous women during an all-candidates meeting at Curve Lake First Nation on Thursday night.
All seven Peterborough-Kawartha candidates were in attendance for the meeting, which took place at the Curve Lake Community Centre.
Each had two minutes to address the question, one of five throughout the event.
NDP candidate Candace Shaw said that although she thought the inquiry was re-traumatizing for people involved, there’s some value in the conclusions of the report.
She said the NDP has committed to implementing the 231 recommendations set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
“Including establishing a comprehensive plan to address violence against Indigenous women and girls LGBTQI2S++ people and ensuring that those fleeing violence have access to culturally appropriate programming, emergency shelters and transitional housing,” Shaw said.
Liberal incumbent Maryam Monsef spoke next.
“We have to ensure that those 231 recommendations don’t sit on a shelf,” Monsef said.
She went on to say that the Liberal government didn’t wait for the findings of the inquiry before it started to take action, mentioning the introduction of Canada’s first gender-based violence strategy to prevent, to support survivors and to ensure that the justice system is responsive.
Monsef added that her government also recently introduced Canada’s first human trafficking strategy, saying that half of those who are trafficked are Indigenous girls.
“That needs to stop,” she said. Green party candidate Andrew MacGregor said his party has pledged to implement all of the commission’s recommendations and he’d like to see the United Nations recommendations declaration on the rights of Indigenous people be enshrined in Canadian law.
Furthermore, their national action plan to reduce violence, identifies and addresses the root cause of this type of proportional violence.
“This is colonial oppression, the constitutional genocide that we’re seeing,” he said.
People’s Party of Canada candidate Alex Murphy said his party would like to see proper resources for First Nations police forces, so that when crime happens, First Nation communities are actually heard with justice to follow.
“We need to focus on ensuring that there are anti-human trafficking resources available to these communities to ensure that they become safer,” Murphy said.
Conservative candidate Michael Skinner said that it was his party in 2007 that commissioned the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and they’ll continue to address the recommendations.
“Furthermore, First Nations children should have the same access to services and opportunities as every other Canadian children, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re on reserve, off reserve or across the country.”
Monsef rebutted Skinner’s response though to correct the record.
She said the Stephen Harper government said the inquiry was “not a priority” and that the Conservative party voted against the UN’s recommendations, and against the inquiry beginning and having funding.
“This is what we cannot afford to go back to,” Monsef said.
Independent candidate Bob Bowers was the first to speak to the question, saying it’s a real crime that things haven’t sped up at all on the matter, but that’s because he thinks the government keeps things confidential.
“If we don’t take care of the children now, we’ll have problems in the future,” Bowers said.
Stop Climate Change party candidate Ken Ranney was the last to speak.
He said the murders originate in poverty and people raised in poverty get into occupations that lead becoming into very risky situations and they are murdered.
An audience member yelled “boo” at his response.
Ranney then said he’d advocate the basic annual income which assures everyone an adequate standard of living, to help prevent poverty and tragedies.