Jaime Battiste
Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish, Nova Scotia · Liberal · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, June is National Indigenous History Month, and I want to acknowledge the history I witnessed on Saturday when Mi'kmaq rock icons The Relatives took to the stage to celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band.”
“In some circles, the longevity of the band has earned them the moniker of the “Mi'kmaq Rolling Stones”. I am proud to recognize them. [ Member spoke in Mi'kmaq and provided the following text: ] Welukweyoq aq weltaql. [ Member provided the following translation: ] You are doing great, and the music sounds great.”
“They provide predictability and clarity and explicitly protect private interests while advancing reconciliation. We saw that recently in the agreement with the Haida Nation, which addressed aboriginal title while clearly providing for the protection of private fee simple lands. That is the value of negotiations.”
“Mr. Speaker, I respect that member, and I want to respectfully say that I have heard a lot of Conservatives get up and pretend they know something about aboriginal litigation. As someone who taught aboriginal and treaty rights law at university, I have heard some of these arguments.”
“That divergence is exactly why we need to have clarity from the courts, and that is why it is being appealed. This is an important point. When the law is unsettled, it creates space for speculation. It creates space for competing interpretations and, in that space, misinformation can take hold and facts can be twisted.”
“On the one hand, we have court decisions that are exploring new and unsettled legal territory. On the other hand, we have negotiated agreements that are designed to create clarity, not uncertainty. That distinction matters because litigation and negotiation do very different things.”
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“(1825) Currently in my riding, there are land protectors in the Cape Breton Highlands who are protesting the decimation of the moose population and moose habitat. I went to see them, and while this matter is primarily one of provincial jurisdiction, what was required was a treaty partner that would show empathy, that would create education and awareness, that would look toward collaboration to resolve this. However, the Conservatives decided and believed that fines and jail were more appropriate. I am proud to stand on this side of the House, which believes in taking steps toward reconciliation and treaty implementation and believes in education, empathy and collaboration. I have heard from other members of the House that they want to see this legislation pass.”
“However, when it came time for the Conservatives to decide whether they would support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, they once again voted no. Twice last year, I got up in the House of Commons and asked for unanimous consent to give first nations clean water legislation, protecting their source waters. Twice I got up here. Twice I heard nays from the Conservatives. Twice I was shouted down and not even allowed to get the words out of my mouth on the protecting first nations clean water legislation. It would appear the Conservatives are showing their true colours again in delaying, denying and obstructing any legislation that benefits indigenous people.”
“This is not a surprise to me. I am the son of one of the original drafters of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, who went to the United Nations for decades. When they finally got a declaration that all nations could sign on to, Canada, led by Stephen Harper then, rejected it and said, no, we would not vote for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Thankfully, as a Liberal, as a member of Parliament for my riding, I was able to help ensure that the Liberal government said it believed that first nations people should live without racism and was going to ensure that these rights were implemented. That is why we passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.”
“All we are asking, and they are asking, in the most simplest of terms is that we honour and obey, and if we make a promise we keep it. I think if we asked any indigenous nation across this great country what is important to them, they would ask us to honour the treaties, implement the treaties and be treaty partners. I am troubled by what I am hearing from the Conservatives and the narrative that we are creating some sort of bureaucracy and that it would cost too much money to implement what we have signed on to in the 27 modern-day treaties. They talk about bureaucracy and they talk about money, but what they are not going to talk about is that when they go home tonight to their children, they are going to quite simply tell them that if they make a promise, they should keep that promise. That is what we are talking about.”
“I would invite the Conservatives who have been saying they are not going to support this legislation to reach out to them and hear about that important work in advancing reconciliation through building trust, through ensuring collaboration as treaty partners and through educating the public on the importance of sharing that we are all treaty people in this country. The overall purpose and objective of this important piece of legislation is to ensure oversight and accountability to ensure the treaties we have signed are implemented. There are more than 27 modern treaties in this country, covering more than 40% of the land mass across this country. Indeed, what we have heard from stakeholders and leaders is quite simply that we need to implement these treaties we have signed and made promises on.”
“I had the chance to meet with all of them and hear about the important work and the successes they are having across this country. In fact, last week, or two weeks ago, I was in Treaty 4 territory in Manitoba, where treaty commissioner Loretta Ross told me that one of the best things the treaty commissioners were able to do there was to ensure treaty education was offered in all schools across Manitoba. Largely championed by Premier Wab Kinew, we have been able to see treaty education become mandatory in the province of Manitoba. These treaty commissioners are doing some amazing work.”
“Mr. Speaker, this evening I would like to share some thoughts on something that has been a lifelong passion for me, and that is ensuring the implementation of treaty rights and inherent rights in Canada. In fact, besides studying treaties in law school and being a professor of aboriginal and treaty rights at Cape Breton University, I was honoured to be given the opportunity to be the first-ever treaty education lead for the province of Nova Scotia. While doing that job, I was honoured and privileged to be able to do some work with some of the treaty commissions that are already set up in certain provinces across Canada. We have the Office of the Treaty Commissioner in Saskatchewan. We have the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. We have the B.C. Treaty Commission.”
“Mr. Speaker, I know that the member is from the Yukon, and I cannot help but notice that there are so many communities from the Yukon that would be helped by the legislation. I am sure the member has heard advocacy from Yukon first nations leaders over his time as a member of Parliament. I wonder if the member would share some of the information and advocacy from the first nations leaders of the Yukon who have been asking, over years and maybe generations, for this kind of legislation to move forward.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am a little confused. I have been hearing the Conservatives talk about how many modern-day treaties they signed under Stephen Harper. On the one hand they are bragging about how many treaties they have signed, and on the other hand, they are saying that they are not going to vote for oversight or for someone to ensure that implementation and education around the modern treaties are in place. I am wondering how it is that Conservatives can brag about the treaties, but when it comes to actually implementing those treaties and having oversight and a commissioner to do so, they vote against it, just like they voted against UNDRIP and just like they voted against clean water for first nations communities. How can the Conservatives stand up with any credibility and talk about indigenous issues?”
“Mr. Speaker, I sit with my colleague on the INAN committee and appreciate his views and questions. The member talked a bit about some of the rights that the previous Conservative government promoted, but he did not once mention the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Stephen Harper and Conservatives voted against at the United Nations, whereas we as a federal government implemented it, turned it into action and ensured that we followed up with the implementation of UNDRIP. I know the member just went through training yesterday with the KAIROS blanket exercise, as did I, and we heard from youth in his riding. I wonder if he can share a bit of what he heard from the youth and what he learned during that KAIROS blanket exercise that can help us with the debate we are currently having.”
“On National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, let her name be remembered in the House and let her courage inspire our continued commitment to truth, reconciliation and justice.”
“Madam Speaker, today, I rise in the House to honour Eleanor Mitchell from the Potlotek Mi'kmaq community, an elder whose life embodies resilience, compassion and enduring strength. Eleanor was taken to the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School at the age of six, separated from her family and subjected to the trauma that so many indigenous children endured. Despite these hardships, Eleanor's life became a testament to survival and love. She raised three sons, cared for her mother through illness and is cherished by her family for her knitting and baking. Eleanor is the last living survivor in Potlotek to have attended the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. This week, her community will honour her. My aunt Eleanor's story reverberates with both pain and hope.”
“I wonder if he could talk about the importance of collaboration with all four levels of government, whether federal, provincial, municipal—”
“Mr. Speaker, I really appreciated hearing from our member from Saskatchewan. It is really good to have a member of the Liberal Party from Saskatchewan. I grew up in Saskatoon, and I have always joked that I have been one of the only Saskatchewan Liberals in our caucus for the last few years. I am really happy that he is here and talking tonight. We have heard, over many years, about some of the climate-related emergencies we are dealing with, the climate crisis and the forest fires. We have known as Liberals and the government, as we were made aware by Canadians, that we need to do more on that. While on the other side members deny climate change exists and try to blame it on forest management, on this side we know there is a climate crisis that we need to address. I know the member spent a lot of time in the provincial legislature.”
“Mr. Speaker, as I rise for the first time as the member of Parliament for Cape Breton—Canso—Antigonish, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the constituents of our riding for putting their trust in me as their representative. To my campaign team, I say that this journey would not have been possible without them. June is National Indigenous History Month in Canada. It is a month to celebrate indigenous culture. It is a time to reflect on our shared history, and it is a time to acknowledge the vast contributions of first nations, Inuit and Métis. National Indigenous History Month is also an opportunity to embrace indigenous events in our communities, hear the beautiful languages and support the work of indigenous arts and crafts. I encourage all Canadians to get involved in National Indigenous History Month this June. Wela'lioq .”