DEBATES OF THE SENATE 1st SESSION • 42nd PARLIAMENT • VOLUME 150 • NUMBER 234 OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Thursday, October 4, 2018 The Honourable GEORGE J. FUREY, Speaker CONTENTS (Daily index of proceedings appears at back of this issue). Debates Services: D’Arcy McPherson, National Press Building, Room 906, Tel. 613-995-5756 Publications Centre: Kim Laughren, National Press Building, Room 926, Tel. 613-947-0609 Published by the Senate Available on the Internet: http://www.parl.gc.ca 6426 THE SENATE Thursday, October 4, 2018 The Senate met at 1:30 p.m., the Speaker in the chair. industrial area in Winnipeg’s northeast corner last Friday evening. The words of Mary’s father, Rex Ross, are truly Prayers. heartbreaking: I never realized it would be me who would lose a daughter MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS through this tragic event of being destroyed, her life being WOMEN AND GIRLS cut short. SILENT TRIBUTE We were so fortunate that she was dumped in recycling . The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, this is a day to honour the lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women “Dumped in [a] recycling [bin].” Those words clearly and and Girls, and I therefore invite you to rise for a minute of unfortunately encapsulate how Indigenous women and girls are silence in their memory. viewed in Canadian society: as something that can be thrown out, recycled and dumped without a care. (Honourable senators then stood in silent tribute.) Colleagues, I again appreciate your participation in the moment of silence at the start of our sitting today. However, as Mary’s story came forward this week, I wanted to leave you with the words of Commissioner Michèle Audette, who attended the SENATORS’ STATEMENTS media conference in support of Mary’s family. She said: Every week, we have to have that moment of silence SISTERS IN SPIRIT VIGIL DAY because we heard through the news that somebody went missing, somebody found dead, somebody disappeared. Hon. Lillian Eva Dyck: Honourable senators, for the second year on this day, we have started off our chamber sitting with a Thank you. Kinanaskomitin. solemn moment of silence. Today is October 4, the day we remember and honour the missing and murdered Indigenous Hon. Senators: Hear, hear. women and girls. I want to thank Your Honour and all the senators today for allowing each of us to have a moment of silence to honour the victims, the survivors and the families of VISITORS IN THE GALLERY these lost Indigenous women and girls. The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw The history of the October 4 Sisters in Spirit Vigils should be your attention to the presence in the gallery of Father Wayne well known to all of us. Today marks the thirteenth annual Dohey, parish priest in Mount Pearl, Newfoundland and October 4 Sisters in Spirit Vigil day held in Canada. The Labrador and Constable Daniel Morrissey of the Royal October 4 Sisters in Spirit Vigils are powerful moments of social Newfoundland Constabulary. They are the guests of the change. The number of SIS Vigils has grown from 11 in 2006 to Honourable Senator Manning. an impressive 212 vigils last year. On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the Today, the Native Women’s Association of Canada held the Senate of Canada. thirteenth annual vigil in Ottawa from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. at the University of Ottawa in an event co-hosted by the Indigenous Hon. Senators: Hear, hear! Resource Centre, the Indigenous Students Association and the University of Ottawa. CANADIAN SPORT AWARDS Relying on historical data, we are experiencing roughly 30 to 40 Indigenous women and girls a year being murdered or made Hon. Paul E. McIntyre: Honourable senators, the forty-first missing. It is a stark reminder to us all that even though the Canadian Sport Awards were held on September 20, 2018, as federal government finally took action to establish a national part of the twenty-sixth annual AthletesCAN Forum. Many of inquiry, and that inquiry is doing the necessary work of hearing Canada’s top winter and summer athletes gathered in Ottawa for from the victims and families, there is still much more that we the event, which had not taken place in the city since 2012. need to do. As a guest of Senator Deacon and Senator Petitclerc, I had the As the numbers continue to grow, the urgency has never been privilege of attending this event. Hosted by AthletesCAN, it was clearer. Just this week, we heard the story of Mary Madeline first established 45 years ago to showcase excellence in Canadian Yellowback, a 33-year-old Indigenous woman from Gods River, sport. It is now recognized as the country’s premier event for Manitoba. Mary was found dead in a recycling depot in an national sport achievement and leadership recognition. October 4, 2018 SENATE DEBATES 6427 [Translation] Honourable Jacques Beauvil. They are joined by Rev. Hyeon Soo Lim and Missionaries of Global Assistance Partners in Haiti. As the collective voice of Canadian national team athletes, They are the guests of the Honourable Senator Martin. AthletesCAN ensures an athlete-centred sport system by developing athlete leaders who influence sport policy and, as role On behalf of all honourable senators, I welcome you to the models, inspire a strong sport culture. Senate of Canada. [English] Hon. Senators: Hear, hear! First and foremost, the Sport Awards recognize its rich history of past recipients, including Canadian sport icons Donovan SISTERS IN SPIRIT VIGIL DAY Bailey, Chantal Petitclerc, Hayley Wickenheiser, Mark Tewksbury, Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Simon Whitfield and Hon. Marilou McPhedran: Colleagues, I rise today after our Catriona Le May Doan, among others. silent observation, and I thank Senator Dyck for her remarks, to recognize our sisters, our mothers, their daughters, their families • (1340) and their communities. The awards brought together members of the sport, media and On this annual day, commemorating missing and murdered corporate communities to honour nominees in the following Indigenous women and girls, through Sisters in Spirit Vigils categories: Sport Performance, Influencers, Corporate Support around the country, honouring the lives of those stolen and and the newly added People’s Choice. supporting families of those we’ve lost, I want to raise a strategic response for your consideration. Standout athletes and performances from the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Games made up the Winter Sport [Translation] Performance category while the Summer Sport Performance category dominated many of the top performances from the 2018 The epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, world championships and girls affects each one of us as members of our communities and, other world-leading performances. above all, as a country. We belong to a number of different social circles, so we have a duty to promote education in order to The categories of Influencers and Corporate Excellence prevent our sisters and daughters from being abducted and honoured contributions made by athletes, system leaders and murdered. corporations that have had a significant impact on Canada’s sport community and society as a whole. [English] [Translation] In Indigenous communities, like many others, children left behind are raised by the community. These losses impact The Canadian Sport Awards provide a platform to share the everyone and continue the legacy of inter-generational trauma. stories of greatness, determination, selflessness, and persistence Solutions start with communities. This approach is often known in the face of gruelling obstacles that sport can create. as “localization,” and it works at home and abroad. For example, the localization strategies employed by the Global Network of I was pleased to attend this event with Senator Deacon and Women Peacebuilders, of which I am proud to be a founding Senator Petitclerc to celebrate these athletes’ achievements, board member, have been cited as best practices in the UN honour industry leaders, inspire the next generation of athletes, Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council regarding and show our respect for the power of sport. localization and its impacts for the past six years. These localization strategies are also employed in communities led by [English] Indigenous women. Localization is focused on grassroots implementation of laws and policies and the development of Their reputation in the world of Canadian sport is well-known: realistic, actionable and budgeted local action plans on women, Senator Peticlerc as a Paralympic champion and Senator Deacon peace and security. as an athlete, coach and builder. Security is personal. On Thursday last week, when I was in Once again, thank you to the honourable senators for having New York at the United Nations during the seventy-third General invited me to this very special and moving event. Assembly, I was able to participate in the launch of the Women’s Peace & Humanitarian Fund, the first UN partnership of its kind Hon. Senators: Hear, hear! investing directly in women and girls in their communities. In fact, the financial contributions are already over $10 million from UN state members, of which Canada is the third-largest VISITORS IN THE GALLERY contributor. The Hon. the Speaker: Honourable senators, I wish to draw These funds go directly to local women’s groups, working on your attention to the presence in the gallery of Haitian the ground in various countries — yet another example of parliamentarians, the Honourable Ketel Jean-Philippe and the grassroots community-based implementation to address 6428 SENATE DEBATES October 4, 2018 community issues. In Colombia, for example, the fund is 2019 CANADA WINTER GAMES supporting Indigenous women for the integration of their voices in local peace-building initiatives and the peace process.