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Accueil > Actualités et salle de presse > Conférences et points de presse > Point de presse de M. David Birnbaum, porte-parole de l’opposition officielle en matière d’affaires autochtones

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Point de presse de M. David Birnbaum, porte-parole de l’opposition officielle en matière d’affaires autochtones

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Le vendredi 14 février 2020, 9 h 30

Salle Bernard-Lalonde (1.131), hôtel du Parlement

(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)

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