Billy Morin

Mr. Speaker, Positioning · 39 wordswhy is it that when Albertans feel frustrated and feel that they are being held from reaching their full potential to share their energy with Canada and the rest of the world, there is a Liberal government in Ottawa?Positioning Claims · 39 wordsWhy is it that Alberta’s separatism is at an all-time high today, and there is a Liberal government in Ottawa? Why is it that throughout history when a Quebec separation referendum happens, there is a Liberal government in Ottawa? Positioning · 21 wordsWhose was the government in Ottawa over the last decade as separation sentiment in Quebec reached heights not seen in generations?Positioning Claims · 5 wordsIt was the Liberals’ government. Positioning · 49 wordsThe Liberal record shows a lack of leadership, the villainization of provinces for political benefit and the causing of divisions among the people of Canada.Off point Today in British Columbia, we see a lack of leadership.Partly on point We see the villainization of those asking for certainty and clarity around property rights, PositioningClaims · 14 wordsand we see an all-time high in division between British Columbians and first nations.Partly on point Positioning · 15 wordsWhose is the government in Ottawa today during the lead-up to this in British Columbia?Positioning Claims · 5 wordsIt is the Liberals’ government. Reasoning · 8 wordsThis is not just a provincial government issue. Claims · 12 wordsFirst nations are a federal jurisdiction under section 35 of the Constitution.¹ Reasoning · 19 wordsTreaty-making, agreements and court action involving first nations require federal government leadership, vision, clarity and the desire for unity, Positioning · 23 wordsbut all we have from the government for the current challenges in B.C. is avoidance, a lack of transparency, contradictions and reconciliation rhetoric.Positioning Claims · 9 wordsThe situation regarding Cowichan is not an isolated failure. Positioning · 16 wordsIt reflects a broader and more troubling pattern under the Prime Minister and his Liberal government.Positioning Claims · 44 wordsAs a first-term member of Parliament, I have seen trust repeatedly broken with indigenous peoples, political negligence at the expense of lasting progress and an inability to take full responsibility when things continually go wrong. The Prime Minister says he is all about reconciliation, Positioning · 30 wordsbut he and his government have reduced reconciliation to a cheap political talking point. His record over one year shows a complete lack of respect and neglect for indigenous peoples.PositioningPartly on point Claims · 102 wordsIn 2015, the government promised to end boiled water advisories in six years.² Now the Liberals are six years past that promise, with no end in sight. After the last election, the Prime Minister’s government promised new water legislation for fall 2025.³ Fall came and went with no legislation.⁴ He then told AFN chiefs at the winter assembly that there would be water legislation in the spring of 2026.⁵ There has been no water legislation tabled this spring, ⁶and there are only weeks left until the summer break for the Liberals to keep their word instead of breaking another promise regarding water.Off point Positioning · 21 wordsThe government creates uncertainty and stress by not keeping its word, and it is doing that in B.C. at this moment.PositioningPartly on point Claims · 43 wordsA core source of uncertainty in B.C. under the Musqueam agreement, treaties and other such initiatives, is the application of UNDRIP. I note the Prime Minister said several times that he will uphold free, prior and informed consent, a key piece of UNDRIP, Positioning · 48 wordsbut we know when he says this, it is just political rhetoric as his party has said it now for years.⁷Unearned certainty The Liberals’ strategy seems to be to exploit first nations when it suits their political purposes, even creating and sowing division and chaos among indigenous peoples themselves.Positioning Claims · 132 wordsRecently, first nations wrote to this government as it tried to expedite the Manitoba Métis Federation bill. Their question for the Liberal government was whether it has the free, prior and informed consent of first nations to sign a new modern treaty when it has yet to honour the historical ones that lay claim to the same territory.⁸ The government has several public letters now from Treaty 6, Treaty 8, Manitoba first nations, the AFN and more, citing their concerns over a lack of consultation and a lack of consideration on historical treaty rights.⁹ Conservatives make it clear, and so have first nations leaders, that nobody is against Métis self-government and self-determination, but answers remain outstanding that need to be had before moving ahead with modern treaties that overlap with historical rights. Reasoning · 5 wordsSurely the government considered this, Claims · 33 wordsbecause its silence to first nations’ concerns on this matter is deafening. Furthermore, the United States tribes are now attempting to leverage DRIPA and UNDRIP to cause chaos in our country’s developmental affairs. Positioning · 7 wordsWhere are the Liberals on this issue?Positioning Claims · 3 wordsThey are silent. Positioning · 29 wordsConservatives know to put Canada first on such things and raise them in this House so that the government might do its job to stand up for this country.PositioningPartly on point Procedure · 5 wordsWhat about other modern treaties?Procedure Claims · 41 wordsCurrently, the government is not serious about UNDRIP’s free, prior and informed consent when it comes to modern treaty processes in B.C. Several of the recent agreements in B.C. have raised threats of blockades and protests among the first nations themselves. Reasoning · 21 wordsWhile the provincial government has a big role to play, the federal government is ultimately responsible for these treaties and agreements. Positioning · 24 wordsTo pretend otherwise and to use the excuse that things should wait until the process comes to this Parliament formally is neglectful and reactive, PositioningReasoning · 10 wordsand it will only sow more division in the future. Positioning · 38 wordsSo far it really seems as though the Liberal strategy is to sow division and chaos and water down the spirit and intent of treaties to avoid the rights of those who sacrificed to help build this country.PositioningPartly on point Claims · 45 wordsDid the government have free, prior and informed consent of other tribes in the area when it signed its Musqueam agreement, an agreement negotiated in secrecy and sprung on the people of Vancouver and other first nations in the Lower Mainland? The answer is no. Positioning · 13 wordsThe government is hypocritical when it comes to free, prior and informed consent, PositioningClaims · 131 wordsas evidenced by the Squamish, who had to release a public statement saying they were “not consulted or meaningfully engaged by the federal government prior to the announcement of these agreements.”¹⁰ The people of Vancouver were not consulted, nor were the other local tribes, such as the Tsawwassen, when it comes to the Musqueam agreement. Speaking of consultations, first nations are asking the government right now at committee why it is weaponizing consultations against first nations women and families by creating a four-year delay sham process for S2 legislation, ¹¹which would end discrimination against women and families. Women are now saying the government uses consultation as an excuse to delay human rights legislation through a four-year sham process, but it rams through other bills that have implications for first nations’ rights. Positioning · 9 wordsClearly, this is, again, the Liberal government being hypocritical, PositioningClaims · 65 wordsbecause it knows the Mikisew court case protects Parliament when it comes to a lack of consultation in legislation development.¹² The vice-president of Justice for Girls said just days ago, regarding the government’s lack of urgency to change discrimination, “To resist doing that under the guise of consultation and supporting [the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] is absolutely flabbergasting to me”.¹³ Positioning · 52 wordsWe see such hypocrisy and political games by the Liberal leadership to exploit our people. They are just stalling to keep the Indian Act discrimination going against women and families. For what reason, nobody really knows.Off point The government talks, avoids, lacks transparency, vilifies fair questions and shows a complete lack of leadership.Positioning Reasoning · 18 wordsIt is no wonder we have this situation in B.C., as well as separation in Alberta and Quebec.Partly on point Positioning · 23 wordsConservatives are ready to lead.Vague promise We are ready not to just talk about balancing property rights and section 35 rights; we are acting.PositioningVague promise The ask · 28 wordsWe are challenging the government to lead, to bring clarity and certainty to homeowners, first nations and investors. We call upon the government to put private property first. Reasoning · 13 wordsWe need to start analyzing how to do this while respecting all perspectives. Claims · 33 wordsWhen my nation settled a land claim over the west side of Edmonton that had residential and commercial property on it, we never went after private property; ¹⁴we worked with negotiators for solutions. The ask · 13 wordsWe call upon the government to aggressively defend property rights in all litigation. Positioning · 13 wordsTo do otherwise would prove that it wants to see chaos and division.Positioning The ask · 37 wordsIt must stop watering down the treaty process and bring the structures necessary to protect private property in all future agreements, negotiations and modern treaties so that we can have certainty for both first nations and Canadians. Claims · 57 wordsOur Treaty No. 6 brings certainty to first nations in Canada. “As long as the sun shines, grass grows and the rivers flow”, this treaty cannot be changed.¹⁵ The government’s signing these modern treaties with easy back-out clauses and using performative language, such as living agreements, is not a true treaty process and only delegitimizes all treaties. The ask · 37 wordsWe call upon the government to put aside differences in this House, to strike a cross-party committee to address this, to show real leadership from this House and to be proactive in first nation and Canadian relationships. Reasoning · 17 wordsOtherwise, if the House does not act, courts, division and conflict will define where we go next. Claims · 43 wordsWhile the government claims to be a party of reconciliation, it only acts for true change when challenged in court.Partly on point In areas such as Indian Act discrimination, child family services, water and more, the government is only forced to the table through court.Off point Reasoning · 22 wordsThere is an opportunity to be better and to do the role of leadership, not just more reconciliation rhetoric, in this House. Positioning · 12 wordsCanada must do better. The government, under the Liberals, must do better.Positioning Reasoning · 45 wordsReal reconciliation does not come from rhetoric but from a responsible government, honest engagement and the resolve to follow through. It requires a government that says what it means, does what it says and is willing to be held accountable every step of the way.Partly on point