Discussion · Government Orders
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Québécois
“The new water bill is worse than the old one. First Nations leaders say it no longer calls clean drinking water a human right. I want the minister to tell us what else the government took out of this bill.”
“Madam Speaker, I just want to remind the House of the leadership shown by the former minister of indigenous services, the member for Thunder Bay—Superior North, on this issue. She held consultations to build a strong consensus among the parties. From what I understand from the answer that the minister just gave us, the only difference between Bill C-61 and Bill C-37 is that more money is going to be invested. That is not true. Unfortunately, that is a bogus excuse. The Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, Francis Verreault-Paul, is of the opinion that Bill C-37 no longer explicitly recognizes access to drinking water as a human right, a right recognized by the United Nations, and that some aspects of the bill represent a step backward compared to Bill C-61. My question is simple. What has the minister backtracked on?”
Madam Speaker, I just want to remind the House of the leadership shown by the former minister of indigenous services, the member for Thunder Bay—Superior North, on this issue. She held consultations to build a strong consensus among the parties. From what I understand from the answer that the minister just gave us, the only difference between Bill C-61 and Bill C-37 is that more money is going to be invested. That is not true. Unfortunately, that is a bogus excuse. The Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador, Francis Verreault-Paul, is of the opinion that Bill C-37 no longer explicitly recognizes access to drinking water as a human right, a right recognized by the United Nations, and that some aspects of the bill represent a step backward compared to Bill C-61. My question is simple. What has the minister backtracked on?