Leah: Mr. Speaker, today is Sisters in Spirit National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. We honour the lives, memories and spirits of the too many indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people who are missing or have been murdered across Canada. As we see in Winnipeg with the Prairie Green landfill, where human remains of loved ones, victims of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, may lie, more work needs to be done. Can the Prime Minister please explain what the Government of Canada is undertaking with Long Plain First Nation to address this heart-wrenching situation?
PM Justin Trudeau: Mr. Speaker, I have heard first-hand the grief and pain of the families and community, and our hearts are heavy, knowing how difficult this has been for them. They are looking to find healing and closure right now, and it is important that we support them in this process. That is why today, we announced $740,000 in additional funding to explore in greater detail the next steps of a search. We will continue to work in partnership with indigenous leaders, families and survivors for a victim-centred, trauma-informed and indigenous-led approach to healing.
So, you stand up in parliament and lob a softball question to the PM, who has a prepared response all ready to read. Doesn't that make you feel like a bit of a puppet? You might want to read Chris Selley's column in the National Post (Oct 6). He does a pretty good job explaining possible/likely causes to the missing and murdered indigenous women issue. Spending $740,000 to decide if you're going to commit spending up to a staggering $185,000,000 that we will have to borrow, to search a landfill for the remains of 2 murdered indigenous women will not bring them back, but will waste money that can be used for better causes,