Right to Food Mission Raised in Question Period

May 3, 2012

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food is about to begin his first ever official mission to a developed country. That country is Canada. When the Rapporteur on Housing came to Canada, the result was a scathing report about third world conditions faced by first nations, Métis and Inuit in this country.  The fact is, for far too many of these communities, there is simply not enough food.  Will the minister do his job and agree to meet with the Rapporteur to discuss this crisis here in Canada?

Hon. John Duncan (Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, our government continues to assist first nation communities across the country to expand their economic opportunities and realize their full potential. Through skills training and employment incentives, we have invested significantly in measures to ensure first nations have access to food, shelter and economic opportunity.  We accepted the UN Rapporteur's request to come to Canada. Government officials will be meeting with the Rapporteur, and we look forward to his report.

May 7, 2012

Mme Ruth Ellen Brosseau (Berthier—Maskinongé, NPD): Monsieur le Président, 1 Canadien sur 10 et 1 famille monoparentale sur 5 sont affectés par l'insécurité alimentaire.  Aujourd'hui, le rapporteur spécial de l'ONU pour le droit à l'alimentation visite le Canada, son premier pays de l'OCDE.  Au lieu de l'accueillir et de prendre l'enjeu au sérieux, les conservateurs lui ferment la porte au nez.  Presque deux millions de Canadiens n'ont pas accès à de la nourriture saine.  Pourquoi le gouvernement continue-t-il d'ignorer ce problème?

Hon. John Duncan (Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, since 2006 our government has invested significantly in shared priorities with first nations to access healthy and affordable food, housing, education, water infrastructure and economic opportunity. We will continue to work with our first nation partners to ensure that they can participate fully in Canada's economy.  As well, Canada was the first G8 country to fully disperse our United Nations L'Aquila pledge on agriculture and food security. Our officials are meeting with the rapporteur. They will provide briefings on the programs and initiatives in place to ensure that access--

Ms. Ruth Ellen Brosseau (Berthier—Maskinongé, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the ministers of health, aboriginal affairs, agriculture, fisheries and foreign affairs have all declined to meet with the UN representative.  Canada's reputation in the world continues to suffer as the government looks the other way when it comes to food security. All Canadians, families and children deserve access to safe and secure nutritious food. Why is the Conservative government refusing to even talk about this serious issue?

Hon. John Duncan (Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, we certainly are talking about this issue with the rapporteur. We have officials who will be meeting with the rapporteur. They will be offering briefings on the programs and initiatives in place to ensure access to healthy, affordable food, and will respond to any questions he may have.

May 16, 2012

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are ignoring one of Canada's most shameful situations. We saw the extent of poverty in first nations when the NDP visited Attawapiskat last fall. Now, after visiting aboriginal communities in Canada, the UN food rapporteur has said that he has seen “very desperate conditions and people who are in extremely dire straits”. Yet the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs refused to meet with him when he came to Ottawa. How can this minister continue to deny there is a problem? Will he wake up and act on the rapporteur's recommendations?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I met with the individual this morning and I found him to be an ill-informed, patronizing academic studying, once again, the aboriginal people, Inuit and Canada's Arctic from afar. I took the opportunity to educate him about Canada's north and the aboriginal people who depend on the wildlife that they hunt every day for food security.

M. Jonathan Genest-Jourdain (Manicouagan, NPD): Monsieur le Président, ce n'est pas une question d'action fonctionnaire du ministère, c'est une question de volonté politique. Selon le reporter, les Autochtones au pays ne font pas seulement face à une pénurie de produits alimentaires; ils ont également de la difficulté à...

Le Président: Je regrette d'interrompre l'honorable député. Il y a beaucoup trop de conversations du côté éloigné de la Chambre. L'honorable député de Manicouagan a la parole.

M. Jonathan Genest-Jourdain: Monsieur le Président, ils ont également de la difficulté à avoir de l'eau potable. Le ministre des Affaires autochtones va-t-il encore garder la tête dans le sable, ou va-t-il finalement prendre le travail du reporter de l'ONU au sérieux et agir sur ses recommandations?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, neither the UN nor the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food deliver any food to anyone anywhere in the world. Sixty-five per cent of the world's hungry live in only seven countries, India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan; 239 million people in sub-Saharan, Africa, are going hungry according to the world food program.

May 16, 2012

Hon. Carolyn Bennett (St. Paul's, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food reported that many first nations in Canada are in, in his words, very desperate conditions and extremely dire straits. We know, sadly, that the Minister of Health has no strategy for aboriginal suicide, for OxyContin abuse and, today, for food insecurity. When will the Minister of Health actually accept the invitation of first nations in Canada to visit their communities to see first-hand the results of her failure to implement

The Speaker: Order, please. The hon. Minister of Health.

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, again I met with a UN representative today. The member is very ill-informed and patronizing. Again it is an academic study of aboriginal people in Canada's Arctic, without ever setting foot on the ground and walking in our kamiks for a day to get a good understanding of the limitations and opportunities we have as aboriginal people in this country. Again, another academic coming to our region studying us from afar and drawing a conclusion like he has the answers to everything.

May 17

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, it was shocking to hear the Minister of Health attack the UN food rapporteur for bringing attention to the issue of food insecurity amongst first nations, Inuit and Métis, especially because the head of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Mary Simon, supports his findings. Seventy percent of Inuit households with young children do not have access to safe and secure food. The government is ignoring the facts. The first step is admitting there is a problem. Will the minister at least do that?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the UN rapporteur should look to his own country's position on the seal hunt and its impact on the Canadian Inuit. How dare he come to Canada to study us, once again from afar, and declare what is best for us as Inuit in our country. He should look at the European Union position on the seal hunt and the impact on food security of Canadian Inuit, instead of coming here to tell us what to do and what is best for us.

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo-Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the government's own numbers talk about this lack of access to food. In 2008, Health Canada reported that aboriginal households are three times less likely than non-aboriginal households to have access to safe and secure food. Is the government now going to attack Health Canada? Why does the government think it is acceptable for children living in this country to wake up hungry, to go to school hungry, and to go to bed hungry? Instead of attacking, will the government now act to solve this very real problem?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, yesterday what surprised me was the UN rapporteur's lack of understanding and knowledge about the aboriginal people, Inuit and their dependence on hunting wildlife for food security in Canada's Arctic. What this amounts to is an academic study of aboriginal people in Canada's Arctic without ever setting foot on our grounds, walking in our footsteps and understanding some of the limitations as well as the incredible opportunities we have as aboriginal people in this country.

Mr. Jonathan Genest-Jourdain (Manicouagan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, yesterday the UN special rapporteur said that all costs, including transportation costs, should be taken into account in the selection of foods to subsidize for remote northern communities. The Conservatives are abdicating their responsibility toward aboriginal communities with respect to food security and infrastructure. That is why the Assembly of First Nations applauded the rapporteur's conclusions. Instead of shooting the messenger, will they finally start working with communities to make nutritious food available at a reasonable cost?

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, this academic is so ill-informed that he has no idea what our government invests in several initiatives that promote nutrition and improved access to traditional, country and healthy food. Like the Liberals, they like to talk about food security, but at the same time, like the UN rapporteur's home country, they are trying to shut down the seal hunt. The European UN representative coming to Canada from afar to study us and lecture us is as ridiculous as a certain MP from Toronto saying I do not understand issues affecting my hometown and the north.

Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill, NDP): Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the government launched a shameful attack on the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, including saying that he had not visited the north. The government is wrong. He visited Gods River in northern Manitoba and went to northern Alberta. What he found out was that many Canadians, especially aboriginal Canadians, have inadequate diets because they live in poverty. Will the government apologize for this shameful attack and finally face the facts that aboriginal--

The Speaker: The member is out of time. The hon. Minister of Health.

Hon. Leona Aglukkaq (Minister of Health and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, what I said yesterday was that I was very insulted by the UN rapporteur coming to Canada to study aboriginal people, Inuit, and not come to the Arctic, and to write a report on what is best for me as an aboriginal person from Canada's Arctic is insulting. That member should be ashamed of herself. She should support the people and the aboriginal people in this country and not listen to a person who comes to our country and dictates on how we live our lives on the land and how we depend upon the wildlife in our country.

Mr. Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre, NDP): Mr. Speaker, as an open and active member of the United Nations, Canada has a long-standing invitation for all UN human rights officials to visit our country. However, when the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food took up this invitation, he was welcomed by the government with insults to his education and attacks on his mandate. Worse yet, when a government member attacked him in a statement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs applauded. Is this the way a government of a G8 country is supposed to treat visitors from the UN? Is this a new policy of the government?

Hon. John Baird (Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member opposite and all Canadians what the policy of this government is. It is to stand up for Canada, to stand up for Canadian interests and to stand up for Canadian values. We will do that each and every day. I want to tell all members of the House how proud I am and how proud this government is of the Minister of Health for the absolutely outstanding job she has done for all Canadians as Minister of Health and, particularly, her approach to bringing the views of Inuit people to cabinet. She has done a phenomenal jobs, and we are tremendously proud of her.

 

May 18

Mr. Paul Dewar (Ottawa Centre, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will be facing additional challenges at the G8 meeting this weekend. Food security is at the top of the agenda. Instead of taking action on hunger and food and security issues, Conservative cabinet ministers launched a blistering attack this week on the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. How can the Prime Minister expect to have any credibility on the international stage when his cabinet ministers attack UN representatives?

 
Mr. Deepak Obhrai (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, CPC): Mr. Speaker, talking about flip-flop, those members should look at what they did in the Libya mission. As a world traveller, I can tell members that the countries this fellow should have been visiting are India, China, D.R.C., Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia, where 60% of the world's hungry live. Canada is the second-largest contributor to the World Food Programme to feed the hungry, at $300 million. Therefore it is an insult to Canadians and their tax dollars that this fellow came over here to waste the dollars they have contributed by giving $5 million over—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Bruce Stanton): The hon. member for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.

Right to Food