Senator Mary Jane McCallum

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, I would like to ask a question about Bill S-5, An Act to amend the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. My question is specifically with regard to tailings ponds in the Athabasca oil sands region where the dams have reached holding capacity. The oil sands operators have accumulated very large volumes of tailings water with no proposal for their effective treatment…

Hon. Robert Black: Senator McCallum, thank you for your important words. Would you comment on how you see the passing of the food day in Canada bill as a means of helping to support a healthy environment? Senator McCallum: Many Canadians feel that our food systems are secure as long as the grocery stores are full, no matter where we got it from. We just have to look at the flooding that occurred in B.C., which cut off the city of Vancouver, to understand how precarious our food supply is. In t…

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Senator Pate, my question is around the violence that occurs in the communities. Stemming that violence has many origins and they require different interventions, and some of those interventions go beyond legislation. They cannot be legislated. Those are societal responses. The communities need to play a part in what is happening in their communities. For that reason, I arranged a meeting with Senator Boisvenu and Indigenous groups in Winnipeg that are addressing this vi…

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Honourable senators and minister, my home community of Barren Lands First Nation and 16 other Manitoba First Nations are connected to the provincial highway system by a winter road network that is open for only a few short weeks each year. This once-a-year lifeline is essential for shipping truck loads of fuel, housing and construction materials, food and dry goods that must last until next year’s winter road season. Climate change is resulting in the winter roads ope…

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Senator Wells, Kahnawake’s legal status is based on the assertion of an Indigenous right clearly reconcilable with section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. From the consultation paper of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Ontario will assess legal standing solely under the Criminal Code, which currently does not make any provisions for First Nations. This is a narrow interpretation of the law by the province and presents a significant risk. Will this apply…

Senator McCallum: Senator Cotter, you said to have some faith in provinces. As a First Nations person who works with Indigenous people across the country, the problem is that the provincial-Indigenous relationship is not good. When I look at Bill C-92, we had conversations with people in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba who are unable to get to the table because the province is unwilling. That’s something that we have to clear up because we passed the bill. What if you can’t get the province…

Senator McCallum: I just learned of this last night, so learning about this after the bodies were found I don’t know what words I can use. There is an ongoing lawsuit filed in 2012 by the Kamloops First Nations, and so far 105 First Nations have signed on to the lawsuit. It is the first of its kind regarding the impact of fracturing communities, suppressing cultures and erasing language. The federal government denies any legal responsibility and that the loss of language and culture was an unavo…

Hon. Mary Jane McCallum: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Gold. It is with regard to Bill C-15 and the comments Minister Bennett made during her April 20 appearance before the House of Commons Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee. When asked about the concept of free, prior and informed consent, Minister Bennett said, “There’s nothing about free, prior and informed consent in the legislation itself.” She also said that as free, pr…

Senator McCallum: The Mohawks of Kahnawake have, for more than two decades, asserted their inherent jurisdiction to conduct, facilitate and regulate gaming and gaming-related activities within and from the Mohawk territory of Kahnawake. This jurisdiction has been recognized globally and never been challenged. The Mohawks of Kahnawake currently exercise this right by conducted, facilitating and regulating both land-based and online gaming. More important, sports interaction is a vital source of…

Senator McCallum: My first question is on behalf of Senator Boyer. “Intentional acts of racism are clearly a breach of human rights and looked upon as despicable by any decent person, though we have had our challenges in this very chamber. “The protests in response to the recent murder of George Floyd are not the first to rock the United States. As for Canada, we have documented the overt racial practices enacted by the Canadian state toward Indigenous peoples. We also know this intentional ra…