'I have never felt safe': Nunavut MP accuses parliamentary security of racial profiling in farewell speech
In a scathing farewell speech, Nunavut NDP MP Mumilaaq Qaqqaq blasted the federal government for inaction on Indigenous issues and accused parliamentary security of racial profiling.
During a series of speeches by MPs not seeking re-election, Qaqqaq said federal security frequently stopped her to the point where she did not feel safe on Parliament Hill. Her comments have sparked reaction from her colleagues, who spoke to the work still needed to be done in Ottawa to make Parliament a welcoming place for a diversity of voices.
“Every time I walk on House of Commons grounds, speak in these chambers, I’m reminded every step of the way (that) I don’t belong here,” she said during her speech.
“Since being elected, I expect to be stopped by security at my workplace. I’ve had security jog after me in hallways, nearly put their hands on me, or racial profile me as a member of Parliament.”
Qaqqaq added that she would often be reduced to tears on the elevator or in the bathroom until she could regain composure.
“I have never felt safe or protected in my position, especially within the House of Commons,” she said.
“I shouldn’t be afraid of going into work, no one should be afraid of going into work.”
Responding to a CTVNews.ca request for comment, the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) that guards Parliament Hill said that it is “committed to deliver on its mission of security effectively while ensuring that all members of the parliamentary community can enjoy a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment.”
In an email, the PPS said that it has “extended an invitation to Ms. Qaqqaq to discuss the matter further.”
Qaqqaq also accused the federal government of inaction on Indigenous issues, particularly issues that pertain to the Inuk community, such as food security, affordability and housing.
“During my time in this chamber, I have heard so many pretty words like ‘reconciliation,’ ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion,’” she said. “I have been called courageous, strong and brave by people outside of my party, but let me be brutally honest, nice words with no action hurt when they are uttered by those with power over the federal institution and refuse to take action.”
Qaqqaq, 27, was elected in Canada’s geographically largest riding in 2019. She stepped away from her post in the fall after a tour of housing in her home territory left her depressed and overwhelmed, she told The Canadian Press over the weekend.
In May, Qaqqaq announced she would not be seeking re-election.
“I don’t belong here, but my presence -- I hope -- is starting to crack the foundations of this very federal institution that started colonizing Inuit barely 70 years ago,” she said on Tuesday.
“I’m looking forward to a time when people like me could belong here, a time we can be here.”
This is not the first time a sitting MP has said they felt racially profiled on parliamentary grounds.
Celina Caesar-Chavannes, a Black woman and former Liberal MP representing Whitby, Ont.,wrote on Facebook in 2017 that security did not hold the door for her to enter the building where her office is located, despite working at the location for a year and was later told she needed a pass to get back in the building.
In an interview with CTV News, Caesar-Chavannes said she was “heartbroken” but “empowered” by Qaqqaq’s speech, saying that while she empathizes, she wishes she didn’t have to.
“When I was speaking up about issues that I was having on Parliament Hill… I was very clear that I didn't want another young person or another person coming in after me, to be surprised about what exists on Parliament Hill. How othering it is, how brutal it is to individuals who are not seen as being politicians, and so I'm really disappointed that she had to go through that,” she said.
“There’s no other MP that looks like Mumilaaq, there was no other MP during the 42nd Parliament that looked like me, and yet security can't manage to remember who we are, and that gives a particular sense of un-belonging, that particular sense of otherness that I don't think people quite understand unless they've experienced it, and that needs to shift.”
'A CALL TO ACTION'
Responding to her comments, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said that “it’s a reflection of still who we are as a country that MP Qaqqaq still feels that way,” and that all MPs should feel badly that this has been her experience.
Further, he said that while they have had differences of opinion, Qaqqaq’s perspective is important and she should feel safe coming to the Hill to do her work and represent her constituents.
“That’s happening where she has parliamentary privilege, which is the right and duty to speak on behalf of the people that she represents… it is a sad reflection of where we are. It's unacceptable. And it shouldn't be that way, yet it is,” Miller said.
In a tweet, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner said it was, “a call to action for all of us.”
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Qaqqaq’s speech raised “a fundamental question” about who MPs have been and should be going forward, and said he’ll be continuing to apply pressure to the House of Commons to become a more welcoming place for Indigenous people, racialized people, and women.
Singh said that the concerns she’s raised should be immediately addressed by the House, but also the federal government has a continuing responsibility to address the systemic discriminatory actions of institutions like Parliament by taking seriously reconciliation and implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.
With files from CTV News’ Annie Bergeron-Oliver
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Local Spotlight
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fergus, Ont. man feels nickel-and-dimed for $0.05 property tax bill
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
'I'm committed': Oilers fan won't cut hair until Stanley Cup comes to Edmonton
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
'It's not my father's body!' Wrong man sent home after death on family vacation in Cuba
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
'Once is too many times': Education assistants facing rising violence in classrooms
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
What is capital gains tax? How is it going to affect the economy and the younger generations?
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
UBC football star turning heads in lead up to NFL draft
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.