Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today, I wish to make a statement as Minister responsible for the Status of Women. I am disturbed about an article found in the October 3rd edition of the Nunatsiaq News. The article reports on a church minister who resides in Kuujjuak, Northern Quebec and was charged and pleaded guilty to four sex charges involving young girls. Mr. Speaker, I am deeply angered and concerned with statements that were made during the course of this trial. A long time friend of the accused, who is also a clergyman, gave evidence at the hearing that crimes committed by the accused were not actually crimes at all in the Inuit culture.
--Shame! Shame!
In fact, he further claimed that the actions of the accused were acceptable in the old Inuit traditional ways of treating young women so that they may feel proud of their womanhood.
Mr. Speaker, crimes against women and children, particularly if they are of a violent and sexual nature are absolutely not acceptable in any culture. Crimes against women have never been acceptable in the Inuit culture. They are not acceptable now and were not acceptable then. Mr. Speaker, we cannot and should not accept the excuse that this type of behaviour is part of the old Inuit culture. I hear too many of these excuses used by both aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. I believe these excuses about what is acceptable in the Inuit culture, and in general in the aboriginal community, is exactly that an excuse. Hopefully, the justice system will continue to see this for what it is, a weak and poor excuse, and will continue to punish the guilty with appropriate sentences.
Although this incident occurred in another jurisdiction, I believe that it reflects on women and the Inuit culture as a whole. Let me assure you, Mr. Speaker and Members of this House, that activities of this nature have never been and should never be considered part of the Inuit culture. Actions of this nature against women and children must never be considered acceptable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
--Applause