Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh addressed several issues of relevance to the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island and British Columbia during a visit to Duncan as he kicked off a nation-wide tour on Thursday, July 8.

Singh spoke about the next steps in the process of reconciliation with Canada含羞草研究社檚 Indigenous people, old-growth logging and the ongoing opioid crisis, as well as the potential for a federal election in the near future.

Reconciliation with Canada含羞草研究社檚 Indigenous people has been an important topic for many years, but has come to the forefront in recent weeks following the discovery of more than 1,000 unmarked graves at former Indian Residential Schools in B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba, with more likely to come.

含羞草研究社淐anadians are reeling from the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves, which has been horrible,含羞草研究社� Singh said. 含羞草研究社淭he silver lining is that people are saying it含羞草研究社檚 not enough to just mourn and be grieving. We have to have action. We need concrete steps.含羞草研究社�

The first step, Singh said, is to drop the Liberal government含羞草研究社檚 appeal of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling ordering Ottawa to pay $40,000 each to approximately 50,000 First Nations children who were separated from their families by the child welfare system.

含羞草研究社淲e are calling on Justin Trudeau to stop taking Indigenous kids to court,含羞草研究社� Singh said. 含羞草研究社淭hat含羞草研究社檚 part of the same legacy of discrimination. That would be one concrete step.含羞草研究社�

Singh said he also wants to see strong commitments from the government to work with Indigenous communities in the search for graves, and funding to help those communities deal with the trauma. The government must also follow up on its vow to implement all of the 94 calls to action that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made in 2015.

含羞草研究社淪ix years ago, the Liberal government promised to put them all into action, and they含羞草研究社檝e only done a fraction of that,含羞草研究社� he said.

Thursday also saw NDP MPs Mumilaaq Qaqqaq and Charlie Angus make the call for a special prosecutor to investigate the harm done by residential schools and other institutions, which Singh supported.

含羞草研究社淚 think this is a powerful step forward in addition to the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淭his is accountability. There are people that are responnsible for institutions that resulted in the killing of Indigenous children.

含羞草研究社淔or people that went to school at an elementary school here in the Cowichan Valley or anywhere in B.C. or in Ontario or Quebec, there are no grave sites at schools. And it is not a coincidence that there are grave sites at residential institutions; they were designed to kill kids. They were not designed to raise them or to teach them, they were designed to strip them of their identity, their language, their culture, and their lives. And that含羞草研究社檚 something that demands additional steps of accountability. And appointing a special prosecutor to have that accountability is a positive step forward.含羞草研究社�

Singh also touched on the importance of including First Nations in addressing forestry management, which has become a hot-button issue for Premier John Horgan含羞草研究社檚 provincial NDP government as protesters have gathered in the Port Renfrew area to call for the end of old-growth logging across the province.

含羞草研究社淭here is incredible majesty and environmental beauty to the forests that I have experienced and understand how special and important they are,含羞草研究社� Singh said, acknowledging the importance of protecting forests and lowering emissions to fight the climate crisis while at the same time keeping and creating jobs.

Horgan has faced criticism for failing to act on the recommendations of the 2020 Old Growth Panel Report, something he promised to do in the run-up to the last provincial election, but Singh noted that the current government has done more to protect then environment than the previous regime did.

含羞草研究社淭he B.C. NDP government has protected land that was not protected by the BC Liberals,含羞草研究社� Singh said. 含羞草研究社淭here is still more work to be done, and that will continue.含羞草研究社�

With regard to the opioid crisis, Singh put it in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

含羞草研究社淲hat we含羞草研究社檝e realized in the pandemic is that other crises haven含羞草研究社檛 gone away,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淲hile this has been happening, the opioid crisis has claimed more lives.含羞草研究社�

The NDP has called for two things to address the opioid crisis: for the government to declare a national public health emergency, and for the country to take a new approach to illegal drug use. Instead of using the criminal justice system, Singh would like to see an approach based on compassion and rehabilitation.

含羞草研究社淲e want it approached not as a criminal justice problem, but as a healthcare problem,含羞草研究社� he said.

With rumblings of a federal election this year, possibly in the coming weeks, Singh noted that there doesn含羞草研究社檛 need to be an election until 2023, and while the Liberals are framing an election as the only option, the government含羞草研究社檚 focus should be on vaccinations and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

含羞草研究社淲e don含羞草研究社檛 want to jeopardize all the sacrifice that has been made,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淧riority No. 1 should be fighting the pandemic. The only reason they want an election is to gain power.含羞草研究社�

The NDP has done a lot to help Canadians get through the pandemic, Singh said. His party fought to bring in CERB, then fought to double it to $2,000 per month. They also advocated for support for students, paid sick leave, and raising the wage subsidy from 10 to 75 per cent.

含羞草研究社淐onservatives can含羞草研究社檛 point to a single victory. Despite being the official opposition, they含羞草研究社檝e got not a single thing they can point to that they fought for or pushed for to make people含羞草研究社檚 lives better. It was New Democrats that drove all the positive changes that improved access to health for people.含羞草研究社�

If an election is called, the NDP will be prepared, Singh said.

含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檒l be ready to fight an election. We just think it含羞草研究社檚 not the right thing to do.含羞草研究社�