MP Bob Zimmer: One of the major drivers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is lack of a job

Hello politics watchers! I live in Prince George, British Columbia, which is a pretty awesome city that I love living in, but has one major drawback: Every election the two Prince George ridings, Cariboo-Prince George and Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, elect Conservative Party of Canada candidates, or past candidates from their predecessor conservative parties (Reform Party, Canadian Alliance, Progressive Conservative). Prince George-Peace River once elected a Liberal Party of Canada candidate in 1968 and Prince George-Bulkley Valley once elected an New Democratic Party candidate in 1988, but other than that, these ridings have gone straight blue since forever.

For a politics nerd like me, this is pretty frustrating. I feel like it doesn't matter who I vote for, my vote simply doesn't count. Come hell or high water my riding will vote Conservative anyway. However, there are other ways I can get involved in the democratic process: Writing this blog is one thing I can do, and holding my local MPs accountable is another thing I can do.

Why not kill two birds with one stone? Let's get started, shall we?

Recently during a debate, one of the local candidates, Bob Zimmer, who has served as MP for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies since 2011, in response to a question on an inquiry for missing and murdered Aboriginal women, was alleged to have said:

One of the major drivers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is lack of economic activity or simply put lack of a job.

Our perspective, and we have tried to do things where we bring economic activity or jobs to reserve and different other legislation to see that through. Ultimately, when people have a job they’re not in despair and they can stay on reserve and that’s where we want them to be.

I know a lot of them don’t want to move off reserve, they want to stay there and I support them there, we just want them to be able to live there happily and healthily.

Mr. Zimmer paused and people began to boo after Mr. Zimmer said "that's where we want them to be." Mr. Zimmer almost seemed to be implying that the Conservatives want Aboriginal women to stay on reserves.

A more complete transcript is available in the tweet below:

So last night the NDP's Kathi Dickie and the CPC's Bob Zimmer exchanged words on #MMIW at the @AHNnewspaper debate. pic.twitter.com/F4hxhvpt3R

— Andrew Kurjata (@akurjata) October 7, 2015

There are two possibilities with Mr. Zimmer's statements: The first is that he perhaps does not seem to be very sensitive First Nations issues. Had Mr. Zimmer shown more awareness he would have pointed at things like the cultural genocide from the Indian Residential School System, systemic poverty in First Nations communities, a legacy of racist government policies and attempts at forced assimilation of Canada's Aboriginal peoples, the forced relocation of Aboriginal people such as the Lheidli'Tenneh from prime land to remote reserves, the third world conditions of many Aboriginal reserves in Canada, or the chronic underfunding of Aboriginal services relative to the rest of the population of Canada all as the causes of the violence Aboriginal communities, and Aboriginal women, are exposed to and live with. I think if Mr. Zimmer had been more aware of Aboriginal issues in his riding, he would have suggested removing the 2% per year cap on increasing Aboriginal funding that has been in place since the 90s, implementing some of the recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report, and yes, even conducting an inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

The second possibility is that Mr. Zimmer is well aware of the issues I outlined above, perhaps he himself is taking issue with the lack of funding for Aboriginal communities and the Conservative government's lack of movement in the areas of addressing Aboriginal issues. I would like this second possibility because it assumes good faith in our MP, that he will do something about missing and murdered Aboriginal women when he goes back to Ottawa, and that he is pushing back at the political inaction within the Conservative Party in regards to Aboriginal issues.

From the standpoint of political calculation, it would seem to be a huge mistake for Mr. Zimmer to be entirely unaware of the issues facing First Nations people in his riding. Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies has a Aboriginal population of around 13%, which is a substantive demographic. The First Nations vote is also more mobilized and ready to go than any other federal election in perhaps ever. As the Member of Parliament for Prince George-Peace River-Northern Rockies, Bob Zimmer is supposed to represent 100% of his riding, not just 87%. I definitely expect that the MP for any riding would be far more aware and knowledgeable about the issues of the people in his riding than I would expect of the average person.

I made attempts to contact Mr. Zimmer to get his take on this story while writing this blog post, but he did not respond to my inquiries. If I hear from Mr. Zimmer, I will update this blog post accordingly as I feel he deserves the chance to explain, repudiate or clarify his comments.