Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to bring forward a petition on behalf of Canadians, especially petitioners from the Port Alberni Friendship Center, which is in the process of, next week, having its sixtieth anniversary.
The petitioners are calling for enhanced support for friendship centres. They highlight that friendship centres are vital community hubs providing culturally appropriate services in health, education, housing, employment and youth programming. They note that governments have increasingly relied on these centres to respond to socio-economic conditions, climate emergencies and the toxic drug crisis, yet federal funding has not kept pace with inflation or the real cost of services since 2005.
The petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada to provide enhanced, stable and predictable funding, to invest in the modernization of facilities and to fully recognize the critical role friendship centres play in reconciliation and in supporting indigenous peoples across urban, rural and remote communities. We owe them a ton of gratitude.