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Results: 76 - 90 of 217
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
The answer is yes. Obviously I will not disclose cabinet confidences, but I will point the member to the Speech from the Throne, which I am sure he has read, and the four or five points dealing with policing therein.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Actually, I appreciate that question, because Indigenous Services Canada does have that relationship with indigenous communities, and we obviously hear, from community members and leadership, about the need for policing as an essential service on numerous occasions, including today with partners from Treaty 7 wanting to be engaged in the consultation in and around police reform, and not only with respect to policing as an essential service.
I think when we say “essential service” for policing in indigenous communities, we should all reflect on the fact that we take our own policing services in non-indigenous communities for granted, as they are not taken for granted in indigenous communities. It is a reflection of where we are as a country—but the answer, MP Viersen, is absolutely yes.
We can also examine, with indigenous communities and Minister Blair and his team, alternatives to policing, particularly when it comes to mental health interventions. I think a lot of the stuff we saw at the beginning of the year are areas where it might not be appropriate to have—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you so much for the question.
As schools were shut down at the very beginning of the pandemic, particularly given the vulnerabilities that I've highlighted earlier on, people were very worried about their children not only getting COVID but also being vectors of spread within the communities. The portrait of indigenous education across Canada is obviously not limited to the on-reserve reality of schools, although it is one reality, and we continue to build schools on reserves where they're requested and needed.
To that end, a month ago the Prime Minister announced, as part of the school support packages, $112 million dedicated to helping kids go back to school as part of a safe return now. It should be an inescapable reality that there are enhanced needs with respect to communities that have taken the difficult decision to keep their kids at home. Not everyone can be plugged in to an iPad or a computer device to do online learning, so some of the supports we've given—for example, under Jordan's principle—have been precisely to give supports to indigenous students in communities that are keeping them at home.
There is also the reality that this has stressed the mental health of children. A lot of the funding support for the stress we see—funding on which the estimates touch—deals with that reality. It is bleak at times, but we're obviously there to help. Wherever communities see that need, we do our best to step in.
MP Blaney raised the issue of connectivity, and it isn't just the reality of remote communities necessarily. It is the reality, for example, in Six Nations, which is between Toronto and Brantford. It is a challenge across communities to deliver the quality service and quality education to which indigenous children are entitled. It is not one we've overcome completely yet, but we're working toward it.
We also have invested, as of October 30, about $200 million in additional funding to provide education-related supports to indigenous peoples in the community. When it comes to the older students, if you recall, I believe in May the Prime Minister announced education supports to all Canadians, and about $60 million or $75 million was dedicated specifically to indigenous students. That's an important aspect of it. This is coupled with the supports for post-secondary institutions, which had been suffering up to now, that we announced a few weeks back.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
As a result of the rulings, with respect to which we continue to implement the support for children, $200 million has been dedicated to supporting children and families. This is an ongoing challenge as we reform our approaches internally at Indigenous Services Canada to ensure substantive equality between indigenous and non-indigenous youth. We continue to implement those orders. We continue to work with the partners that continue to introduce claims, whether within the CHRT or through class actions, to ensure that we come to a resolution that properly compensates indigenous children.
With respect to the sums in question, they reflect an additional amount that was added to the larger amount of supports for indigenous children to ensure that we get to that goal, which is what all Canadians want to see.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Since the pandemic began, indigenous businesses have been worse off. They have had trouble with financing, so we invested more than $400 million to support local business. We also invested millions of dollars to support indigenous tourism.
Clearly, the role these businesses play in the communities can be a bit different. That is especially the case with the band council-run businesses, which often replace investments in the community. Their purpose is not necessarily to turn a profit. The challenges are numerous and multi-faceted, and we are prepared to do more because we do not know when the pandemic will end.
I can't thank you enough for that question. Although the communities do have access to the support measures that were announced for all of Canada, they have specificities that call for a direct response.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We took a number of steps, including investing $16 million to support 640 indigenous tourism businesses. That investment was aimed specifically at helping them through this period.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
MP Blaney, I think you're absolutely right. A number of the instruments we deployed were very general and, absolutely, a number of mistakes were made in eligibility criteria on a number of fronts. We saw a number of these unduly prejudice the indigenous communities. Our teams worked really hard to work with the Minister of Finance at the time to plug those holes, and indeed it did take time.
We're all being asked to do things that fall outside of our authority, essentially to replace private actors in the economy and give those supports. Some of these did in fact need to be tailored. Some of the financial instruments have been distributed, and I think we've had about 1,100 loans go out.
Clearly the timeline was a challenge we faced, and as we fine-tune our response, I don't think—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Okay. I was going to conclude with something, but—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This is an excellent question and one we're working on currently.
We've all seen the news stories about the positive results for two vaccines in particular, and the wide suite of access Canada has to other vaccines, but they have to be distributed in a way that reflects not only the needs of those in health care services and the prioritization to be established with respect to who gets them and when, but also what is perhaps one of the largest logistical challenges in vaccinations worldwide that we've ever faced. That's the reality. We're talking about ensuring that these vaccines are transported to all areas and then deployed in an equitable fashion that recognizes the inequality that we've all talked about at this committee. Certainly our team is working night and day to ensure that our approach ensures not only that the vaccines get into communities but also that they are deployed in an effective and culturally sensitive way.
We have have learned experience from the H1N1 vaccine and some of the challenges that were faced there. They were surmounted, and in fact I think testimony has shown that indigenous communities received a higher rate of vaccinations finally. There were some challenges in the beginning, and we don't want face those again, but we're very aware of them. We're working not only with local leadership but also with health authorities to ensure that there is proper deployment of those vaccines in the way that I've described.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'll leave the last few words to Valerie.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Absolutely. It's key not only for respecting the reality and the lived experience of indigenous people in the medical system but also in the effective deployment of the vaccine. These are issues that we've been working on internally and with leadership in the last little while. They remain to be perfected.
You spoke about hope, and I think people should be very hopeful, given the results that we've seen. However, we also have to maintain vigilance in ensuring that the public health guidelines are followed properly. That's something we need to continue to do.
This all has to be delivered, administered and worked on in partnership with first nations and indigenous communities, and we will do it. This includes many ways of doing it. I would be glad to come back to committee at a later time to discuss that in more detail.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Good evening. Ulaakut.
I'm speaking to you this evening from the traditional territory of the Algonquin people here in Ottawa.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I'm pleased to join you today, at least virtually, alongside my colleagues Minister Bennett and Minister Vandal. I also want to note the presence of Christiane Fox, deputy minister; Valerie Gideon, associate deputy minister; and Dr. Tom Wong, chief medical officer of public health, first nations and Inuit health branch.
Members, as of October 26, we are aware of 362 active cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities. Since the beginning of this pandemic, we've recorded 1,254 confirmed cases in first nations communities, with 877 recoveries and, tragically, 15 deaths. This number of active cases represents the highest number of active cases to date. In addition, I can report 28 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among Inuit in Nunavik, Quebec, and all have recovered.
In recent days and weeks, there has been an alarming rise in the number of active COVID-19 cases across the country, including in indigenous communities. We took a number of measures to support indigenous communities at the onset of this pandemic, and as we face the second wave of this pandemic, we are taking stock of what we've learned and applying those lessons rapidly.
We know that when local indigenous leadership is given the necessary resources, they are best placed to successfully respond to a crisis with immediate, innovative and proactive measures to ensure the safety of their members. The low case numbers experienced by first nations communities in the first wave was evidence of this. What is clear now, however, is that the second wave has impacted indigenous communities much harder than the first.
As in the first wave, we've put together and put into place...and ensured that the health and safety of indigenous peoples is my and the Government of Canada's utmost priority.
As the pandemic continues and continues to evolve, we are making sure to prioritize sustainable access to mental health services and continue to support indigenous communities. As such, we have invested new funding of $82.5 million, in addition to the $425 million in existing funding annually for community-based services that address the mental wellness needs of indigenous peoples.
These services comply with public health measures available, and, because of the pandemic, with many telehealth or virtual options, such as the Hope for Wellness Help Line.
We continue to work in partnership with indigenous organizations and communities to support the adaptation of mental health resources and services managed by indigenous communities, and will continue to do so throughout the pandemic and beyond it.
To support the unique challenges faced by indigenous businesses and economies, on June 11, we announced $117 million, plus a $16 million stimulus development fund to support the indigenous tourism industry. This funding builds on the $306.8 million previously announced to help indigenous small and medium-sized businesses.
The Government of Canada is also helping elementary and high school students by providing $112 million to support a safe return to first nations schools on reserve, in addition to the $2 billion being provided to the provinces and territories. And we are working to ensure the security and well-being of indigenous women and children by supporting and expanding a network of family violence prevention shelters for first nations communities across the country, and in the territories.
We continue to promote public health and safety measures and have, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, been actively evaluating and acquiring approved point-of-care tests to meet the needs of indigenous communities, especially those in rural, remote and isolated areas.
As of October 19, 70 GeneXpert instruments had been deployed to enable access to rapid point-of-care testing by indigenous communities across the country.
I'd like to take a moment to thank the health professionals, in particular Indigenous Services Canada nurses, who are supporting indigenous communities across the country by providing quality and culturally appropriate care, testing, contact tracing, prevention and treatment during this pandemic.
I would be remiss if I did not mention an emergency in Neskantaga that has been front and centre in the last few days. The recent shutdown of Neskantaga's water distribution system is indeed alarming. My officials are working directly with the leadership of Neskantaga First Nation, alongside partners such as Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Matawa First Nations Management, to mitigate the situation and ensure that the community has the support they need until water can be fully restored. Yesterday, Indigenous Services Canada's lead engineer accompanied the Matawa technical team to inspect the community's water infrastructure and continue water sampling.
Funding will be provided for immediate repairs as necessary, and efforts have been redoubled to address the issues with the distribution system and to support the community's new water system to completion. This funding is in addition to the recent $4 million of funding increase towards the project that aims to lift the long-term boil water advisory in that community, bringing the total investment to over $16.4 million. The construction of the community's water treatment plant is in its final stages, and we are optimistic that it will be up and running soon. We will continue to work with the community leadership to find immediate and long-term solutions to this health emergency.
With that, I look forward to taking your questions.
Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Marsi cho.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, MP Vidal, for that critical question, which indeed is key for all Canadians and indigenous peoples living in Canada. It is no surprise to anyone—in particular the issue I mentioned in Neskantaga, which has been an entirely unacceptable situation for 25 years—that this is the result of massive undercapitalization of, specifically, indigenous communities, specifically with respect to resources that, in most communities in Canada, we all take for granted. Indeed, if those were removed from us, we would be crying bloody murder.
It is unacceptable that indigenous communities have been in this situation, yet that has been the case, and we must acknowledge it as a country. The shame lies in not doing anything about it.
From the very get-go, and as we traced the arc of the commitment that was made by the Prime Minister as early as the prior election, we realized quite early that the commitment needed to be doubled, in terms of the number of long-term water advisories that we were covering. This posed, obviously, a logistical problem. It's something in which we invested additional sums. We put billions of dollars into that commitment. My officials—and it's too bad I don't have the water team here—have been working relentlessly to address this in a systematic fashion.
Being the former mayor of Meadow Lake, you would appreciate the challenges with water, water infrastructure and wastewater. For every community these are complex issues. Some we have been able to resolve quickly. Indeed, over the course of our commitment, we've lifted 90 long-term water advisories and prevented a far greater number of short-term water advisories from becoming long-term water advisories. It's important to realize that.
Now, you take the unacceptable trajectory—
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