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Results: 101 - 200 of 200
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I suspect the question is for me.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, MP Blaney, for the question.
We know that those infrastructure gaps, particularly in respect of housing, are unacceptable and were part of the reason for and the driver of communities being in a lesser position for poorer health outcomes with respect to COVID. We know, particularly in Inuit communities, how close and unacceptable housing conditions are a vector of tuberculosis, for example. This is, as you mentioned, absolutely nothing new.
Clearly, as we looked at what was in front of us as we faced a historic pandemic, it was that fact. I note that you mentioned tents. I would insert a word of caution there because these are highly specialized movable structures that are intended to isolate. They are used in some cases for testing. They are adaptable for the winter up to -40°C. They have been a critical resource for some communities in terms of their COVID response, along with the repurposing that we've done of certain buildings in response to their pandemic plan needs.
Now, I do agree with you that these are unacceptable conditions that first nations, Inuit and, for that matter, Métis communities face. This has been laid bare by COVID once again. That is why the Governor General mentioned as much in the throne speech in 2020, which was focused on the inequities that were laid bare by the COVID pandemic.
We are in a response-to-COVID mode, so clearly the safety of people and communities and their priorities need to be met. I am fully aware of this. We have an undertaking in government to close that gap by 2030. The question that I think we all need to pose to ourselves is, should we be doing that much more quickly? I would answer that, for my own purposes, in the affirmative.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Perhaps I can take the small moment afforded to me to speak to the excellent work done by the First Nations Health Authority, which really is an example for all of Canada. It exists only in B.C., but they've really done some amazing work to ensure that the resources we have at our disposal are deployed and mobilized, in conjunction with the Government of British Columbia, to ensure that communities stay safe but also to respect the cultural sensitivity and the lens that needs to be applied to this—and it actually saves lives.
The loss of any person, particularly an elder, is a tragedy, but the work that's been done in those communities has really been an example not only to other indigenous communities but to all communities in Canada. I think that if we looked at some of the measures taken and the seriousness with which those communities have responded, we might, I propose, have a better approach nationally. I actually am inspired by some of the work that's been done, and particularly by the leadership shown by the FNHA.
Minister Bennett.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'd be happy to, but I would like to take much more time than a minute to do this question service. As I mentioned in the introduction, this is the hidden face of this pandemic, and it is something that existed well before. It is why our department has invested $425 million annually for community-based and community-led services to address the needs of first nations and Inuit, while recognizing as well that COVID has laid bare this hidden face of the pandemic.
If you look at B.C. and the overdoses, a disproportionate number of which have affected indigenous communities, we know that there is something that needs to be addressed. This is in partnership with provinces, obviously, particularly with those that are shying away from harm reduction models, which is extremely alarming. It is why, obviously, in August we announced another $82.5 million to address this over the next six months of the pandemic, and we will be there every step of the way if more support is needed. We will not be able to quantify the impact of this for a very long time, as you know, as it manifests itself over time.
I do appreciate this important question and your advocacy on this, Lenore.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We stay in touch with community health networks, nursing stations and local leadership. The general issue you raise is that lack of connectivity is a barrier to the effective deployment of our resources. This is even more the case with respect to transportation sustainability, which you mentioned in your question to the Minister of Northern Affairs. These are huge challenges, but not insurmountable.
Certainly, more investment in infrastructure is needed. It is difficult to do major construction in times of pandemic, but this is one of the issues that constantly comes up, not only in remote areas, but also in communities near Toronto and Brantford, such as Six Nations, which do not have the same Internet access as a neighbouring community.
So it's a problem that's pretty much across the country. This very often means that it is a problem experienced by indigenous communities.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We recognize that students learning at home must use electronic equipment. They certainly cannot do so without access to the Internet. It's a challenge even in the most modern homes, so imagine what it's like in the scenario you just mentioned.
With respect to Nunavik, we need to talk about the commitment we have in common with the Quebec government. It is a shared responsibility.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I would say that, when it comes to British Columbia, this work is done principally through FNHA, but as for the general question, we have been moving in real time in terms of our stockpile to a turnaround time of 24 hours. Now FNIHB and the resources that we have at our disposal serve essentially the health care and the essential service community inside indigenous communities. Our response time has improved to a 24-hour turnaround.
Clearly at the beginning, we saw some confusion across Canada with respect to how, when and where PPE was being used and deployed, and conversations as to need. Obviously, the clear message to us that we had to take action on was that we had to increase our communication with communities to see, first and foremost, what the protocol was for PPE. Very simple things become quite complex and intricate, particularly in a northern remote scenario, like donning and doffing, which has become a commonplace expression now. There was also proper use of PPE and how and when it's used in conjunction with testing.
I would leave the remaining portion of this question to Dr. Gideon.
Could you just add a bit, Val?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I believe there are more, but Val can answer that.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Just as an update to your prior question, MP McLeod, we actually have 77 GeneXpert machines that are deployed.
What I would say is that one of the lessons we learned from H1N1 is that we didn't want nursing staff or people going in and out on an emergency basis from communities. They themselves become vectors, particularly in situations where they're obviously in there to care and to help. This is why we have quite an elaborate protocol, whether it is isolating before they go in or other methods, to accommodate any specific scenarios. This has been a huge logistical challenge, which has included charters as well. We're conscious of this.
In terms of specific examples of nurses themselves becoming vectors, I suspect you mean that they were not themselves infected solely and then prevented...but were infected and then spread.... I would defer to Val or Dr. Wong to answer that, but, based on all the briefings I've received, it has been exceedingly rare.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you so much for that important question, because it is a testament to the challenges we faced and the strict policy and legal authorities we all faced within our departments and how we've all had to think a bit outside the box in order to address where the vulnerabilities are expressing themselves, and that includes the 50% or more indigenous population that lives “off reserve”. More often, the typical iteration of that is large urban centres like Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, but it is also the reality in places like La Loche, where we saw one of the largest outbreaks. This is something that's near and dear to MP Vidal's heart, because I know of his engagement in ensuring that proper resources were deployed in those communities.
We have acknowledged that challenge, because those vulnerabilities exist, but when you're talking about intricate overlapping jurisdictions, obviously there's an execution challenge in the delivery of health care, which is primarily and exclusively, in those cases, the jurisdiction of the provincial or territorial governments. This has been a challenge within the strict authorities of the funds that we appropriated.
We knew from the very beginning that $15 million dedicated to “urban supports” was wildly insufficient, which is why we procured $75 million to distribute across a wide network of organizations and grassroots-based organizations that are really doing some of the key work in keeping people safe, whether that's food security, cultural supports, or keeping doors open. I think of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, which is doing incredible work in keeping people safe, alive and well surrounded during this pandemic. I look at some of the mobile supports in downtown Toronto, which I think Pam was instrumental in announcing and pushing for. This is the result of advocacy across parties. There isn't a single party that didn't approach me to say, you have to do more for indigenous communities that are in urban settings. It has yielded results in areas that I mentioned previously, in supporting harm reduction models in various forms, whether it's a wet shelter or other supports for people who are perhaps not getting a safe supply, or the food security I mentioned earlier.
These are all elements where we see what I call a “jurisdictional hole”, where the federal government has not been present, and provincial and territorial supports, for whatever reason, have not been there. COVID doesn't check the Constitution before it infects someone, and where we've seen it, it goes after those who are most vulnerable. The indigenous communities that came together, the Métis, Dene.... La Loche is an incredible example of a very alarming spread at the outset of COVID, where 200 people were infected in a community that has had its challenges, but they rallied together with an emergency response team. We supported it with financial supports, and they were able to stamp it out, and that's amazing work.
In part, it is the federal government's response to a very tricky jurisdictional question where we could not close our eyes to it, but also because of the advocacy of voices that go across party lines. I think we need to keep going together in lockstep on this issue, because we're not out of the woods on COVID specifically, and there are needs that are, we must acknowledge, unmet, and we are not meeting them currently, whether we look at ourselves or at the provincial governments.
Thank you, Adam, in particular, for your advocacy, because I know how you've interacted with our.... This isn't a throwaway thank you; this is a real thank you and I mean it, in every single thing you do, because I know you've been passionate about this.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
As you rightly note, Gary....
First, thank you for the advocacy work. I've noted it in prior sessions, but I think it's worth repeating. Your team has been linking up with our department and advocating in very complex situations, particularly what's been going on in La Loche and the response at all levels of government to support...the spread of COVID in northern Saskatchewan.
At the heart of this.... The MMIWG calls to action are not for a federal response only, nor is Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs responsible. It is entirely a whole-of-government, civil society, provincial and territorial response.
Part of the calls to action demand from Indigenous Services Canada, when we look in terms of how the civil service reacts to those calls to action within what Indigenous Services Canada does.... What you're getting at the very heart of that, and what the report highlighted as well, is socio-economic conditions, inequalities that unduly and disproportionately negatively affect women and create the conditions that you've highlighted and that we've heard in testimony.
One of those calls to action included what we have rolled out over the last week, the response in capital funding for shelters that support indigenous women who are fleeing violence. Indeed, during COVID, we've seen a significant increase in domestic violence and a corresponding need for those supports with regard to the friendship centres and the various service organizations that do an incredible job with very little resources. Our government moved quite quickly with $50 million, which was wholly inadequate, and then $75 million, which is in the process of being rolled out specifically to organizations that serve indigenous peoples, among those women and children who are fleeing violence.
Again, it's within the responsibility of Indigenous Services Canada as well as other levels of government, at the federal level and across the spectrum of government services and civil society services in Canada. It's one aspect of it, but it is a very important part to the MMIWG response. It can't simply be a piecemeal approach. It needs to be complete and comprehensive. Supports for women in those situations are key, and Indigenous Services Canada has to do its part.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes. It's an excellent point that you raise, because in my discussions with Chief Mitsuing, as you noted, at the very beginning of my mandate, he was facing a crisis within his community, and it is not unique, but communities have unique needs, particularly in mental health. The solutions lie within communities.
I think one of the criticisms we heard from the chief was the challenge with having solutions that are sort of flown in, or even when it comes to tribal councils and the supports that they have, which are very good, the increased needs are financial and also homegrown. The ability to do that can only be done within infrastructure solutions that are always undercapitalized.
I think that's something we've got to take away and keep working on. We have, indeed, done great work in ensuring that the capital is there for services, buildings and infrastructure that can house that increasing pressure, in particular on mental health—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, and thank you again for your interaction with our department and ensuring that the needs in your riding are met and heard.
We've been working from the get-go at an accelerated rate. Obviously getting ahead of this curve has been the reason indigenous communities have had such optimistic outcomes, because they've been able to predict and communicate, open that line of communication and make sure that procurement is being done in a timely fashion and distributed.
In the case of Mathias Colomb, there were some movable structures that we were looking at essentially as part of a central procurement to deal with surge capacity to have moveable structures that are in great demand for communities that need isolation capacity or more testing capacity, so the company in question proactively released a press release that frankly mis-characterized what was being sent into the community, and the community, rightly so, reacted. Our department apologized for the miscommunication, but it was an issue of communication in coordination with their pandemic plan.
Essentially what Mathias Colomb wanted, which we have funded to the tune of about $400,000, was repurposing of one of their community centres as part of their pandemic plan and not the movable structures that we were proactively sourcing with a view to distributing them into a variety of communities that have those challenges that have been highlighted to the committee. I think essentially that's the crux of it.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I believe so.
You know, the frustration that a number of communities feel existed prior to the pandemic, because we're dealing with socio-economic determinants that make that vulnerability more acute. We're asked to do things in Indigenous Services Canada that we don't have to do in non-indigenous communities, because those conditions don't exist, so that frustration is very real. Ensuring that we communicate and essentially deal the cards that we're dealt and proactively source units for isolation and medical purposes actively, knowing that there has not been an outbreak, is very important.
I think always that the line of communication, making sure local needs are addressed, is important [Technical difficulty—Editor]
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Manitoba first nations have done an exceptional job. We have worked with the regional chief, with Grand Chief Arlen Dumas, to make sure that we are responding to needs—that has been the core of this—and to make sure that they communicate with our regional teams, knowing that we proactively source the surge capacity material and resources, and to be ready to react on a moment's notice. You know, we take nothing for granted. The resourcing and the work that has been done by first nations to have a first nations-led data approach are exemplary across Canada, and so a lot of the credit is, frankly, owed to local leadership. Obviously, there has been some luck—we can't discount that—but they have been proactive and aggressive. It hasn't occurred yet in Manitoba, but those communities across the country that have reacted the best have let, frankly, medical leadership take the front and allow people to communicate so that you have a health response to, really, a health problem.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Ms. Michaud, I want to start by saying that I'm pleased to be speaking in French, especially since I'm currently in Montreal.
To some extent, what happened was the result of the nature of the beast, if I may say so. We had to deal with a very unpredictable and historic pandemic. We had to take action and be proactive in order to source very expensive products and structures. We needed to develop a plan to deal with the epidemic. The plan wasn't supposed to concern just one province, but the entire country.
Indigenous Services Canada assesses all potential outbreaks and vulnerabilities, such as the remoteness or overcrowding of a community. The important thing was to be proactive.
There's considerable demand for movable structures designed to address overcrowding in some communities, for example.
In the case of the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, there was an agreement to send movable structures to the community. However, the community didn't want them. Instead, according to its pandemic plan, the community wanted to resupply and restructure its community centre. We did this with a $400,000 investment. There was a misunderstanding regarding the press release because the company issued the release hastily. The misunderstanding concerned when things would be done and the nature of what would be developed for the community.
Our department apologized to the community. We're continuing to proactively communicate with its members to ensure that the community can meet all its resupply needs.
When we act urgently, we may make mistakes. We must learn from them.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I believe my office has sent you the answer from our department.
We need to understand how surge capacity resourcing works, and as part of that we need to profile and model vulnerable communities. As you have highlighted and as the community has highlighted to our team, it is part of a number of vulnerable communities across Canada that have those vulnerabilities for unacceptable reasons.
As part of that, we need to establish procurement models and resources on a Canada-wide level. Mathias Colomb was named as part of a greater model in trying to understand what the needs would be, not only for the first wave but for a second or third wave. As you've heard in prior testimony but as I'm glad to reiterate, the press release from the company that was selected to provide these units was a little hasty and mischaracterized what these very important units are for, and as a result, the community was surprised.
That is not right, and I'll concede that. They had this pandemic—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I submit to you, Ms. Ashton, that this is not how procurement works. We were working with the community already to respond to their pandemic plan. Indeed, were you to ask them, they would say that they are—and I do not purport to speak for them—quite happy with the result right now, but that was something that was well in the works to the best of my understanding.
Again, the surge capacity nature of the procurement was such that these tents—which are very expensive movable structures with a medical purpose that can be used in many ways—are in very high demand in the communities that need them, which we respond proactively to.
Obviously we have to predict for second and third waves, and that's why that procurement occurs on a national scale. We're glad to work with communities that require any of these. The communities that have used them are quite happy. Obviously they're not happy with the conditions that create the need, but it's something that we need to continue moving forward with, and we will.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Ms. Bérubé.
This issue affects not only health care, but also a number of other areas. When we look at the Constitution, the areas of jurisdiction and the method of providing social services—and crucial medical assistance—we sometimes see an overlap, but also occasionally shortcomings.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, despite efforts to leave no one behind, we sometimes saw a gap in access, particularly to personal protective equipment and nursing care. This is the responsibility of the federal crown, but also the provincial crown. It's a challenge, I'll give you that.
Take the example of a situation outside Quebec. In La Loche, Saskatchewan, the department proactively responded to the pandemic. A large proportion, or 90%, of the community members are indigenous people. However, the village isn't a reserve. Of course, the community had to coordinate efforts with the province and the surrounding Dene communities.
Rather than conflict, I prefer to speak about co-operation. We must co-operate, despite the philosophical discrepancies and differences that exist in the relationships with the provinces and territories. This is about the health of people living in Canada.
I partly agree with you. However, the lesson that I'm learning from this situation is that we need to better coordinate our efforts to provide the proper health care services that everyone should receive.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
From the get-go, the challenge of getting personal protective equipment into communities—we had our own stockpile—had to do with logistics and in ensuring we had that link within communities and understood the needs and what the nursing stations needed.
The department has been pretty proactive and has been moving from a slower response time to a much quicker one. Clearly, communities have specific needs, and it takes work.
Have we experienced shortages? I would have to speak to my team about that, but generally, the response rate has been pretty quick. Where there have been misunderstandings, it has always been in the haste of trying to get things out and figuring it out afterward. I wouldn't qualify any challenges we've had as specifically related to indigenous communities, other than remoteness, but clearly this is something we're conscious of.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
MP Qaqqaq, I will be very short with that. I will simply say that I agree with your statement. I think we need to take a really sober look at the needs, going forward, as to what the new normal is in massive infrastructure investments when we look at overcrowding.
Sure, I could tell you about the investments that the government has made since 2015, but you probably don't want to hear that, because that isn't the situation in communities that have overpopulation, which makes them more susceptible to tuberculosis. Those rates are unacceptable anywhere in the world, let alone in one of the best countries in the world. I think you're absolutely right in your observation.
I would simply say, in response to the point about a Liberal insider, that I have no knowledge of this person and I don't believe this person had any influence in any form of decision-making at all. I would just simply leave it at that, because I think your first point was exceedingly important.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Chair.
As I am in Ottawa, I do want to acknowledge my presence today on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
Kwe, good afternoon, bonjour.
Before I begin, I would like to say a few words on the current social climate. Right now, we are in a moment when Canadians are recognizing that there's unfairness built into our systems and that these systems have always been unfair towards indigenous peoples.
I look to my colleagues on this committee among others and across government to reflect and question ourselves on why injustice towards indigenous peoples still happens and how we can move forward in the short, medium and long term.
This is obvious. We need to ensure that there is accountability and that policing services are committed to ensuring that they are always worthy of the trust we put in them. Indigenous peoples and their communities are entitled to the best, and the best there is of the RCMP.
We need to constantly question and reflect on the issues of systemic racism in institutions, particularly those that hold exceptional powers, ones, at times, of life and death. The exceptional powers exercised by police services across Canada come with correspondingly exceptional responsibilities. We must keep fighting to remove systemic racism from these institutions, institutions that are meant to serve everyone living in this country equally and fairly.
With that, I welcome the opportunity to provide you with an update on our continuing effort to confront the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and to answer your questions on supplementary estimates (A).
As of June 15, Indigenous Services Canada is aware of 247 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities on reserves. Of these, 208 individuals are considered to have recovered. In terms of Inuit in Nunavik, all of the 16 cases reported have recovered.
Our commitment to supporting communities in their response to COVID-19 has never wavered. That is why our 2020-21 supplementary estimates (A) reflect a net increase of $1.7 billion. This was essential to address the needs of indigenous peoples during this global crisis. These supplementary estimates include $950.5 million of statutory funding, mostly related to the COVID-19 response measures, in addition to new funding support for key programs such as Jordan's principle and child and family services.
To date, the Government of Canada has made roughly $1.5 billion in distinctions-based funding available to indigenous peoples and northern communities to support their efforts to successfully battle COVID-19. Specifically, these estimates contain more than $280 million to support Indigenous Services Canada's health response in first nations and Inuit communities. This is essential funding that will help to provide first nations and Inuit communities with additional health care providers; personal protective equipment; health infrastructure, specifically retooling existing community spaces or purchasing mobile structures to support isolation, screening and/or accommodations; and community-level infection prevention and control measures that are essential.
In addition to this, these estimates also reflect $305 million for the distinctions-based indigenous community support fund. Of this amount, $215 million was dedicated to first nations, $45 million to Inuit, and $30 million to Métis nation communities, plus $15 million in proposals-based funding for first nations off reserve and urban indigenous organizations and communities.
An additional $75 million was also sought for organizations supporting first nations individuals off reserve and Inuit and Métis living in urban areas, as well as $10 million in funding for emergency family violence prevention shelters on reserve and in Yukon.
As part of our COVID-19 response, we are also providing $260 million to respond to financial pressures on income assistance.
Outside of funding to support our COVID-19 response, these supplementary estimates also include $232 million to support the ongoing implementation of Jordan's principle, and $468.2 million to support the ongoing delivery of the first nations child and family services program. These investments demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to fully implementing the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
This investment more than doubles the program's budget, bringing it to nearly $1.7 billion. Funding will be used to ensure that first nations children and families are getting the services they need.
You'll note that we have also made a few other announcements recently. These items will be reflected in future supplementary estimates. These include $75.2 million in new investments to support first nations, Inuit and Métis nations post-secondary recent graduates impacted by the pandemic, and $440 million in funding in support of indigenous businesses and the indigenous tourism industry in response to the hardships created by COVID-19.
I will close by saying that we are committed to responding to the needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis and to stopping the spread of COVID-19. We're committed to getting more nurses, paramedics, nursing stations and health centres to help those who need it most.
I want to take a moment, as I close, to thank all health care professionals working in indigenous communities for their continued dedication and determination to ensure that quality and culturally appropriate care, testing and treatment are provided during this pandemic.
I want to thank members for this opportunity to meet with you today, albeit virtually.
Again, I am happy to answer any and all questions.
Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Merci.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
The capital investments our government has made in housing have been for housing in general. In terms of our investments in housing for indigenous people, we have recognized that it has not been enough, and indigenous people are obviously suffering as a result, including through increased vulnerability to COVID-19.
As we emerge from this epidemic, we will therefore have to ask ourselves what level of capitalization exists across Canada, and not only in Quebec, to really address the problem of housing and overcrowding that may exist in the communities. I also include the Inuit communities, who are vulnerable to lung disease, to which overcrowding is a major contributor, especially given COVID-19, and tuberculosis, which is present in some communities.
We must all reflect on this. Above all, we must ensure that we make adequate investments in indigenous communities to overcome this plague.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I thank the member for that very, very important question.
I am very conscious about your time. I do recognize that the child first initiative has been undersubscribed and that we need to deliver that flexibility, but I want to allow the time for my associate, Deputy Minister Valerie Gideon, to answer on that point.
Chair, could we pass that over to Valerie, please?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This is part of the undertaking that I undertook towards indigenous peoples when I was asked to serve as minister: to move forward on a national suicide prevention strategy. Some of the leaders in that area were the Inuit, with their suicide prevention strategy.
You will note that the 2021 supplementary estimates provide $5 million in new funding to support the continued implementation specifically of the Inuit-designed and Inuit-led Inuit suicide prevention strategy. This is a long-term solution tailored by Inuit to deal with the effects and the prevention of suicide, and this is something that is done through distribution of funds to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which you are well familiar with, and the four land claim organizations.
This is building, of course, as you mentioned earlier, on the first three years of the implementation, and the funding will continue for the strengthening of suicide prevention strategies across Inuit Nunangat.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
The member might have noted the undertaking of the government a couple of weeks ago to invest $50 million into women's shelters and sexual assault centres across Canada to help with their capacity over the long term. This is something that does not exclude Nunavut.
This is funding—let me be clear about this—that works with CMHC to deliver that to the institutions and representatives that will administer it, and I have had successive talks with Pauktuutit. This does not exclude their other ask, which is in relation to shelters across Inuit Nunangat, but this can be a partial answer to that request. I am encouraged by the discussions we had, but they will be ongoing as to their capital needs, and we are obviously dedicated to making sure that—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, MP Battiste, for what is really an excellent question that goes to the heart of some of the work that Indigenous Services Canada does.
Mr. Chair, at the end of my statement I will pass the microphone over to ADM Valerie Gideon to show some of the daily work that we do at Indigenous Services Canada. I'm going to quote numbers, but behind those numbers are kids whose lives are being transformed by the implementation of Jordan's principle by this government. It's key, as part of our work with first nations, to ensure that this principle is being.... It's a sacred one to be upheld. The children really have access to products and services that they support, need and have the right to have.
The member has noted that supplementary estimates (A) provide $232 million in new funding to support the continued implementation of this principle. It brings the total budget for Jordan's principle up to $668 million. This ensures that children receive access to the health, social and educational products, services and supports they need, as well as speech and language pathology, physiotherapy, mental wellness supports, education assistance and mobility aids.
During this COVID period, those needs have become more acute as schools are shut down. As those needs become more specific, it's tailoring critical needs within the home. That has put pressure on the system, but it's welcome pressure because it is something that we need to fulfill as part of our duty to indigenous peoples.
On that note, I will pass the microphone over to Valerie Gideon.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Jaime, this is something that we've seen throughout the pandemic: the increased demand for mental wellness support with the corresponding stress, anxiety and fear that COVID has created. As you know, the solutions that are best led are those within community. As we look at past weeks and question whether police really should be doing a number of these interventions that turn on mental health situations, it's obvious and it jumps out that work needs to be done to ensure, in short order, that these supports are provided even more so than they are today.
I'll give you some of the examples that we've seen from our perspective in supporting mental wellness. There's been an increase of 52 community-led wellness teams since 2015, 63 across Canada. The great example that we have is the great work being done by Nishnawbe Aski Nation's choose life initiative, which is benefiting upward of 22,000 high-risk youth and children. There are the implementation of the 24-7 Hope for Wellness Helpline and ITK's national suicide prevention strategy that I mentioned earlier.
These are all elements in a broader implementation of wellness supports that we need to continue working on. We see that in terms of budgetary pressure, but again, behind that are people who need the support, particularly during COVID-19.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Before answering, I want to highlight the excellent work you've done in communicating with our office as to some of the things you're seeing in northern areas of Saskatchewan. You have done excellent work with our teams in supporting all the work that has been done in La Loche, which is an extremely concerning situation.
On your question—and it's an extremely important question—we've been rolling out measures and programs in record times. The last thing we wanted to do was leave indigenous communities behind, and that includes in terms of business support. These are things that ordinarily would go through a very long process. As you recognized, they've been compressed into a very, very tight time frame.
The importance for us, when announcing things, was to ensure that potential recipients knew they had the backing of the Government of Canada. We announced $306 million of specific indigenous funding, knowing that indigenous businesses were best served through the 59 AFIs across the country. As well, last week we announced an additional $117 million specifically in loans, and those that would be, for the most part, forgivable, to ensure there was that support in place.
The timing of these things can always be scrutinized. Again, this is something that this committee plays a key role in doing, and Parliament plays a key role in doing. In terms of timing and the ability of government to move on a dime, I'm quite proud of the work we've done.
I can speak to a specific situation that you're highlighting, and I absolutely would like to look at that with my team.
Communities know that the Government of Canada has backed them financially and will continue to do so as we chart the path of COVID-19, which most experts still don't have the capacity to fully predict. We do have to acknowledge that uncertainty as we take measures in a very precipitous fashion.
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Lib. (QC)
Gary, this is very important. We made this $15-million commitment in an area of jurisdiction that is shared among municipalities, provinces and the federal government, and we realized quite quickly that the federal government had to step up, so in addition to the $15 million we announced an additional $75 million going into urban indigenous centres, serving people who need to be served by all members in all jurisdictions, provinces and territories.
It is a gap that we have tried to fill as quickly as possible. It doesn't necessarily fall under the mandate of Indigenous Services Canada, but it is something we have to reflect on. It hasn't prevented us from moving, and it hasn't prevented us from investing. If you have a particular case that you would like to address, I would be glad to get back to you. We will be deploying—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
When we speak about self-determination, the tendency in government is to speak in broad, almost philosophical brush strokes. We speak of the critical importance of UNDRIP, but you brought it to its core, and I spoke earlier to it when I addressed issues on Jordan's principle.
When you talk about building nationhood, you speak about a number of pillars: security and control over land, over people, the ability to have control over your health care and your education. Those are the pillars you look at as part of nation building, on the terms told to us by the indigenous people who are renewing that nation-to-nation relationship with us.
Kids go to the heart of that painful realization. When we talk about reforming child and family services, we talk about care, control and custody over things that somebody like me would take for granted, which has been taken away from indigenous peoples. It is a difficult topic for all of us to speak about, but most certainly for indigenous peoples.
Making sure that families have the supports they need, making sure that within government and its process, which you alluded to, we continue to support self-determination and continue to support the governance tables that Minister Bennett is in charge of, is so important in being able to speak to issues that I take, with respect to government, as granted, which are looked at in a different perspective in an indigenous community.
Indigenous children are an immensely growing part of the population, and it is a generation that cannot be left behind, but I don't dictate those terms. The terms need to be told to me, to us, and we need to work in partnership. Perhaps sometimes it makes things slower and more difficult, but it is the right way to proceed.
I want to conclude by thanking you for that important question.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge your leader Yves-François Blanchet's speech this morning on behalf of Regional Chief Ghislain Picard about matters such as the importance of helping indigenous police. It is very much a key point to make to Parliament.
As to whether the amounts are sufficient, I will give you a qualified answer. We admit failure with regard to the inequalities that indigenous communities have been facing since the beginning of the crisis.
The demands we received were related to overcrowding and low capitalization of indigenous housing, and lack of investment in housing, education and healthcare. The demands were also directed at provincial governments.
Faced with this failure, we had to deploy resources in some communities that would not have needed them if they were not indigenous. Mobile equipment was needed to be able to isolate people and do tests, and we had to increase the number of nurses. We deployed resources based on the cards we were dealt.
Are the many resources we deployed in these communities sufficient? We will not know until later. It has worked on reserves because not many people there have been infected with the virus. We are facing an unpredictable epidemic. We must therefore always remain vigilant and deploy the necessary resources. There is a very real danger of several successive waves.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
As to the budgetary requirements in order to implement Jordan's principle, absolutely yes. As I noted in a previous answer, those sums—please correct me if I'm wrong, officials—were of an increased amount of $200-plus million.
Thank you.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
I would invite a longer, more complete answer should the time run out.
You would have to specify which order. If you were speaking about the current negotiations that the court—
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Lib. (QC)
The member will note that we are fulfilling those orders. That is why we have those budgetary amounts with respect to Jordan's principle. They are so key. Currently, we are working with all sides to perfect some of the funding models that the court has asked us to do. We've made good progress.
I should have an update for members shortly.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
MP Battiste, I think we've seen a real increase, particularly on the west coast but moving east, of the use of 10-year grants. They are very important in creating that predictability and ability to look over 10 years as to what the needs in communities are. My mandate letter, as well as a number of other ministers', contained undertakings toward indigenous people in closing the infrastructure gap.
We work with communities. Our regional directors work on the five-year infrastructure plans that are key to the planning of communities. It's something that I think we need to take a look at as we take stock and ask, “What is the new normal? What are the needs within communities to ensure that they thrive, that they grow and that we can continue the nation-to-nation relationship?” That includes looking at financial instruments that non-indigenous communities take for granted or that are available and haven't necessarily been available.
A number of the issues that we face on a daily basis.... Communities choose to get out from under the Indian Act. Again, these are slow discussions, but they are deliberate ones. They are very important in order to make sure that community decision-making, nation decision-making, is not made from Ottawa but, indeed, made by the peoples and the nations that we are trying to improve our relationship with.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This is something we have been struggling with from the very beginning.
There was never any intention to exclude band-owned businesses, for example, or support to indigenous communities. A number of modifications needed to be made in order to effect that, and if it's an issue of clearing that up with CRA, absolutely. Sometimes it is on a case-by-case basis and depends on the business's eligibility, which all Canadians are struggling with, but this is something that we can work with on a case-by-case basis with CRA.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I cannot personally. I would ask if any officials are on the line, and perhaps our CFO or J.F. could answer that.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, and thank you for the question. It's a very important one as part of my mandate, but most importantly for communities that want to take that jurisdiction and assert the right to self-determination.
We have a number that have applied, and I would defer to my department to disclose the specific number at this time. If not, we can undertake to get back to you.
J.F., can you answer, please?
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Lib. (QC)
I will.
We plan to deploy this shortly. I will note one nuance, though. As people in Canada, regardless of whether they are indigenous or not, have suffered income challenges, we have to manage for additional caseloads, so some of the elements you see may reflect that, but I would note that sensitivity as we get back to you.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I don't think I can say it any better than what Dan said. Maybe Carolyn has some words.
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Lib. (QC)
We are all becoming aware of the situation and we are outraged. Over the past few weeks, you may have seen me express my outrage on television. As you have pointed out, now it is time to act.
When the MMIWG report came out, we did not delay in taking action, especially with regard to the findings on police forces.
These measures are not only the responsibility of the federal government, but also of the provincial governments, as they also control their own police forces. There is work to be done in the short, medium and long term.
First nations have long called for policing to be under their own control and managed by their communities. I know many indigenous people who have served in the military and have been part of a non-indigenous police force. They, too, would like to have an indigenous police force in their communities because the situation is unacceptable.
As ministers—three of us are here at today's meeting—we feel that now is the time to act. This will not happen overnight. We can take action in the short term, but it is a job, as Minister Vandal pointed out in English a few minutes ago, that will also be done in the medium and long term, even if it means reforming a police force. This promise was made two years ago.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I would perhaps note that this is a question that most likely should have been directed to me, since Indigenous Services Canada is in charge, in addition to the communities that are affected, in eliminating those boil water advisories.
I believe what you have said to be correct. There have been no public updates since March and perhaps the end of February.
We have continued to invest in ensuring that short-term water advisories do not become long-term ones. Those that are on the list, and indeed the ones remaining, are the most complicated, but I would note that as of December 31, 2019, we've invested more than $1.4 billion with targeted funding to support over 602 waste-water projects, including 276 that are actually now complete. These projects serve about half a million people in first nation communities.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We continue aggressively to meet that spring 2021 date that we've set. My team is working around the clock, despite COVID, to keep working on that date. This is community-by-community decision-making, and we are engaged with those communities to ensure that they have the supports they need, even in the face of communities that have decided to close down. We want to make sure that they do have that support for what is best described as an essential service.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
MP Viersen, thank you for that question. In fact, I would probably encourage a more developed question or at least more time to respond on Friday. We do have a number of examples. They are too few, but clearly it's something we're very aware of, and we're moving to make sure that we do fill that need and demand from indigenous PPE providers.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
As an equally overarching comment, one of the observations I've had in the short time in which I've had the honour to serve as indigenous services minister is that at some point you realize that the pace has to be dictated by indigenous communities, and not the reverse. That means we talk on their terms and according to their priorities, and that we realize there's not a one-size-fits-all answer, which is so self-evident.
You may go into a particular community and say this framework we've proposed works perfectly. You may go into a different part of the country and hear “No, we have a treaty basis and we would like to proceed along those terms”, or in a different part of the country it might be rejected entirely and there's a different nature of discussion.
This is self-evident to the communities you're discussing, but perhaps not to a number of well-meaning, non-indigenous people, including me a couple of years ago, for sure. This is a long process. It is indeed sometimes frustrating, but I think this government has been dedicated to doing its best to get it right.
It requires patience. It requires dialogue first and foremost, but also recognition that it is key to support those pillars that I mentioned in response to Adam. They are pillars to identity and self-governance and nationhood that we take for granted, but they are very important in fostering and continuing to foster in the right way.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I could say a few things.
You're right, Adam, that it isn't necessarily a remoteness issue. We've seen that in the Six Nations, and Pam has been instrumental in making sure we're aware of that and that there is a response.
This isn't necessarily for our ministries. Minister Monsef is in charge of ensuring that we move forward on connectivity. Clearly, when it comes to education, and being able to study at home and have more people connected at the same time, the needs are more acute and the disparities are greater the further north you go, but it isn't limited simply to more northern areas, although that need is acute as well.
There are reflections that we need to have as we deploy, as part of our governmental undertaking in prior budgets, connectivity solutions to communities and get people wired, particularly in a COVID environment, where there are issues with making sure contractors are observing the proper protocols. That will be largely insufficient, and as we move forward, we have to continue having that reflection and making sure that people do have access to connectivity solutions.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
I will provide a two-part answer.
With respect to the first question, which concerns the similar amounts that are part of the allocations to communities, this is that good old $300 million plus allocated at the very beginning. The Government of Canada gave the money to the communities to ensure that they had the financial means to make their own decisions and to mitigate a potential outbreak of COVID-19. It worked well.
Of course, since nothing can be taken for granted and we need to prepare for a second wave, an additional fund of over $200 million has been allocated specifically to mobile solutions for screening and isolation. These are internal resources that can be strategically deployed in communities.
Now, since we cannot predict how the pandemic will evolve, we are trying to determine what support communities need so that we can target it better than before. We have been asked for resources, for additional security, for example, or envelopes for better preparations; these are not financial choices made at the expense of decisions that should always be health-focused first and foremost.
With respect to the first part of your question, it remains to be seen, but we are always prepared to reevaluate envelopes that were previously allocated.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
The nature of the data always has to be carefully scrutinized. Across the country, the old debate about disaggregated data rages on.
We do compile statistics on what we can control, so to speak, that is, data on resource deployment on reserve, as well as data provided to us either by the provinces or territories or by the communities themselves. The work, which is not perfect, is continuing so that we can shape public policy appropriately and be able to predict the second wave, as you said.
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Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Chair.
Kwe. Tansi. Ulaakut. Boohzoo. Good afternoon. Bonjour.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that I'm here, very close to Canada's Parliament, on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
Mr. Chair, I'm pleased to join all of you, including my colleagues, Ministers Bennett and Vandal, virtually. With me as well to answer your questions from Indigenous Services Canada are Jean-François Tremblay, my deputy minister; Valerie Gideon, senior assistant deputy minister for the first nations and Inuit health branch; Dr. Tom Wong, chief medical officer of public health for FNIHB; Mary Kapelus, assistant deputy minister for education and social development programs; and Chris Duschenes, director general, lands and economic development sector.
On behalf of all of us, I'd like to thank the committee for this opportunity to provide an update on how our government has been working with first nations, Inuit and Métis leaders, indigenous organizations and communities, as well as provincial and territorial governments to mitigate the threat posed by the global pandemic of COVID-19.
As of April 30, we've seen 131 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities on reserve. We're also tracking one confirmed case in Pond Inlet, Nunavut.
To support indigenous communities in preparing for and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, our government has allocated over $740 million to meet the public health needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis communities. To date, more than $59.8 million in funding has been used to purchase equipment for medical personnel and to support communities' preparedness measures. That funding is in addition to our government's budget 2019 investment of about $80 million to support preparedness for public health emergencies like this one. That investment was used to develop a network of regional coordinators and strengthen first nations communities' ability to deal with public health emergencies and pandemics.
Indigenous Services Canada continues to maintain stockpiles of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer for use in first nations communities during public health emergencies. The stockpiles are available to first nations communities that may require personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of health care workers and others supporting the delivery of health services during a public health emergency like this pandemic.
To date, we have provided communities with 167,000 surgical gowns, 200,000 surgical masks and about half a million vinyl gloves. That is in addition to equipment already provided by the provinces and territories. It is very important to note that this is a collaborative effort. We continue to respond quickly to requests and assess them within 24 hours.
It's important to underscore that many community and service providers are adapting their operations to respect the requirement for physical distancing. National indigenous organizations, such as the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and First Peoples Wellness Circle, have developed a series of resources related to COVID-19 that are available online. One of our supports has been to financially assist the First Peoples Wellness Circle in developing an online platform for its network of local multidisciplinary mental wellness teams that are currently offering services to 344 communities.
Also, working with the provider, we've increased the number of crisis intervention counsellors on shift at the Hope for Wellness helpline, which is now receiving more than 100 calls and chats a week linked to COVID-19. The experience of self-isolation and physical distancing and having family members who may be at higher risk or who fall ill can have significant and real impacts on mental health. We recognize this and are engaged with partners to support solutions to address and bolster mental health, particularly for youth.
Supporting indigenous youth is another key area of our focus. The department is working with indigenous partners, including youth organizations, to support and promote indigenous resources for youth. For example, We Matter is an indigenous-led youth organization focused on life promotion and messages of hope and resilience. They've developed tool kits, which are available for youth, teachers and support workers to help youth and those who support youth.
Similarly, the Canadian Roots Exchange has set up the creation community support fund to support youth mental wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic with local solutions.
Members of this committee may recall that on March 18, the Government of Canada allocated $305 million towards a new, distinctions-based indigenous community support fund to address immediate needs related to COVID-19 in indigenous communities and amongst urban indigenous populations. This funding is part of the COVID-19 economic response plan and is in addition to the needs-based support for first nations and Inuit health and emergency management.
We recognize that post-secondary students are facing an unprecedented situation because of COVID-19.
A week ago, on April 22, the Prime Minister announced nearly $9 billion in funding for post-secondary students and recent graduates, including indigenous students. We know that many indigenous students face unique and special situations related to financial stability, employment opportunities or just the ability to continue their education as planned.
That is why $75.2 million will be provided to support first nations, Inuit and Métis post-secondary students while they deal with COVID-19. This is over and above existing funding for financial assistance programs for indigenous post-secondary students. It could cover the cost of technological equipment as courses move online, allow for summer school enrolment, and cover expenses related to food, child support, housing and transportation. In the event of delayed graduation, it could cover an additional academic year and associated expenses.
Ultimately, this funding is meant to ensure that indigenous post-secondary students are able to continue or start their studies as planned despite barriers posed by COVID-19.
We're also taking steps to support indigenous-owned businesses during this crisis. The Government of Canada will provide up to $306.8 million in funding to help small and medium-sized indigenous businesses through the network of aboriginal financial institutions that offer financing to indigenous businesses. This measure will help an estimated 6,000 indigenous-owned businesses endure this difficult time and will hopefully provide the stability they need to persist.
Indigenous businesses, including indigenous government-owned corporations and partnerships, are also now eligible to apply for the Canada emergency wage subsidy to support them in their efforts to retain and rehire laid-off employees and weather the current challenges. Taxable indigenous government-owned corporations are already eligible for the wage subsidy. We've adjusted the eligibility for the wage subsidy to include indigenous government-owned corporations and partnerships to support them to retain employees who are still on the payroll and to rehire workers previously laid off. I know this is important to committee members, because it's been raised by a number of you, and I appreciate your advocacy, which made a difference.
The government has also established a business credit availability program to provide $40 billion in additional support through the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada, which are working together with private sector lenders to coordinate credit solutions for individual businesses, which some indigenous businesses may be able to leverage. This is important.
Finally, I’d like to bring attention to the positive progress we have seen in our support for first nations indigenous people off reserve and in the urban indigenous populations generally.
We recently concluded a proposal-based process to distribute $15 million to organizations that provide critical services to first nations off reserve and indigenous peoples living in urban centres. This funding is part of the government’s indigenous community support fund, which I referred to earlier. To date, 94 proposals have been supported through the indigenous community support fund. This includes support for friendship centres as they continue their important work to serve urban indigenous communities in the face of this pandemic.
Again, thank you for the advocacy of members on this committee who pushed so hard.
We know that friendship centres, for example, are playing a crucial role, with their key support ranging from delivering food to families, young people and elders; responding to calls for assistance and support; to providing crucial mental health and cultural support for urban indigenous community members.
As our response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues and adapts to new data, we ask indigenous communities and partners to continue to assess their evolving needs. We ask them to reach out to their regional departmental contacts so that we may assist them in supporting community members. At the same time, we continue to focus on longer-term goals such as housing, employment and ending drinking-water advisories.
We are determined to respond to the evolving needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis communities and their members and to respond to requests from Indigenous communities themselves.
That is why, for example, the Canadian Rangers are currently helping to distribute food and supplies and to provide medical assistance not only in Nunavik, but also in northern Saskatchewan, northern Ontario and northern Quebec. The Canadian Armed Forces and their Ranger detachments have extensive experience with assisting communities, sometimes their own communities, and everyone in Canada.
We have seen Rangers and Canadian Armed Forces members stand up and step up wherever Canadians need it most all across the country: in our long-term care facilities, in areas with acute resource needs, and in remote areas of the country. That is why we continue to work together to improve access to essential services for indigenous peoples.
Today our thoughts and prayers go to the military personnel who lost their lives earlier this week in the helicopter crash in the Ionian Sea, as well as to their families. Canada is grieving with them as well, as we all try to come to grips with this tragic incident.
The government has designed and supported a series of measures to provide timely and direct support to all Canadians and peoples of Canada in response to this crisis. These measures will help us to meet the needs of Canadian households and to ensure that Canadians can pay for essentials like housing and groceries during this difficult time. Further, these measures offer timely financial support to indigenous peoples in Canada, no matter where they reside.
On another note, I want to thank the members of this committee in particular who have reached out either directly to me, to parliamentary secretaries or to my staff to advocate for the continued health response to a health problem. This is not a partisan issue, and I want to thank you for parking that and moving towards ensuring we have a health response to a health problem, because at the end of the day, we're talking about the lives of Canadians, indigenous peoples living in Canada, and that is precisely the measure by which we will all be judged as we tackle this epidemic we are all confronted with on a daily basis.
I want to thank everyone on this committee who has reached out, talked to my parliamentary secretaries and done amazing work to advocate for the people reaching out to them. We are taking a number of measures and putting them forward in record time. Obviously, mistakes are made and when you point them out we do our best to adjust. I want to thank you all for that. I want to highlight the non-partisan nature of the outreach, and highlight your character as humans in having done that. I appreciate that deeply. My staff appreciates it, and indeed I believe everyone on the committee appreciates it.
Again, working together, we can save lives and we can flatten the curve. Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Thank you. Merci. Mahsi cho.
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Lib. (QC)
Yes, and thank you, Gary, for the passion in that question. It is something that I'm worried about as well, and indeed all Canadians should be. I am going to spend very little time speaking in general terms. This is very important, and I think you deserve specific answers. I will pass it over to Tom Wong to speak to the specific actions that we are taking.
You should know that ever since we've had news of this outbreak, we've been engaging with the Government of Saskatchewan, working in particular with the Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority and the Saskatchewan Health Authority to ensure that our responses are not only appropriate but coordinated. You may have heard recently of some of the surge support that we have provided in terms of getting PPE into the community. There's a lot of active work being done on contact tracing and making sure that communications are heightened so that people are isolated and we are controlling something that could become precisely as you describe it.
On that, I would ask either Valerie Gideon or Tom Wong to speak for a couple of minutes about the specific actions that are taking place.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Gary.
Speed has been perhaps one of the most important factors in a lot of the decision-making processes. We have compressed into literally hours what sometimes takes weeks. I know that you, as an experienced member of Parliament, have seen how quickly things have moved.
Again, this package was approved in record time, working with NACCA and the 59 AFIs that have identified the needs and have the established client networks to establish a series of partially forgivable and partially interest-free loans for medium and small businesses that are indigenous in nature. That is critical, and we expect it to be deployed within the coming weeks. It isn't a question of being jammed up at a particular instance of government. It's just a question of being able to deploy the funds, assuring those companies that they do have the financial backing of the Government of Canada. We know how pressing that need is, and we are moving to get things out at a speed that is pretty remarkable for any government.
To give you that reasonable expectation, we believe that it could be a question of a couple of weeks, but again, we'd have to revert to the institutions that are providing those within their network of well-established contacts. Again, I'd note that the CERB is available, the wage support is available and the clarification with respect to indigenous proponents is also out there, so that is also one of the options available in addition to the specific supports.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Adam. This is an important question.
First, I want to take a second to recognize the important work of off-reserve indigenous organizations and local community organizations across the country that are supporting indigenous peoples. It's most often in an urban context and most often some of the most vulnerable, and this is a compounding factor in someone's susceptibility to getting COVID-19.
It's why on March 18 our government announced the funding through the COVID-19 economic response plan that included a $15 million fund channelled through the indigenous community support fund. This was the most expedient way to address a crying need that exists throughout Canada, frankly at any level of government, that has not gone fully satisfied and fully funded.
We streamlined—and this is important—the application process to about a week period, asking community organizations to submit what their requirements were. There was a screen of criteria that my team mobilized to look through, specifically focusing on a health response to the health problem, to assess quickly a number of the crying needs that exist.
I will confess to members that beyond the 94 organizations that were selected, there were many more with very good applications that would be worthy of funding. We had $15 million at the outset to disburse. I will say at the outset that this is not enough. Some great examples include the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association, which requested and was then recommended for over $200,000; the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre, which requested significant amounts of money and was accorded as much, $87,000; and the Tahltan, Kaska, Tlingit 3 Nations Society, which was awarded $22,000. These are all examples of organizations that are doing incredible work for vulnerable populations that aren't necessarily entirely served by their home communities, and that is something we recognized.
Again, these are service providers, so the network that we have with them in terms of governance is a bit different from if we were distributing funds to communities on the basis that we typically do. There was a process of request and response. Again, we are working hard to deploy additional funds.
Let me say this. This is a whole-of-government approach. The network of shelters that we have funded through the wage support, including $40 million for shelters, a great number of them serve indigenous peoples. A number of the Reaching Home homelessness initiatives that we've deployed—over $170 million—do serve indigenous people, but they are just not specific to indigenous peoples.
Again, I will acknowledge that this is not enough and we are working to serve more people in very vulnerable situations, and that's the work we will continue to do. Frankly, it's the result of the advocacy of people like you and other members of this panel that has brought this to fruition in such a short time.
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Lib. (QC)
The answer, Adam, is yes. Part of the challenge we've had in getting the money out is that we're working with currently existing parameters that may have more restrictive components to them. We've worked to expand the terms of conditions as a policy framework within our department, and indeed that's being done at repetition across government. The answer is yes. There are always parameters, particularly to request-based funding, but we have worked extremely hard to enlarge them to make sure that there is flexibility to adapt that culturally responsive approach to COVID-19.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'm happy to answer.
As the Minister of Indigenous Services and the member of Parliament for a riding in downtown Montreal, I am particularly preoccupied by these issues. You know as well as I do that the situation in downtown Montreal's long-term care community is catastrophic. The fact that people are dying—our seniors, the people who built this country—makes me very emotional. For the short term, we have to think about how the Canadian military can help these people in need. As a society, we also need to engage in a thought process about the long-term once the crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic is over, which won't be anytime soon.
First, I'd like to highlight the Quebec government's commitment to giving some indigenous communities the latitude to decide for themselves when their children will return to school. That being said, as a human being, I do wonder how we can ask indigenous communities to do what we, as non-indigenous people, are not doing. This question has been around for decades, if not centuries.
Regardless of which provinces and territories decide to lift restrictions, we have to think about how to adapt the supports provided to indigenous communities while taking into account the medical, public health and scientific guidelines that must be followed. It is possible to provide more support to the local economies of these communities, which serve regions, of course, and to provide them with medical assistance. As you know, these communities are already vulnerable because of unacceptable historical circumstances. That matters to me, just as it should matter to all Canadians.
We're not out of the woods yet. To flatten the curve, people have to follow strict medical and public health guidelines, and we expect everyone to do so. We can talk about lifting restrictions gradually at some point, but we have to make sure we don't overlook indigenous communities.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Let me start by thanking you for your very timely question.
To go back to what I said earlier, we've allocated $15 million to initiatives being carried out off reserve and in urban centres by 94 community groups that serve indigenous peoples. There's also the Reaching Home community program, an investment we made to support the homeless. Lastly, we've provided financial support to women's shelters. I'm sure you'll agree that we need to take a concerted approach, and our discussions need to include the cities, the provinces and the federal government.
Granted, the funds that have been allocated aren't enough. Our goal at first was to distribute the funds as quickly as possible, by using existing structures, while showing more flexibility. For example, we were able to get money to the National Association of Friendship Centres quickly via our usual funding mechanisms.
In addition, two weeks ago, we had already received more funding applications from various organizations than we were expecting. We are still processing those very relevant applications, some of which came from organizations in downtown Montreal, in my riding and the riding of Minister Garneau, that serve highly vulnerable indigenous groups, including many Inuit.
These are matters of direct concern to us all, as Canadians, as MPs and as human beings. We are going to keep doing this work, because it's not going to go away overnight, regardless of what lockdown restrictions are lifted. We know that we won't be out of the woods until a vaccine is available.
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Lib. (QC)
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Lib. (QC)
Members of the committee, good morning.
I would like to begin by acknowledging that we come together on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
It is my pleasure to be here to discuss the 2019-20 supplementary estimates (B) and the 2020-21 main estimates for the Department of Indigenous Services.
From Indigenous Services Canada, I'm joined by Sony Perron, associate deputy minister, Philippe Thompson, chief finance, results and delivery officer, Valerie Gideon, senior assistant deputy minister of the first nations and Inuit health branch, and Joanne Wilkinson, assistant deputy minister for child and family services reform.
Since its creation in 2017, our department has focused on closing socio-economic gaps and working with partners to improve access to services for first nations, Inuit and Métis. The department works in collaboration with partners to improve well-being in indigenous communities across Canada and to support indigenous peoples in assuming control of the delivery of services in their communities at the pace and in the ways they choose, of course.
Over time, it is our goal that indigenous peoples will have the capacity necessary to deliver programs and services to their peoples, and this department, and my role, will be obsolete. We are working with partners to build this capacity.
To support this essential work, the department's 2019-20 supplementary estimates (B) detail initiatives totalling approximately $1 billion. This brings total appropriations for the department to $13.8 billion for this fiscal year.
More than half of this new funding—$588.3 million—is to support the ongoing delivery of the first nations child and family services program, bringing the program's overall budget from $1.2 billion to $1.8 billion.
Members will be aware that this committee served a vital role in addressing the overrepresentation of indigenous children in care with its study of Bill C-92, an act respecting first nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, which came into force at the start of this year and empowers indigenous peoples to assert their inherent jurisdiction over child and family services and the well-being of their children.
Of the amount requested for this program, $414.9 million supports the implementation of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rulings from 2016 to September 2019 related to first nations child and family services by funding agencies based on their actual needs and focusing on activities and programs aimed at preventing children from being taken into care.
Our government believes in supporting a prevention-based system, where the needs of first nations children come first. Funding for the first nations child and family services program has more than doubled between 2016 and 2018-19. Since 2016, we've worked with partners to implement systemic remedies in support of the needs of first nations children. This means taking steps to keep children with their families to keep them connected with their communities and their culture.
The other two major items presented in the supplementary estimates (B) are funding to support Jordan's principle and emergency management service providers.
I'd like now to turn to the main estimates for 2020-21.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the department's main estimates are $12.8 billion. This reflects a net increase of approximately $538.7 million, or 4%, compared to last year's main estimates.
Further to these estimates, the department also anticipates funding from any investments announced in budget 2020, as well as future Treasury Board decisions. This additional funding is expected to be accessed through the supplementary estimates process.
This year, the department's main estimates reflect a net increase of $483.6 million related to the transfer of individual affairs and lands and economic development programs, as well as internal services from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
In addition to this, you will see increased funding related to some of the department's core priorities. For example, these estimates reflect an increase of $85.7 million for elementary and secondary education, as well as post-secondary education programs. From 2011-12 to 2018-19, actual expenditures in education have increased by about 41.7%. This is reflective of our government's commitment to ensuring that every first nations child has the best start in life and that first nations maintain control of first nations education.
You will also note that, in these estimates, $1.5 billion in funding is set aside in 2020-21 for first nations that have entered into the 10-year grant agreement, including 85 first nations that moved to the grant model last fiscal year, with additional first nations communities that will move to the grant in 2020-21.
The 10-year grant is a key initiative of our government's ongoing commitment to establish a new relationship that moves towards flexible, predictable and sustained funding for first nation communities.
I hope this presentation has provided insight into the department's supplementary estimates (B) and main estimates documents.
We have made, and are continuing to make, important changes in our relationships with first nations, Inuit and Métis. While there is still much work to do, our government's historic investments are making a difference in closing the gaps that exist and are improving the quality of life of indigenous peoples, all while advancing self-determination.
Before I end my remarks, I would like to briefly update the committee on COVID-19 as it relates to indigenous peoples in Canada, as I know you share my concerns about that. I thank those who attended the meeting with Valerie Gideon this morning for a more detailed briefing. In fact, I would invite further questions, should you so choose.
Our government is working with all levels of government, including actively supporting indigenous communities to prepare for COVID-19. This is a matter of the health and well-being of all Canadians. This is a time for jurisdictional co-operation, not divisions.
These efforts are supported through a federal-provincial-territorial special advisory committee for COVID-19 that is focused on coordination of federal, provincial, and territorial preparedness and response across Canada's health sector for all Canadians, including first nations, Inuit and Métis.
The federal government, including Indigenous Services Canada, has multiple systems in place to prepare for, detect and limit the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.
In budget 2019, I would note, our government invested $211 million over five years, including $79.86 million, as the first-ever investment in health resiliency and health emergency preparedness on reserve. These investments have enabled first nations to strengthen their capacity, have allowed us to establish effective inter-jurisdictional networks, and are supporting us in our work to monitor and manage COVID-19.
My officials are working very closely with first nations communities to support them in implementing their pandemic plans, to provide surge capacity where needed, and to offer technical assistance as required.
The importance of clear, concise and timely communication and information-sharing can't be overstated. We all have a role to play in ensuring that our communications are based on the best science and the clearest recommendations. Factual, practical and clear information is essential. We're working with partners to make this information available in indigenous languages through print, radio and social media.
We have learned from past outbreaks. Accurate information is critical, and we all have a role to play in making sure that people are referring to information from trusted sources such as governments and community leadership.
My officials are working with local health directors, health workers and nurses through various social networks including with regional medical officers of health. These medical officers of health are also working with provincial partners in ensuring that supports to first nations, whether they live on reserves or not, are fully integrated into provincial plans.
The department has a network of regional emergency management and communicable disease emergency coordinators, as well as regional medical officers. Together, they advise and support first nations across provinces and lead public health emergency preparedness and response as required.
While recognizing that, in the territories, primary health care is delivered by the territorial governments, my department is working closely with indigenous partners and territorial governments to share information and prepare for COVID-19 and will be available to provide surge capacity support in a timely manner if needed.
While we have in place solid planning, monitoring and surge capacity, we also need to be very vigilant.
Proximity-related factors, such as overcrowding, and other determinants of health can increase the risks for some populations, including indigenous peoples. This is why we need to be focused on supporting communities on an ongoing basis and ensuring that we are able to reduce risks where possible.
I would now be happy to answer any questions that the committee may have.
Meegwetch.
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Lib. (QC)
What I consider unacceptable is the socio-economic gap that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. The investments we have made, MP Vidal, are historic and they are but a start in closing that socio-economic gap. It would be wrong to state that this can be achieved overnight or in one term. If any of my team wants to speak to those indicators, I would encourage them to do so, but this has to be put in a much broader context.
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Lib. (QC)
I think in the global context, those investments, while they are historic and shouldn't be understated, are addressing the cost of inaction that has existed over decades. We have closed the financial gap in education on reserve. That is something all Canadians should be proud of. The results will come, and we know that graduations are the same or above non-indigenous graduation rates when that gap is closed, and when that devolution occurs to indigenous communities with respect to education or any other matter. These are ambitious goals, and I would concede that.
I would ask that my staff talk about those indicators specifically, but there is a cost to inaction and we see that every day. There's also a cost to action, and that's precisely what we've implemented.
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Lib. (QC)
Thank you for the excellent question. From day one this government, in budget 2016, invested a multi-billion dollar envelope to address the unacceptable long-term water advisory situation on reserves in Canada. To date, we have removed 88 long-term advisories, as well as preventing a number of them. The larger projects, which required buildup time in, you will concede, a very short period for an unacceptable situation, remain to be lifted. We're very confident, with the coming summer...in the coming months to be able to lift a great number of them.
I would remind this committee, because I think it's very important, that as of September 30, 2019, so a few months ago, more than $1.3 billion in targeted funding was invested to support 574 water and wastewater projects, including the 265 that have now been completed. These projects will serve close to half a million people. These are projects that are complex in nature for a variety of reasons—the geological situations, the remoteness of communities—and we are cognizant of that. We have always looked at the indicators and the constantly moving scenario as opposed to simply investing a large amount in infrastructure in 2016. We were constantly engaged with communities that we talked to on a weekly basis to ensure update and partnership. We knew that, and going into budget 2019, we invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the operation and maintenance of these facilities. We knew that these facilities took work and the dedication of people who are now the pride of their community.
There's a lot of work to be done. That's why I've asked my team to focus in particular on the issues we may be facing right now, so that we're not facing them in the spring of 2021, that we remain absolutely committed to.
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Lib. (QC)
I will split my time with Valerie Gideon because I think she would have some important elements to add on this.
The budget that this department administers resembles and mirrors that of a province. It administers health care, education, emergency management and infrastructure. The key areas, to your point, are the social determinants of health. They guide everything that underpins the unacceptable socio-economic gap that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples. This is a multi-pronged approach that has to be done in partnership with indigenous communities. When it comes to health care, there are specific needs, as we well know, in indigenous communities. There is, frankly, well-deserved and proven skepticism as to how indigenous communities have been let down.
Working in partnership with indigenous communities to make sure that the health approaches are culturally sensitive is not only important policy, but also affects the scientific outcome of the health benefit and is key in a lot of areas. It's also why the Prime Minister has asked me to put forward distinctions-based health legislation, because we know that the outcomes are better when indigenous peoples have input into their own health. It's almost axiomatic.
The investments that we've made in the last four budgets are enormous, but as you mentioned, there is an enormous gap to close by building hospitals, making sure there are health workers in place, making sure there is access, particularly in remote areas. If there are specific needs in those remote communities, whether you need to fly someone in or out, it is very expensive, but meeting them is key to ensuring that the health outcomes are at par, if not higher than for non-indigenous peoples.
I would just ask Valerie to add a bit of colour on that, please.
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Lib. (QC)
You are absolutely right. That is unacceptable. The fact of the matter, however, is that it falls under the authority of the Société d'habitation du Québec and the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation; my department does not have jurisdiction over them.
We have ways that we can conduct checks, and we rely heavily on the choices made by indigenous communities. One of the main elements of my mandate is to rely on and empower them so that they can spend the funding how they choose. They have the real-world information to make the right choices. It's their right to make their own decisions, because the money is theirs.
When an issue falls under the authority of a Quebec or Canadian government department that is overseen by us, we have control mechanisms at our disposal, but there are anomalies, and this is one of them.
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Lib. (QC)
Mr. Perron will answer your question.
I am not trying to downplay your comment. I think that is an aberration and it should never happen. We could perhaps begin a discussion on auditing. I want you to know that, for the funds we allocate, first nations are the most subject to financial audits across Canada. Our audit and transparency mechanisms are very prevalent for the funding we provide. Generally, compared with the rest of Canada, we see that aboriginal people are sometimes audited too much. As I was saying to you, aberrations do exist, which is very unfortunate. We have mechanisms to remedy that.
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Lib. (QC)
That's a very, very important question. It's important to highlight that there are distinctions, obviously. Indigenous populations are much more vulnerable, for the reasons you've highlighted: overpopulation/overcrowding in housing, health outcomes that are lower than those of non-indigenous Canadians and access to health care in a culturally sensitive fashion.
Regarding the specific measures I highlighted in my introduction, there is the $79 million for emergency preparedness, and the Prime Minister's announcement, $100 million of which first nations can access in tandem with the amounts provided in support of provincial and territorial governments.
The specific issues you raise are very, very important. We have not only surge capacity that we are working at internally in providing and getting out to communities, the fact that we have access to it and they have access to it should something arise, and we can then step up—
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Lib. (QC)
You're absolutely right. We have actually reached out directly to health centres and to health providers. Sometimes that information doesn't necessarily get back to leadership. We can work on getting that information there, and then directly to the public.
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Lib. (QC)
I would ask Valerie to step in on that. A briefing was given to all parliamentarians this morning with some very important details, so I'd ask her to elaborate a bit on it. It's a very important question.
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Lib. (QC)
Given the options we have before us, in the case that there is an outbreak and there is a necessity to self-isolate, we're looking at the option of having isolation tents. We're looking at the ability to have increased personnel to specifically address overcrowding.
It is unacceptable. I think all Canadians need to realize the level of overcrowding that exists in indigenous communities. We have made historic investments, but given the timeline that you're describing the most expedient thing is to increase our capacity and to have a sensitive and appropriate approach, in particular to handwashing and the capacity to self-isolate. We know the communities are more vulnerable. That's why we're dedicating additional resources to that.
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Lib. (QC)
Again, Gord, we have a staged approach. As the Prime Minister has mentioned, money is not an issue. This is about getting surge capacity in place and having a staged approach. If and when issues occur in community, it has to be appropriate to the community. We have to have that proper level of engagement in a community.
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Lib. (QC)
Can you clarify that? Are you talking about Kashechewan with respect to the coronavirus or with respect to potential flooding?
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Lib. (QC)
Again, we're engaging with every community. Kashechewan is not the only community at risk. Should communities be at risk, we'll be prepared to intervene in a way that isn't simply with respect to flooding, but also with respect to medical needs if the tandem occurrence of an outbreak occurs, which would obviously be extremely—
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Lib. (QC)
I think the issue you raise is an immensely compelling and distressing one. It was highlighted most notably in the murdered and missing indigenous women's report. In fact, we can talk about different departmental responsibilities.
The preparedness for that falls under Minister Bennett's mandate. It doesn't prevent me from speaking to it. Clearly, we know from the report that being accompanied when travelling to access shelters is a key awareness in communities and of capital importance. Given the statistics you raised, and it is clear in the public mind that we need to address these issues on a community-wide basis. That includes clear issues with respect to policing, which is mentioned in my mandate letter and Minister Blair's mandate letter, and issues with respect to accompaniment in various medical situations when women are most vulnerable and when travelling. This is something we have addressed. There is also the need for an increased number of shelters on and off reserve, which we've proceeded to invest in and will continue to do so.
This is a multi-pronged approach because of the precarity of indigenous women in particular to the violence that accompanies and is characteristic of human trafficking. It is one of the issues that we have focused quite heavily on in our upcoming action plan, but also as a whole-of-government approach to address this entirely unacceptable situation.
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Lib. (QC)
There is broad funding. I think people should await the action plan, but even before the action plan is announced this coming summer, there has been money invested in a number of these initiatives.
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Lib. (QC)
MP Battiste, you raise a very important aspect of the mandate that isn't necessarily written in my mandate letter, which is making sure that non-indigenous Canadians are part of this and educating all of Canada as to the issues that have underpinned and marred the relationship and prevented it, in some ways, from moving forward. Education and communicating to non-indigenous Canadians that this is part of who we are and part of our identity is key.
I want to salute your initiative and your dedication to doing this, even before you were an MP. It is key to moving this forward. If we're only doing it among leadership, we're not exactly succeeding. We may be advancing, but we're not succeeding. It has to be among peoples. That's the main reminder that all of us need to take home.
In terms of funds, I think you'll note that in the 2021 main estimates, the amount for elementary and secondary education was $2 billion. Financially, as I mentioned in my introductory remarks, we've closed the gap in education. It's a very important social determinant of health, and key to closing the educational aspect of the socio-economic gap. With that, the success rates are amazing. There are amazing stories about indigenous children—who should never have been in that situation—in control of their educational system. You highlighted that.
There's a very tainted history, as everyone knows, with the educational system and residential schools for indigenous children. When controlled and administered in a culturally appropriate way that is sensitive to community needs, the outcomes are the same if not better. The experience with the Mi'kmaq is one example—hopefully, one of many.
These are key to who we are and key to whom we believe we are as a nation, but more importantly also as a community, making sure that we don't fail another generation of indigenous children.
I mentioned the financial support. I think it's for all to see in the main estimates. I won't go on further about that, but it's making sure that education is done in the language and is culturally appropriate. It isn't simply something you do on a Friday afternoon when everyone's tired. It's a core part of the education. It's key.
It's key to—what people use as a catchphrase but a very important one—“decolonizing”. It's about realizing what the history of Canada and indigenous peoples is. With that comes power. With that comes confidence and success, in the way that first nations dictate the pace. Obviously, uncertainty comes with that, but that's fine. It's a sign of who we are and how we move that relationship forward.
As well, educating—and you touched on that—non-indigenous Canadians is essential. It's why some of the truth and reconciliation reports touched on private actors like institutions—university institutions—in endorsing language courses. Everyone needs to realize that we're all on the same land, and no one's going anywhere, but if we want to advance the relationship, it has to be done with mutual respect, co-operation and friendship.
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Lib. (QC)
I acknowledge how hard you're working to get me out of a job.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Marc Miller: I admire the game, not necessarily the results, but you'll appreciate that I'm doing the same thing.
I think we have to compare apples with apples here. It's key, because it leads into the statement you made.
A number of the FTEs reflect the transfer from the first nations and Inuit health branch from Health Canada as part of the disaggregation, not only of Crown-Indigenous Relations but Indigenous Services Canada, and making sure that first nations health is treated in a culturally appropriate way. So it came under my ministry. We need to reflect that, as well.
As to the other numbers, I guess what we would say is that the penetration rate of the funds into the communities is very, very high. I would like to turn to them, but I will turn to my officials to give you a little more clarity on that.
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Lib. (QC)
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Lib. (QC)
To the extent that the services and administration haven't been involved—like in FNHA or in territories—we have had an excellent response rate from provinces. We have joint protocols in many measures to augment and coordinate among each other. You don't want authorities tripping over each other. With responsible leadership, I think everyone is cognizant of the fact that we have to rely on science and to check our operational controls and our capacity to surge.
I won't speculate as to unwillingness. I think everyone is on the same page and knows the emergency and urgency of this pandemic and at the very least how to slow it. There is good to very good communication among governments to ensure that communities in need get the services they need when they need them. Should they not, we are prepared to step in aggressively.
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Lib. (QC)
We have a wide variety of measures we can put in place when these issues arise. The very strict standards around water are such that issues arise more frequently. Correspondingly, we respond quickly. If you look at what happened in Fort Severn, we're working quite quickly to thaw the pipe that froze.
These things do arise, and we're ready to act quite quickly.
As to the inventory, if we have a second, I'll let my staff respond to the inventory.
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Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Chair.
I want to start by acknowledging that we are gathered here today on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin peoples.
I know that this directly impacted many of you in the room today, as it impacted the communities you represent, and the lives of your constituents.
The conversations that happened in Smithers with Minister Bennett are a positive and vital step, but there's no doubt that there's more work to do, work that many of you in this room know well as members of this important parliamentary committee. There's a lot of work to be done in addressing the underlying concerns of the Wet'suwet'en and the resulting solidarity actions that took place across the country.
However, I'm glad that together we can demonstrate a peaceful, achievable resolution. I believe the easy way is not always the right way. Sometimes using force is a sign of weakness. Over the past few weeks, we've seen the result of ignorance, fear and lack of understanding in vitriolic messages and comments online, through stories of individuals being targeted in public and private, and we saw that not far from here in Ottawa. An indigenous youth group had to move their planned weekly gathering due to the receipt of a death threat.
I think this shows that we have a long way to go when it comes to learning the dark parts of the history of this unreconciled country and its peoples, and truly making an effort to learn from one another and listen.
I've said this before and I'll continue to say it: When we don't have an open and honest dialogue, we simply can't move forward together.
Consistent, open and respectful dialogue is paramount to achieve peace, cooperation and prosperity in this country for all peoples.
It's in this spirit of peace and co-operation that I gathered with members of the Kanyen’kehá:ka along the rail tracks in Tyendinaga, as members will know. We pursued an open dialogue and made concerted efforts to move towards a peaceful resolution. Modest but important progress was made through this dialogue.
However, there was an immense amount of suspicion towards my presence—fear it was a ruse and that the police would move in. It's not every day that people are surrounded by police, and the reactions are normal. Parts of the conversation with the leadership of the community, elders and community members, including women and children, were very difficult, very painful and very personal. Upsetting stories were shared about this country's troubling treatment of indigenous peoples.
These are very serious issues which demand our attention, and have demanded it for hundreds of years, and there's no place in this discussion for rhetoric and vitriol.
The question I have found myself asking in the last few weeks is this: are we going to do things the way we have always done them, which has brought us to this point in our relationship, or do we take a new approach that engages in a true government-to-government relationship?
My greatest challenge in the past month in particular, but in the relationship in general, is trust. It prevents the best and most well-thought-out initiatives from moving forward. It is clear that our work must earn that trust over time.
In looking towards building a better future where we earn that trust, I believe it's important to acknowledge the past. For almost 500 years, indigenous peoples have faced discrimination in every aspect of their lives. The Crown, in part, has prevented a true equal partnership from developing with indigenous peoples, imposing instead a relationship based on colonial, paternalistic ways of thinking and doing. This approach has resulted in a legacy of devastation, pain and suffering, and it's not acceptable.
Many of us know where this has gotten us: a broken child and family system where indigenous children up to the age of 14 make up over 50% of kids in foster care even though they represent 7.7% of all Canadian children; shocking rates of suicide among indigenous youth, causing untold pain and hurt that will plague families and communities for generations to come; untenable housing situations where water that is unsafe to drink or even bathe in comes out of the taps; and communities that don't have reliable access to roads, health centres, or even schools.
When we formed government 4 years ago, we made many significant promises including on some of these areas I just touched upon.
We have delivered on much of that but the most important lesson we learned was that everything has to be done in true partnership. That Canada will succeed when we follow the voices of those whom we have ignored and disrespected for far too long, and those who lead communities across this country.
We know that there is no quick fix for the decades of systemic discrimination that indigenous peoples in Canada have faced. But our government is committed to putting in the time, energy and resources to right past wrongs and build a better way forward for future generations.
We do our best to undertake this work in a way that departs from much of our shared history—a history in which the inherent rights, leadership and cultural vitality have not been respected as they should have been.
Our approach is founded on partnership and co-development and is anchored in listening to indigenous leaders, elders, youth and community members and working to support their attainment of their goals based on their priorities.
Since 2016, we've invested $21 billion in the priorities of indigenous partners, priorities that have been set by indigenous partners, and together we've made some progress, but we still have a long way to close the unacceptable socio-economic gap that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
For hundreds of years, indigenous peoples have been calling on the Canadian government to recognize and affirm their jurisdiction over their own affairs, to have control and agency over their land, housing, education, governance system and child and family services. Self-determination improves the well-being and prosperity of indigenous communities, and that's something all Canadians should strive to support.
There is no question that self-determination is a better way forward.
Self-governing indigenous peoples have a proven track record of greater socio-economic success. More children are completing high school, fewer people are unemployed, and health outcomes are much better. Indigenous-led initiatives are more successful, as we have seen time and time again.
There is a critical need to support nation and community-led success in every indigenous community in Canada, not just in education, but also in health care, water and resource management, child and family services, in short, in all sectors.
This is why our government continues to work on shifting policies to recognize the inherent right of self-government for first nations, Inuit and Métis. That means moving to novel models of indigenous government and supporting indigenous communities to assert their rights.
We are working to support first nations to opt out of sections of the Indian Act in areas such as land, environment, resource management and elections. As an example, we're working with indigenous institutions in first nations to develop the tools they need to drive local economic development, empower their communities and promote prosperity.
Since 2019, nine first nations have begun operating under their community-ratified land codes through the framework agreement on first nations land management and the First Nations Land Management Act. In addition, 18 first nations have joined the 264 other first nations asserting jurisdiction in the area of fiscal governance by opting into the First Nations Fiscal Management Act.
Self-determination is key to unlocking economic potential, creating opportunities for growth and closing socio-economic gaps. We know that with advancing self-determination, the potential for success is enormous—success of indigenous peoples and, frankly, all of Canada.
To get there, we need to understand that recognizing and affirming rights is a first step in finding a way forward. We need to support indigenous partners to identify our challenges and then we need to rise to those challenges. Finally, we need to recognize that the most important actions we can take are to listen to the hard truths, embrace change and welcome creative ideas. A transformation like that will take determination, persistence, patience and truth telling.
The work ahead of us will be difficult. As I mentioned, this path will require a lot from us. We will have to work in true partnership and listen, even when the truth will be hard to hear. We will have to continue to communicate, even when we disagree. We will need to continue to collaborate and look for creative ways to move forward, as well as new paths to healing and true understanding.
We've all seen what happens when we fail to maintain dialogue. This leads to mistrust and confusion, which can cause conflict and hinder our common journey. I want to be clear: it is up to the rights holders to determine who speaks for them about their indigenous rights and title. We will continue to work toward continuing these conversations. Despite all these challenges, I know that the hard work ahead of us is well worth the effort.
Together, we can build a better Canada, and that's what we're going to do. It will be a country in which healthy, prosperous and self-reliant indigenous nations will be key partners. We have the opportunity to learn from our shared history, to share our pain and even our joy, and to do the work that will result in a country where everyone can succeed.
I look forward to working with my colleagues on all sides to realize this essential work and enormous potential. It requires the participation of all Canadians.
I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Meegwetch.
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Lib. (QC)
I think you are familiar, Jaime, with some of the hereditary structures that exist in Mi'kmaq communities and some of the challenges that have been faced there with respect to elected band councils and, in fact, with some of the progress that has been made. It is absolutely uneven throughout the country
I think, as Carolyn summarized, some progress has been made out west in starting to create the basis for engagement with hereditary leadership. In the country, the Indian Act-imposed band council system is viewed in many indigenous communities as colonialist and paternalistic. It has removed, and the Government of Canada has consciously contributed to remove, structures that existed well before the existence of Canada that are highly democratic in nature and have a very rich history.
As a country and as a nation that wants to move forward with what we call reconciliation, we cannot ignore those voices, conscious of the fact that at times the government, as I mentioned earlier, has been deliberate in dismantling those structures. In some cases we have had very little engagement, if any. I, myself, have been involved in opening dialogues with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. They are modest. They tend to be not in the public sphere. But there is a lot of work to be done. There is an immense amount of complexity in that relationship because we're talking about many nations that cross the U.S. border as well. It is something that has created within certain communities, in fact, the crisis of legitimacy. This isn't to say that elected band councils are not fierce defenders of their communities. They are. It just has created a reality where there is sometimes a perceived sense of illegitimacy that has contributed to frustrate not only the relationship but the ability to work in partnership. It is something that we are realizing, probably more slowly than we should, but we are realizing it and we need to address fundamental issues that Carolyn had to face over a four-day period with respect to lands and title that had been recognized in the Delgamuukw decision. Simply saying to yourself that you're only going to engage with this particular band council because it suits your needs is highly utilitarian in thinking and not the right way to approach things.
There are some communities that are entirely comfortable with an elected system, and there are some communities that wish to do a different job and move forward. That's why we have all those instruments that I named in my opening remarks. For some communities, that doesn't work and we have to realize that and get creative and see how we come together. This will all contribute to stability, good governance and respect for the relationship, which is perhaps the element of respect and truth that is missing. But I think it is the right way to advance the nation. It can be complicated. It can be messy. But we can't sit here and say we're going to go dictate the terms on which we engage, whether it's rights recognition frameworks or otherwise. We have to realize that in some communities and some nations there is a treaty-based relationship that communities are demanding to be respected and in others there's a much older and some others a much newer relationship.
There is an immense amount of nuance, and I think you hit the nail on the head in asking that question, Jaime, because it goes to the complex nature of that relationship and the steps we need to take to move forward.
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Lib. (QC)
We are going to share our speaking time.
As you know, Ms. Bérubé, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was a product of the Oka crisis. There were a lot of lessons to be learned as a result of this huge inquiry by the commission, lessons that were not necessarily followed, for example, with regard to land purchases. I am not telling you that this is a simplistic analysis, because it is a very profound reflection. Many of the recommendations were not followed. There have been times when the government's commitment has fallen short, admittedly, and that has happened in every respect.
The splitting of the former department into our two current departments is precisely because of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, a split that did not take place at that time, but more than 20 years later. That is the same lesson we learned from the Delgamuukw decision. In the wake of the Okanagan crisis, we realized, as Quebeckers and Canadians, that there is a real tension, which has a legitimate basis that dates back long before the very creation of Canada, with respect to the participation of the armed forces. It is a scar that remains open within these communities.
We often talk about the economic repercussions that persist on the economies of Quebec and Canada, and it must be emphasized. On the other hand, the greatest impacts, proportionately, have been felt in Kahnawake and Kanesatake, an underdevelopment that has persisted and continues to this day.
We have seen the prejudice and bias that followed resurface, whether in the media or in comments posted on Facebook. These were the same comments that were made after the Oka crisis. There was the death of the corporal appointed following the intervention of the Sûreté du Québec, or SQ. There was also the death of a man who was leaving Kahnawake when a rock was thrown against his window. He had a heart attack and he died from it.
These are things we need to think about as a society. I dare to believe that there have been changes as a result of the Ipperwash crisis. In Ontario, there has been a reform of police practices and indigenous engagement within the police force, which is a response to that cultural sensitivity and the demands that have been around for a very long time. Is there more work to be done? I would say very humbly yes.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
First, thank you for the question.
This is highly emotional—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
—because we're speaking about first nations—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
—children, and this government is resolutely convinced—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
What we're facing as a government is a challenge on many levels. The Prime Minister, in his mandate letter to me, has been quite clear that we will compensate first nation children for what they have suffered—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This is a very important issue to me, MP Gazan, so I'm glad to answer it at a later date, but it's something that requires a lot more discussion—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I think as Canadians we need to look only at the examples of Poundmaker, Big Bear, or Louis Riel to understand that sometimes invocation of the rule of law has been used against indigenous peoples to perpetrate historic injustices. That should be clear to everyone in this room and to all Canadians.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I agree with the historic nature of UNDRIP, and I want to recognize the contribution of Romeo Saganash in putting forward that bill. It had the full support of our government, and it is something that we are resolutely committed to as a government. I commend Minister Bennett for achieving in four days what couldn't be achieved in 23 years. It's very important for everyone—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I can confirm with the member that I'm on the committee and participating fully. I'll leave it at that. We have a meeting today, and I will be updating members on the issues. I'd be prepared to update you on the issues with respect to our engagements in indigenous communities and our reaction and preparation for coronavirus, which is a very serious issue.
I would preface my following comment with the fact that I don't think that the introduction of UNDRIP and the work the government and the NDP did on it, fostered by and put forward by Romeo Saganash, is storytelling. I think it's very important. It's very important for Canadians to realize that.
With respect to coronavirus, indigenous communities are more vulnerable for a number of reasons: historic socio-economic gaps, overcrowding and lack of access to clean and safe drinking water. These are all issues that we as a government on a long-term basis—and on a short-term basis with respect to the long-term water advisories that we are committed to remove by March 2021.... There are also systemic issues with respect to cultural approaches with medical facilities and health care, and issues with access and remoteness. These are all factors that have contributed, for example, to the unacceptable rates of tuberculosis in those communities.
We have our experience from the H1N1 virus. I have a dedicated team that is working on surge capacity. I'd absolutely be more than glad to update this committee or anyone willing to engage with me on this issue. Foremost, it's to indigenous communities that we are striving to reach out to, and have already done, but we'll be increasing that capacity in the short term. Thank you.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I can't pick and choose who shows up at a barricade. I have to deal with the cards that are dealt to me and engage in that dialogue and figure out why these solidarity movements are popping up. You can only do that through conversations, some of which are difficult, and I have no choice but to respect the views that are communicated to me at that point in time. Whether I agree with them or not, it's very important to continue that dialogue and have a path and a game plan towards peaceful resolution.
Everyone wanted peaceful resolution, but that game plan and that step plan is very important, and that includes dialogue. We do engage. The whole point of my department is to close that socio-economic gap so that indigenous peoples have substantive equality with non-indigenous peoples. That, in and of itself, is a huge catalyst for economic growth. There are economic development portfolios in both my and Minister Bennett's departments.
We know that when self-determination is achieved, indigenous peoples are driving resource development in many communities. You need only look at Treaty 8. You need only look at the Cree in northern Quebec. Those projects are key to the development of our country, but that takes catching up the gap in education, health, infrastructure, emergency management, all those precursors that in fact you and I probably take for granted.
These are very important. We will engage with all actors, resource development actors included. I meet with them all the time.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
Let me add on to what Carolyn said. My greatest concern, when I heard from the leadership in Kahnawake, was about the 200 kids who study off-reserve and how they are being targeted. Our concern in all of this is the safety of all Canadians, and particularly those most vulnerable, but when you hear stories like that, it really brings home what this means and the need to achieve a peaceful resolution.
Building trust sometimes means being vulnerable and going on a playing field that isn't yours, exposing yourself. Nine hours of transcript for a minister is a significant amount of exposure; it's minimal compared to the vulnerabilities the people who accepted to meet me face. I feel safe around police forces; they don't. That insecurity was palpable in the room on many occasions. This is systemic, ongoing and documented. It isn't something that people just throw out there; it is documented in reports.
That trust has been broken for decades, so it isn't someone like me who is going to repair it or something like this government that will repair it simply in one year, with a bunch of programs that are historic in their investment quantum. It will take a long time to repair these bonds that have been broken, and probably more mistakes will be made. It's just something we have to be relentless about. It's about building relationships. In any community, even across this committee you build relationships and that builds a modicum of trust—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
—and confidence. It allows you to move on. It's systemic. We can work at it as a country. I'm confident.
Thank you.
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