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Results: 16 - 30 of 194
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, and thanks, MP Qaqqaq. I want to thank you for your advocacy for your people.
I think we are currently in discussions with ITK regarding their infrastructure needs. Housing will be a huge amount of that. That's part of the $6 billion that was announced in budget 2021, so that number you quoted is only a small part of the discussion that's ongoing, and I believe there will be positive news in the near future, as there needs to be, absolutely.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I don't have an answer on that particular line item, but perhaps Philippe does.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, as you know, we announced $400 million in housing in partnership with the territory. Those are the monies we have dedicated throughout our governmental budgets, but as for that particular line item, I don't have an answer for you.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I want to highlight the work that NTI and ITK have done towards putting a number in the ask. They've done amazing work in trying to quantify that housing need, and infrastructure needs generally. We are currently working with them to work on allocations in the context of the $6 billion that was announced for infrastructure as part of budget 2021. That is transformative, but we will continue those talks with them. I hope to have some good news in the coming months.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I only read the highlights of ITK's proposal on how they would like to deal with housing. I'm sure my team has, but I would just add the qualification to the numbers you were citing that it's a very small part of the picture of what we will be announcing for the north. That said, I will acknowledge that in terms of the 10-year plan, the amounts in the budget are not sufficient to close that gap, and that is work we will have to be relentless in investing in over the future.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
What I did watch, in particular, was your social media in and around your tour, and some of what you highlighted. Certainly I've read the reports that the partners have put together as to the dire housing needs, and I will readily acknowledge those. From anything I've heard from our COVID deployment and the contacts that I've had, all of that rings true. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to visit when I would like to.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
With great respect, MP Qaqqaq, I know what you're asking me, but I would never try to place myself in your shoes. I think your words speak for themselves.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I would qualify your earlier question. There are a great number that are under way currently. The legislation under Bill C-91 and Bill C-92, the immigration notes, currently the movement on the national recognition date, as well as UNDRIP, which your party opposed, are all key to transforming the relationship.
I think one of them is trust. Certainly you mentioned money, but you put forward a false dichotomy. Obviously, we want to see progress from the money, but we have to be relentless in our investments. This is about closing socio-economic gaps. The record shows that has moved. It's about closing the financial gap in education and in all the other investments in infrastructure and housing investments. These are all things that have happened and we want to continue on those.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
These are all items that we have started the work on. Clearly when we talk about recognizing and doing something that is immensely sensitive—which is going over burial sites that are crime scenes and perhaps considered sacred at the same time—this is something where communities have to lead.
Obviously, over the last weeks—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
That's absolutely not what I said.
First nations lead. They make the decisions and the federal government will be there. This isn't equivocation. This is how the relationship is built.
Obviously, the last two weeks have focused people's minds on this, but this is something that indigenous communities have known for decades. In the case of Kamloops, they've been working on it, as Minister Bennett said, for over two decades.
We'll continue with communities. Some communities have reached out, MP Viersen, and they want to accelerate their searches. Other communities have said they are not ready. At the same time, they're always worried about being left behind and not having a financial commitment.
If ever you have the honour of your party coming into power, I hope you will undertake to fund those adequately, as well as you, yourself, complete the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action as they regard the federal government. This is something that all stripes and parties need to be dedicated to.
Despite the great actions of some of your members who are sitting on this committee today, I haven't seen that as a group in your party.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I encourage you to look at the revamped website. We had some assistance from a great indigenous organization so that every Canadian could see the progress of those.
Let's recall that in 2015, there were 105 long-term water advisories in effect. We've lifted 107. This is an immense amount of progress. Work remains to be done. A lot of the communities, despite having lost the construction year due to COVID, have pushed through. We've announced additional funding.
When we've put out a date, a lot of communities have asked us where we will be after that date because the trust that I mentioned earlier is so thin vis-à-vis the federal government. It's why in November, we announced additional operations and maintenance money and acceleration funds for those communities where the cost has gone up, looking beyond lifting a long-term water advisory, which, I will remind the committee, is done by the nation themselves.
While it may seem easy to lift an advisory, the community will sometimes hesitate legitimately. If you've been on it for 25 years, you can legitimately think you're going to take your time before making that decision because it's about the health of the community.
These things do take time. We have a commitment to communities that we will be there for them.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I don't know if I can give you an answer today. I expect none of them turn to long term, but it's a community-by-community analysis.
You hit the nail on the head on that one. We've lifted 100-plus.... For 182 short-term water advisories, we've made the investment sufficient so they don't turn to long term ones. That means the safety of water in communities.
We need to take a look at water safety from a perspective that is greater than simply building the building, lifting the long-term water advisory and walking away from this. This is about partnership and making sure that asset has a long-term lifespan, is at the height of its technology and works for the community. That means training people at the grass roots, in the spirit of self-determination with the funds of the federal government to support it, so they are what they are, which is the pride of their community, getting water to the people.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, and thanks for that comment, MP Battiste. Those names were in the TRC report, but I thought, given the context, they should be read into the record of the House of Commons so that they will always be remembered. I think there are more names to come, and that's, I think, what's gripped the entire country, including your community, and really triggered a number of people. Some of the most poignant testimony I've heard has been from those people who are not prepared to speak about these things. They haven't cried since they were 15. It's a recurring theme that I've heard when communities reach out and say they are not ready for this, but will we be there when they are? The answer is yes, and for those who are ready and who want to accelerate things, we will be there.
What we haven't gauged completely,...although my team that's here today is reaching out to communities to get a sense of what mental health needs are. Obviously, there are the mental health needs that I highlighted in my introduction, and obviously a phone line, as important as it is, is not sufficient. This is magnified as well by what we've seen through COVID, which is an increased stress on indigenous communities' mental health.
One of the budget items that was announced in budget 2021 was over $500 million for mental health supports. We don't do very well as a government or as a country in talking about mental health. Some of us who are probably best to speak about it don't, and those who are not so good do, and I'm the latter, but that is my job. I think it is important to recognize that everyone in the country is hurting, and even long after some of the news stories have died down, people will remain hurt and triggered, along with feeling the effects of intergenerational trauma.
For the immediacy of the communities in question, we've deployed additional mental health supports and perimeter security, as you can imagine. We're also working with FNHA. As you know, it's first in class in B.C. and is doing some great work with health resources in communities.
The mental health support is yet to be fully understood and engaged as it relates to the particular events that have happened in the last two weeks, but we're getting a sense of that, and it is very important and again, magnified by COVID.
Results: 16 - 30 of 194 | Page: 2 of 13

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