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Results: 31 - 45 of 137
Marlene Poitras
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Marlene Poitras
2021-02-02 11:07
[Witness spoke in Cree]
[English]
Members of the committee, friends and relatives, thank you for inviting me here today to share the perspectives of the Assembly of First Nations. I'm honoured to be on the unceded territory of Treaty 6.
Before discussing the proposed legislation, I would like to give committee members a brief history of the Assembly of First Nations advocacy and leadership that led to the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, the reason we are all here today.
Prior to the creation of the TRC, the AFN was a party to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. At that time, we stressed that compensation alone would not achieve the goals of reconciliation and healing. Rather, a comprehensive approach would also require truth-telling, healing and public education. From this, the TRC was created, resulting in 94 calls to action. I thank everyone involved in the commission, including recently retired senator, Murray Sinclair.
It has now been almost six years since the release of the final report of the TRC and its calls to action. While progress to implement all 94 calls has been slow, I am hopeful that this government's recent attempt to implement calls to action finally proceeds. We cannot waste time anymore. Ensuring first nations are included in Canada's citizenship oath will go far to symbolically affirm what first nations have known all along and what is already inferred in Canada's constitution: Our aboriginal and treaty rights already existed prior to the creation of Canada.
Here in Alberta, Treaty 6, Treaty 7 and Treaty 8 first nations are sovereign peoples and nations. Treaties were signed to allow us to share the land and to allow for peaceful coexistence. They were not agreements by first nations to give up their sovereignty, laws, forms of governance or right to self-determination over the lands and their people. While true reconciliation goes beyond implementing all 94 calls to action, implementing this initiative will better enable new Canadians and first nations to begin the journey of peaceful coexistence.
Each year hundreds of thousands of people decide to become Canadian citizens. Hundreds of thousands of people decide to call Canada their home by taking the citizenship oath. I have heard many who have attended these citizenship ceremonies remark on the emotional significance of this day. Many of these people have their own experiences of colonization and its effects. Many of these people share first nations' love and respect for each of our sacred lands, languages and cultures. For every year this initiative is delayed, we are delaying our ability to meet one another and our ability to start on this journey of peace and prosperity.
The AFN has been involved in discussions on the citizenship oath since 2016. We have worked with the honourable minister and his predecessors, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Métis National Council to develop language that reflects our unique histories and the contributions of Canada's indigenous peoples. The language contained in the bill differs from language put forward by the AFN. In 2017, our executive committee provided the following language as a guide, “I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, including the inherent rights, titles, treaties and agreements with First Nations and the rights and agreements with Métis and Inuit peoples, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian”.
The inclusion of “inherent rights, titles, treaties and agreements” is important as it affirms Canada's legal obligations to first nations. These obligations are shared by Canadian citizens as well. As National Chief Perry Bellegarde so often says, “We are all treaty people.” That is why the AFN has been involved in providing guidance to Canada on changes to its citizenship test and accompanying materials as called for in call to action 93.
We are hopeful that with the passing of this legislation newcomers can begin to use the citizenship test and guide to develop a better understanding of the legacy of our many contributions to Canada, and the potential we all have in working and prospering together.
I'm also aware of the role the citizenship guide plays in its use as an educational tool in elementary and secondary schools across many parts of Canada. The time is now to implement these changes. Canada is reconciling with its past and renewing a commitment to a future free of racism, discrimination and intolerance. It is only through ensuring that Canadians understand this past and the ongoing injustices that we can move forward together.
This legislation represents a significant step. The only way we can truly reconcile past and ongoing injustices is by all of us, indigenous and non-indigenous peoples alike, working together to find a way forward.
I look forward to answering your questions.
Hay-hay. Knanâskomitinâwâw.
Frank Brown
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Frank Brown
2021-02-01 16:11
[Witness spoke in Heiltsuk]
[English]
I am of the Heiltsuk from Bella Bella. We are the salmon people. Salmon play a key role in our lives. Around 10,000 years ago, Heiltsuk built salmon weirs after the last ice age and also transplanted them from salmon-bearing streams to non salmon-bearing streams.
My chief's name, Yím̓ ás ⅄áλíya̓ sila, talks about when our first ancestor came down from above as a half-man, half-eagle and landed on a salmon trap. What you see here is an artistic rendition of that name, which goes back to the beginning of time.
We have a sacred covenant with salmon back to the olden times when food was scarce and an ancestor went into the salmon world where Maesila was the salmon chief. This ancestor brought back teachings, laws and ways to be in relationship with salmon. Still today, this ancient relationship is recognized within our Heiltsuk potlatch ceremonies, where twins lead our salmon dance. Many of our existing village sites are close to salmon rivers within our territory.
When we transitioned from the traditional economy to the cash economy, our rivers in our territory were overflowing with salmon. Our old people said that you could walk across the salmon, because it was so plentiful. Now, today, they are nearly barren of any salmon. In their last count, there were five or six pieces on their return.
Over time, we adapted and adopted and had a fishing fleet of both seine boats and gillnetters. In our recent history, salmon was a major economic driver for our village, with millions of dollars generated through our local band store, fuel company, fishing fleet, fish plant and other spinoff benefits. We currently own a 50,000-square-foot fish plant that is now completely underutilized. We not only had a large fishing fleet but shore workers who depended on the plant for a livelihood.
This statement is representative of the majority of coastal fishing communities in British Columbia.
We chose not to participate in finfish aquaculture because we could not turn our backs on wild salmon. We have opposed finfish activity from 2003 onwards, when an Atlantic salmon hatchery was established in Ocean Falls. My granny Maggie's grandfather, Andrew Wallace, was the chief of this village. This place had an abundance of salmon. They called it Ocean Falls because the river sounded like the ocean, and again, salmon was abundant.
The decision to hold our relationship to salmon and not participate in finfish aquaculture because of the disease, escapement and habitat impacts has had a devastating toll on the Heiltsuk people and has had a major impact on our employment and economic and social existence.
We have taken from wild salmon and it is now time to give back and look after these wild salmon. We need to invest in habitat restoration and research to find out why these salmon are not surviving in the ocean. Could it be the big blobs, the ocean acidification? We need to plan and support these fishing communities. It's imperative. This needs to be addressed at local, regional and transboundary levels.
We need to reconcile our relationship with the earth before we can reconcile our relationship with Canada, which is one of the major political drivers of the nation-state of Canada.
We're going to continue to uphold our responsibility and we're willing and able to work with Canada to address the needs of the salmon. We want to uphold the doctrine of priority that was established through Sparrow, where conservation comes first; first nations' social, ceremonial and food requirements are second; and commercial and commercial recreation come third and fourth.
We need to transition from DFO central management to a more collaborative management system.
We need to transition to support indigenous participation in all levels of management and fisheries science.
We need to rework environmental standards, with indigenous people involved, look at projects on a cumulative basis, pay attention to enforcement of regulations and account for the real price of resource extraction and continued pollution.
We need to treat salmon with the respect they deserve as a culturally important icon of not only indigenous people, but all people in Canada.
We need to consider a managed harvest of seals and sea lions to reduce their impact as a threat to the survival of wild salmon in B.C., and provide economic opportunity to first nations harvesters as a part of an economic reconciliation initiative.
We need to ensure indigenous people in B.C. are equipped as allies on salmon issues with indigenous organizations from Alaska to Oregon.
We need to support the development of the national indigenous guardians network, to be the eyes and ears on the land and sea.
We need to remove open pen fish farms from the Pacific waters to give our wild salmon a fighting chance, and to save the genetic biodiversity of these wild salmon as a strategy to manage through the precautionary principle.
Walas Gixiasa. Thank you.
Andrea Jibb
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Andrea Jibb
2021-01-26 16:54
I think Mr. Deleary may be having issues with his devices.
I'm going to introduce myself in the Ojibwa language to start.
[Witness spoke in Ojibwa]
Hi, my name is Andrea Jibb and I am a member of the Métis Nation. I live in London, Ontario, where I am the director of community planning at Atlohsa Family Healing Services. I am very pleased to speak to you today.
As mentioned earlier, we represent Atlohsa Family Healing Services. We are an indigenous-led, not-for-profit organization with over 30 years' experience working with the urban first nations, Métis and Inuit population in southwestern Ontario. We provide emergency shelter and a variety of services to the FNMI population.
We've operated Zhaawanong Shelter, which is a violence-against-women-focused shelter for indigenous women and their children, since 1989. Since 2019, we have operated the Alaaxiimwiing Atlohsa resting space, which is a low-barrier shelter for indigenous people experiencing homelessness in London, Ontario. Since 2017, Atlohsa has led the Giwetashkad indigenous homelessness initiative, which is a strategic planning process to address the overrepresentation of indigenous homelessness in our community of London.
The most recent point-in-time count conducted by the City of London showed that we have indigenous people making up 29% of the people experiencing homelessness in our community while making up 2% of the general population.
Atlohsa is located in London, Ontario, in the heart of southwestern Ontario, in close proximity to 10 first nations and in very close proximity to three first nations. It's about 20 minutes away from three distinct first nations communities. Historically, London, Ontario, has always been a hub for indigenous people, so we have a lot of migration in and out of the community.
In October 2020, Atlohsa launched the Giwetashkad indigenous homelessness plan, a strategic plan for addressing indigenous homelessness in our community from 2020 to 2023. It's based on the definition of indigenous homelessness done by Jesse Thistle and on the lived experience of indigenous people experiencing homelessness. We conducted a culture-based and indigenous-led community engagement with over 70 indigenous people with lived experience of homelessness.
The plan is a comprehensive strategy offering suggestions for front-line services, from community capacity building for culturally safe services to systems advocacy. At the core of the plan is the commitment to indigenous-led programs, services and initiatives, as we believe that indigenous people have the knowledge, strength and resiliency to alleviate homelessness for the indigenous community.
However, as we have mobilized at a community level with the creation of the Giwetashkad plan, we've done the groundwork in our community. In attempting to achieve the strategies, we've repeatedly come up against barriers to accessing resources.
In London, despite having numbers on par with many designated indigenous communities under the Reaching Home funding stream, we do not have an indigenous community designation. This means we must compete with mainstream service providers to serve the indigenous population in our community. Today our primary recommendation is to expand the indigenous community designation to include London, Ontario, and other communities. This would make it easier, because we are the sole service provider in London for indigenous homelessness but we receive a fraction of the funding to serve 30% of the population. Until we achieve more equitable levels of funding and discretion over levels of funding, we're going to continue to be underfunded and indigenous people will continue to be overrepresented on the streets.
Indigenous agencies need discretion over funding and consistent funding.
Thank you.
James Eetoolook
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James Eetoolook
2020-12-10 12:33
[Witness spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
Thank you, and good afternoon.
I would like to thank the standing committee for inviting Tunngavik to speak about food insecurity in Nunavut and in our communities. I wish to thank you for being here to listen to our concerns. Thank you to my interpreter, Simona Arnatsiaq.
I am James Eetoolook, vice-president and acting president of NTI at the moment, as NTI is holding its election for president.
In 2017, research showed that Inuit age 15 and up were 70% food-insecure. They needed food, and they are studied the most.
James Eetoolook
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James Eetoolook
2020-12-10 12:36
Okay.
I can hear myself.
[Witness spoke in Inuktitut, interpreted as follows:]
I'll get back to.... No, I can still hear myself.
James Eetoolook
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James Eetoolook
2020-12-10 12:37
Rates of food insecurity are at critical levels. We know that food insecurity directly affects individual health and well-being, as poor nutrition is linked to increased risk of chronic diseases. It lowers the learning capacity of our children and it has a detrimental impact on mental health.
Access to nutritious foods is not just necessary for individual well-being, but also for achieving broader public health objectives. Food insecurity threatens our cultural integrity, our overall social stability and has devastating effects on economic development. In the north, absolutely everyone is affected, even the food-secure.
Simply stated, healthy people perform better in all aspects of life. We all know that. As Nunavut’s economy develops, so too must the health of its population.
The COVID-19 pandemic further revealed the immediate need to address the severity of food insecurity experienced by too many Inuit families and highlighted the important role that food programs play in our communities.
When the schools were forced to close, school food programs—which were utilized by all of the students in most of the communities in Nunavut—were suddenly no longer available. This removed the one guaranteed meal a day for many. That's a lot. In fact, the Inuit health survey found that seven in 10 Inuit kids go to school hungry in Nunavut every single day.
It is a complex issue in Nunavut. The high cost of market food, our remote location, the decline in some animal stocks, population increases and changing hunting quotas contribute to the declining food security in Nunavut communities. I should say that the caribou in Baffin Island are only 255 a year for the largest population of Inuit and others in that region. We also have quotas on the beluga and on narwhal. It's very limited.
Climate change also poses a specific threat to food security in Nunavut because of its devastating effects on the availability of wildlife. We are seeing more than ever the changing migration patterns and reduction in caribou herds. The Government of Nunavut released survey results in 2013 claiming that the southern Baffin caribou herd had declined by 95% in the last 20 years.
Our rapidly changing environment is also posing a greater threat to the traditional hunting practices of Inuit. With sea ice breaking up early and unpredictably from year to year, the risks—
Clifford Atleo Sr.
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Clifford Atleo Sr.
2020-12-09 15:37
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon to everyone.
I'm going to say a few words in our language very briefly, but I will interpret.
[Witness spoke in Nuu-chah-nulth and provided the following translation:]
On behalf of Ha’wiih from Ahousaht, I'd like to formally thank the House Standing Committee on Fisheries for the invitation to talk about a most important issue affecting the whole west coast of Canada.
[English]
In particular, our area is severely impacted by what we're talking about.
I'll give you a little background in terms of pre-contact. Most streams and rivers contained salmon in British Columbia. Some had sockeye, some had Chinook and some had both. Others had chum, coho and steelhead. Some had pinks. Larger rivers had all species. Indigenous people managed them all very well.
Since contact, the newcomers learned to harvest and process all the species. Canneries existed on the Skeena River, Rivers Inlet, Fraser River, Nootka, Ceepeecee, Kildonan, Port Alberni, Victoria, Prince Rupert, Bella Coola, Namu and Tofino Inlet. I did make a mistake in my written document, saying that I'm not aware of any canneries operating today. There is one. It's called St. Jean's. It is partly owned by first nations people from Nuu-chah-nulth.
In terms of my history with fisheries, I grew up in Ahousaht. Every family used to participate in a commercial salmon fishery. Our participation enabled our community to be self-sustained. We didn't have to travel far because we fished most of our local stocks. All species were plentiful. All indigenous nations were similar to ours. We trolled, we gilnetted and we seined. This was 60 years ago.
Over time, our participation was reduced, as were the run sizes of all species. In the 1980s, salmon farms were permitted to operate on inlets and bays of the west coast of Vancouver Island. It was around this time that the Canadian government used our trollers to target U.S. chinook stocks. The strategy was to force the U.S. into negotiating what became the Pacific Salmon Treaty. However, our west coast of Vancouver Island chinook stocks were impacted negatively by this strategy. Our chinook stocks have never recovered from that policy and the policies that allowed large numbers of open-net pen fish farms to operate in west coast of Vancouver Island waters. Other species that have suffered as well are sockeye, chum, coho, pink and steelhead.
The existence of salmon farms along the west coast of Vancouver Island migration routes have severely impacted rebuilding efforts of all species.
The management by our Department of Fisheries and Oceans has not helped either. The evidence is that with the newcomers, laws were enacted with good intentions, with conservation being rather prominent in legislation, only to have DFO fall way short of upholding the law. DFO has the authority to manage, with devastating results. This evidence of shortcomings in management has resulted in the current dismal state of salmon stock coast-wide.
Poor logging and inappropriate land use policies by the B.C. provincial government have contributed to the destruction of salmon habitat. Functional habitat is required for long-term rebuilding of all salmon stocks in British Columbia.
Poor action in addressing climate change by all governments is not helping either.
Thank you.
Robert Chamberlin
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Robert Chamberlin
2020-12-09 15:42
[Witness spoke in Kwak'wala and provided the following text:]
Gila’kasla Hama’thlal Lal’kwala’tly. Wigya’xans hutli’laxa la’man wathdam. La’man wath’dam gyan no’kia kas Lal’kwala’tly.
[Witness provided the following translation:]
Greetings, gathered people. Listen to my words today. My words are from the hearts of my people.
[English]
I just wanted to follow Cliff's lead and speak in my language a little bit. I am imploring you to hear the words that I have to say today on behalf of the hearts of the people of the first nations.
I am grateful for this opportunity to speak to you today about the state of B.C.'s Pacific salmon. This is a critical topic to B.C. first nations, as salmon are a primary traditional food source and are constitutionally protected and recognized by Canada's Supreme Court.
In terms of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, wild salmon are considered or captured within a number of the areas, including food security, culture, traditions, education, environmental standards and territorial decision-making, which of course means free, prior and informed consent.
This current government is beginning to set a table for the implementation of the United Nations declaration, and free, prior and informed consent must be a foundational component, especially to the current Discovery Islands fish farm consultations and accommodations process; to embrace the details that have been provided by the first nations involved in this consultation to meaningfully implement the precautionary principle, especially given that none of the Fraser River first nations were included in the consultations that will further impact their aboriginal rights.
The crisis that is B.C. Pacific salmon simply cannot wait any stretch of time for the fulfilment of the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
With the historic low returns, notably to the Fraser River, this is clearly the beginning of a downward spiral to extinction, and I say this with no drama. Historic low returns equal historic low eggs being spawned in the Fraser River. Historic low spawning eggs equal historic lower juvenile salmon entering the ocean.
It is an accepted fact that only 1% to 4% of juvenile salmon return to be the next generation of spawning salmon, so we can reasonably and logically anticipate that we will experience further historic lows, continuing the downward spiral to extinction in the coming years.
DFO Minister Jordan recently announced this government's response to Cohen commission recommendation 19. The announcement included the determination that the open-net cage fish farms of the Discovery Islands area posed less than minimal risk or harm to Fraser River sockeye.
This determination was founded upon nine science papers that were so-called peer-reviewed through the Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, CSAS. The CSAS peer-review process is horribly flawed and provides great opportunity for an extremely biased outcome.
Proponents—in this case, a fish farm company and fish farm industry associations—are involved in in every component, every step, of determining if the operations pose a risk to Pacific salmon, such as the steering committee developing the scope of the science, terms of reference, and discussion paper development, and the peer review itself can be unduly influenced by industry, as they can select who will participate in the peer review.
This is far less than the impartiality and objectivity that I and many first nations, commercial and tourism industries and Canadians who rely upon healthy and abundant wild salmon stocks would expect as a reasonable starting point. Decades of science that withstood international peer reviews were ignored, even though that process was far more rigorous and subject to a completely impartial review assessment and outcome.
Sea lice was to be a 10th science paper related to the Cohen recommendation 19 announcement in determining the minimal risk or minimal harm. Sea lice were omitted from this suite of science papers.
This is extremely concerning, as fish farms are located sequentially along key out-migration corridors of juvenile Pacific salmon and produce billions of larvae that reside in the upper water column where the juvenile salmon are to be found. Given that fish farms are located where there is good tidal flush, the juvenile Pacific salmon are brought in very close proximity of areas inundated with billions of sea lice larvae. Sea lice can physically kill juvenile salmon, but also change their behaviours, making them more susceptible to predation.
Regarding the sea lice conditions of licence, the three sea lice average is the trigger for treatment on a fish farm.
Three sea lice may seem like an innocuous number, but considering that each fish farm has 500,000 to 700,000 Atlantic salmon, the number of sea lice becomes staggering. There's also the production of billions of sea lice larvae as well. Within the sea lice conditions of licence, there's an identified out-migration window for juvenile Pacific salmon, this being from March until June. The conditions of licence are to provide special regulatory protection for juvenile Pacific salmon during this time. The conditions of licence are completely and utterly untethered from juvenile Pacific salmon that they are designed to protect, as DFO does not monitor the presence of sea lice on juvenile wild salmon whatsoever—
Tyrone McNeil
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Tyrone McNeil
2020-12-09 15:57
[Witness spoke in Halkomelem]
[English]
Thank you for the opportunity to share here. I ask the interpreters to excuse me, as I don't have prepared notes to share with them.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee. In preparing to do that, I couldn't help but think of being about seven or eight years old with my late mother. This would have been about 1968 or 1969, something like that. My mom was having a conversation with two other ladies about her age. They were talking about how many fish they had put away for the summer.
The one lady responded 108, and the other one said 52, and my mom's response was 96. They chuckled at my mom because with a big family she had put away only 96 jars of salmon. Those would have been quart jars back in the day. My mom's response was that it was not 96 jars; it was 96 dozen quarts of salmon put away in one season.
Hearing this narrative about where we are with salmon in today's state, I can't help but think of growing up on salmon, as we did throughout our early years, right up until a point in time when the stocks started declining, and we had less and less access to fish.
Also, on the other end of it, we had some studies that showed us as Stó:lo people. What you know as the Fraser River, we know as the Stó:lo. It's the mother of all rivers. It's the food provider for us, the Stó:lo people.
When the first Europeans arrived on the shores, they calculated that we Stó:lo people consumed about 1,000 pounds of salmon per capita per year. They looked at other tribes around us, but we had by far the greatest consumption.
I'm thinking of those two baselines in a narrative of reconciliation. My community now consists of 1,000 people. Had we still been consuming salmon at 1,000 pounds per capita, that would be a million pounds per year. We are certainly not anywhere near that, due only to how DFO regulates us and manages the fishery as a whole.
I would really encourage folks to think about that impact of going from such sustenance to where we are now, where we would only have a chance to fish every weekend like we did growing up. If we have a wedding, we barbeque fish. If we have a funeral, we barbeque fish. If we have a birthday, we barbeque fish. Sometimes we barbeque or cook fish just for the fun of it, because it's in our blood. It's in our DNA.
Thinking of that from a reconciliation manner, Mr. Chair, I would think that in this day and era of reconciliation and of the declaration, folks like you and the department would be doing everything they possibly could to ensure that at a minimum our sustenance is met. In doing that, you have tools in front of you around the wild salmon policy, the Cohen commission recommendations and the precautionary principle.
The 10 principles are supposed to be driving the federal bureaucracy, particularly around the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Articles 18, 19, 24 and 38 really stand out for me, Mr. Chair.
It's about utilizing existing tools that the federal government has at hand through the department, and what can be done to prevent any harm, particularly man-made harm. We know that there are climate change factors that we can do only some things about, but we're in control of the man-made influences, particularly around the open-net pen fish farms and the migratory route around the Discovery Passage in particular.
You can't imagine the harm that those fish farms do on a migratory path. When our salmon are out migrating right by these farms and there are lice outbreaks on them, DFO allows a 42-day window for those farms to respond to the lice. In doing that, they are not monitoring the amount of lice that are on the wild salmon, period.
I think there's a missed opportunity in terms of not using tools that the people have available right here and now to better protect and to do everything you possibly can to minimize the man-made negative impacts on something that's so vital to us. It's more than a food source. It's a way of being. It's who we are as Stó:lo people and who other first nations are as well.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mr. Chair.
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
[Member spoke in Mi'kmaq]
I just want to thank you all for opening up with your indigenous languages. As a Mi'kmaq language speaker, it's always great for me to hear other languages.
I also want to thank you for your continued advocacy in speaking of UNDRIP. Many of you may know that my father was part of the initial UN indigenous working group that drafted UNDRIP.
I'm going to ask two questions. I'm going to open it up to the floor, because you probably all have recommendations on this.
Do you think that implementing UNDRIP is a good first start in achieving reconciliation and a recommendation for this committee to look at?
Second, in 2017, the Liberal government announced $25 million over four years to support the indigenous guardians pilot program, and with it sunsetting in 2021, I'm wondering if you think that it has been effective. Do you believe that when indigenous nations are able to co-manage the resources, that is one of the best practices?
I'll leave that open for you guys to answer, with short answers if you could, so that I can hear from everyone.
View Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Buenas tardes a todos y a todas.
Good afternoon, everyone.
Thank you very much for joining us. It is very much appreciated.
Last week, at the subcommittee meeting, we heard from Martin Mylius, country director for CARE Columbia. You may know him. Mr. Mylius recommended that the international community recognize that Venezuelan women and girls need humanitarian assistance and attention specific to their needs. I remember the words “specific to their needs”.
Ms. Garcia, you talked in your testimony about the situation of women and girls.
How has the situation of displaced Venezuelan women and girls changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of human rights?
Ms. Jimenez could then comment, but since you raised the issue in your testimony, I am putting the question to you, Ms. Garcia.
Jack Saddleback
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Jack Saddleback
2020-12-03 11:12
[Witness spoke in Cree as follows:]
miyo-kîkisîpâyâw. Jack Saddleback nitisîhkâson.
[Cree text translated as follows:]
It is a good day, Jack Saddleback is my name.
[English]
My dear friends and respected relatives as well.
My name is Jack Saddleback. I go by he/him pronouns, and I am from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta. I'm also an out and proud Cree two-spirit transgender gay man.
Today I am representing the 2 Spirits in Motion society as the co-chair and am speaking to you from the Treaty No. 6 Territory of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
I speak today as an invited member to address the need of Bill C-6 in the Criminal Code of Canada to criminalize conversion therapy in our country.
As stated through the Government of Canada's website on the announcements of the reintroduction of this bill:
Diversity and inclusion are among Canada's greatest strengths. Canadians must feel safe in their identities, and free to be their true selves. This is why the Government of Canada is acting on its commitment to criminalize conversion therapy in Canada.
I commend this strong stance and implore the Government of Canada to pass this bill with the following in mind.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the term “two spirit” by indigenous LGBTQ2IA people and organizations in North America, which was brought by a vision and offered by Dr. Myra Laramee in Manitoba in 1990. This extended the understanding of the term two spirit to be a pan-indigenous acknowledgement of the historical acceptance of gender and sexual diversity in indigenous communities prior to colonization.
I should say that this particular term of two spirit is intended, as well, simply as a placeholder until each community member can rightfully uncover and reclaim their ancestral knowledge and language of these sacred roles.
I feel it is vital that the voice of two-spirit people be within speaking to the bill for three clear reasons.
Number one is our indigenous world views of gender and sexual diversity and our inherent culture of non-interference and respect that have uplifted each community member for their unique gifts for time immemorial.
Number two is the attempted subjugation of indigenous children and indigenous communities to adhere to a patriarchal cisnormative gender binary system and the heteronormative narrative imposed on these lands.
Number three are the ongoing effects of these systems, such as residential schools, that put two-spirit/2SLGBTQ2IA peoples in harm's way when it comes to conversion therapy.
Speaking to point one, our indigenous world views of gender look at multi-dimensional aspects of a person in that their vessel, or body, is simply that—a vessel. These vessels certainly do come with teachings, and they are one part of a whole. Our understanding of gender is not based on the body; rather, it is based on the skills, gifts and roles that a person holds within their community.
Further, our indigenous world view of love understands that sâkihito-maskihkiy, or love medicine, was one of the most powerful of medicines graced to our people by kisemanito, or the great being. We understood that we had no place as human beings to stand in the way of who a person loves, as we understood that love is love.
There are a number of teachings I would be more than happy to share with you at a later date, but today we must focus on the latter two of my points when addressing conversion therapy.
In point two, we look at the harmful effects of the attempted subjugation of indigenous children and indigenous communities to adhere to a patriarchal cisnormative gender binary system and the heteronormative narrative that has been imposed.
These systems have been used through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms itself, the bureaucratic systems that run our country, and more specifically, when looking at indigenous communities, the Indian Act, and how aspects of the act attempt to impose these mentalities.
Further, concrete examples of these imposed narratives come from my own family who have shared stories of the outlawing of our ways of life, and how this has impacted our traditional oral teachings, which in turn affected the openness of our discussions of gender and sexual diversity.
I say these teachings and the facts to lead me to my third point, that being the ongoing effects of these systems, such as residential schools, that put two-spirit/2SLGBTQQIA peoples in harm's way when it comes to conversion therapy.
Our own communities are still reeling from the effects of the aforementioned systems. Some of the biggest impacts are the pivoting and intergenerational trauma that has introduced a culture of interference for indigenous communities across Turtle Island.
Now I say the next few items with the greatest of care. Our own indigenous communities have been subjected to conversion therapy through the malicious use of residential schools that have harmed many indigenous families, and more specifically, numerous named and unnamed two-spirit children. These effects are still happening today. This is taking place bluntly or surreptitiously under the guise of biased cultural leaders, or where two-spirit community members are at the spear's edge of the harmful effects of conversion therapy that tries to strip them of their natural love for the same gender or more genders, or to discredit their own gender identity and gender expression.
When looking at Bill C-6, we must take into account the tremendous impact that colonization has had on our traditional world views and acceptance of gender and sexual diversity.
Thus, my friends, I reiterate that Bill C-6 must pass and must do so with the intention of being accessible to all citizens affected by conversion therapy, and it must be intersectional in principle, as conversion therapy looks different from culture to culture—
Marjolaine Siouï
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Marjolaine Siouï
2020-12-01 12:11
Thank you.
[Witness spoke in Wendat and provided the following text:]
Kwe, Eskenonhnia ichies’, Marjolaine Siouï Wendat endi’.
[Witness provided a French version, translated as follows:]
Good afternoon, I hope you're all doing well. My name is Marjolaine Siouï, and I am Wendat.
[Translation]
We would like to thank you for your invitation. We wish to acknowledge the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation and the nations where we are.
I join you from my community of Wendake. I will share our presentation with my colleague, Mickel Robertson.
We will present some of the issues that are opportunities that we are collectively seizing to revive the economy and contribute to improving the health of our populations.
The examples we're going to present today are drawn from a report card that was produced by the Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador.
When the First Nations population across the country is faced with major health issues, consistency is essential. Despite the investments made to support communities and businesses since the beginning of the pandemic, it is extremely difficult for many of them to be part of an economic recovery without the support and formal commitment of the provinces and the federal government, an essential condition for any progress in relations with First Nations.
As you know, an individual's health status is influenced by determinants and their environment. We note an urgent need to obtain telemedecine services from health and social services professionals and to access teaching staff in order to keep in touch and break the isolation and distress experienced by many of them.
Providing quality care and services also requires investment in the development, support and implementation of digital and information strategies for First Nations. The current situation demonstrates with certainty that laws and policies do not allow for adequate monitoring of information or surveillance of the health status of these determinants for our populations.
We need to strengthen our governance and capacity to ensure greater control and better management of our information. We cannot ignore overcrowding, lack of housing and infrastructure. For example, we also need to increase the number of seniors' residences in communities to protect our custodians of our traditional knowledge and cultures. This phenomenon has been mentioned many times, not to mention the shortage of staff, training needs and low salaries.
Despite the efforts and investments, we continue to face several constraints and difficulties in accessing PPE. A greater involvement of First Nations in decision-making processes is essential when developing strategies for the supply of equipment, testing—this was discussed earlier—and also vaccination, which is eagerly awaited.
Although the federal government has recommended that provincial and territorial governments work with First Nations, much more adapted communication strategies must be developed to inform and sensitize our populations about the benefits and also the disadvantages that the arrival of new vaccines could represent.
Finally, several essential workers spoke about both the vulnerability they felt working on the front lines and the vulnerability of the weakening health care system. Succession planning is needed. It is necessary to ensure that external personnel are trained and sensitized to the concept of cultural safety. The issues presented can all be resolved and seen as opportunities for economic development. However, this willingness and vision must also be shared by all.
I'll now turn things over to Mr. Robertson.
Erik Blaney
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Erik Blaney
2020-11-24 11:21
[Witness spoke in Coast Salish as follows:]
Ah jeh Chep Ot. Tiy’ap thote kwuth nun.
[Witness provided the following translation:]
Hello everyone. My name is Tiy’ap thote.
[English]
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My name is Erik Blaney. I'm an executive council member of the Tla'amin Nation.
I was the fire chief and incident commander for our local community outbreak. Our nation was experiencing an extensive COVID outbreak. At the time, it was the largest outbreak per capita in Canada. After a funeral in the community, we ended up with 36 cases of COVID in a small community of 700 at the end of September 2020.
Our nation sprung into action. We locked down our community, making it one way in and one way out to help protect not only our members, but the members of the neighbouring communities. We initiated a local state of emergency, which forced the closure of all government buildings as well as the only convenience store in the community.
In the midst of the outbreak, we noticed the deep-rooted social issues our nation was facing. We needed some serious help to battle the drug and alcohol and domestic housing issues that were causing our cases to rise dramatically. It was then that we realized we were in a dual pandemic, with the many opioid overdoses happening within the community.
Our hunting and fishing season was significantly impacted this year. Access to cultural activities are causing some major mental wellness issues within the community. Our nation was to host Tribal Journeys this year, which would have seen thousands of people coming to our community. Having to cancel that has had a big impact on the wellness of our community, in that everybody was really excited to have members from both the United States and Canada coming to our community to share culture.
The mental wellness of the first responders and front-line workers needs to be at the forefront of the second wave. Many of us are burnt out and experiencing PTSD from the first wave outbreak. Ongoing access to financial help for those who are off work due to burnout and PTSD is greatly needed.
As an incident commander during the outbreak, funding was the last thing on my mind going into the first few days, but after about four days the bills were stacking up. We worked with EMBC for financial assistance and reassurance that some of our expenses would be reimbursable.
The indigenous community support fund for first wave funding had been expended before we even hit the second wave. About halfway through our outbreak, our second wave funding hit the bank account, which dramatically helped us deal with the issue at hand, in that this funding is non-prescriptive and we could spend it at our discretion.
At the time of our outbreak, checkpoints weren't funded in the community. We were seeing that the checkpoint was actually one of the best ways to control the ins and the outs of the community and to track and monitor who was going into and out of the community, so that we could assist contact tracing with the health officials.
I'm really glad to see that checkpoints are now being funded through, I believe, federal funding that came through FNHA, which then reaches the community. I believe that putting that checkpoint in place the day after we got the positive COVID cases within our community really helped us get our numbers under control. It really helped us stop the spread.
Again, I think six minutes isn't much. I could go on for a couple of hours here, but I will pass the mike over to my colleague Dillon Johnson for more.
Dillon Johnson
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Dillon Johnson
2020-11-24 11:25
[Witness spoke in Sliammon]
[English]
Thank you, Erik.
Good morning and thank you, honourable members of Parliament.
I can't say enough about Erik's leadership during the crisis in our community. This man worked day and night for three weeks plus, and we owe him a debt of gratitude as a community for sure.
We did learn a lot of things from the outbreak in our community, some good things, some bad things. The community pulled together. It was really cool to see, but obviously it did expose some real issues.
One thing I wanted to raise with the committee this morning is how the overcrowding in housing in our community worsened the outbreak. We had multiple families living under one roof who were unable to quarantine and self-isolate in a safe way, and this put other loved ones at risk. It also exacerbated the outbreak.
While the worst part of that outbreak is behind us, we continue to be vulnerable, and we need investments in housing. This is why, in collaboration with our fellow self-governing indigenous governments, or SGIGs, we have submitted a housing stimulus proposal to the Government of Canada. The purpose of this is obviously to provide affordable housing to protect our vulnerable people from coronavirus spread caused by overcrowding. It's to address the long-standing housing gap in our communities that continues to contribute to poor socio-economic outcomes. Of course, importantly, it stimulates the economy in our communities and our regions through housing investments. It's providing meaningful employment and opportunities for people to put food on the table and to get through these difficult times.
I believe some members of the committee will have heard of this proposal submitted by the self-governing indigenous governments, and appreciate any support that can be lent towards that. We think housing is not a problem in our communities; it is a solution. We graciously ask for your support for this ask, which is $426 million in a targeted investment for safe and affordable housing in our communities. We have the data to back up this request.
I know I'm running overtime here, but I welcome any questions on that piece. I appreciate the time.
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