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Christopher Sheppard-Buote
View Christopher Sheppard-Buote Profile
Christopher Sheppard-Buote
2020-05-19 17:41
[Witness spoke in Inuktitut and provided the following text:]
Atelihai, Christopher Sheppard-Buote Uvanga.
[English]
Good morning, committee. My name is Christopher Sheppard-Buote. I'm the president of the National Association of Friendship Centres.
I want to recognize that today I'm on Treaty No. 6 territory and I am thankful for the welcome that they have shown me since being here. I am joined today by Jocelyn Formsma, who is the executive director of the national association.
We thank you for the invitation today—
Christopher Sheppard-Buote
View Christopher Sheppard-Buote Profile
Christopher Sheppard-Buote
2020-05-13 11:17
[Witness spoke in Inuktitut as follows:]
?????, ??????, ????? ??? ??? -???.
[Inuktitut text translated as follows:]
Hello. Good morning, I am Christopher Sheppard-Buote.
[English]
I will tell you a little bit about myself. I am a beneficiary of the Nunatsiavut government. I was born and raised in Nunatsiavut. Currently I am the president of the National Association of Friendship Centres and reside with my husband Jacob on Treaty 6 territory after moving to Saskatchewan, where he is a medical resident.
This reality, combined with knowledge from the friendship centres that I work with, gives me a unique and heightened insight into the current situation.
I am joined by the National Association of Friendship Centres executive director Jocelyn Formsma. I also want to acknowledge my fellow friendship centre colleagues, Edith Cloutier, executive director of the Val-d’Or Friendship Centre; and Larry Frost, executive director of the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto.
It's a rarity that we get to present together, but it's definitely a pleasure to be on the panel with both of you.
Also thank you to the committee for the invitation.
My local friendship centre colleagues would be much better to speak to what is happening directly on the ground, so my focus will be on providing the national picture.
The NAFC represents 107 member local friendship centres in provincial and territorial associations in every province and territory except for Prince Edward Island. Collectively, the movement is the largest and most comprehensive urban indigenous service delivery network in this country. Last year our members served about 1.4 million first nations, Inuit and Métis as well as non-indigenous people across over 1,200 programs in 238 buildings. We employ over 2,700 people.
We are proud to be a largely indigenous, women-led network, which is also a rarity, with over 70% of our local friendship centre executive directors being women and five of our six provincial and territorial executive directors also being women. The majority of our board is women, and the majority of our executive is women.
What I really need you to hear today is this. Friendship centres' COVID-19 response has been nothing short of heroic in the face of enormous systemic barriers. They have become food deliverers, elder caregivers and shelter providers.
Among the systemic barriers to this essential work is the distinctions-based approach to COVID-19 relief funding, which left many urban indigenous community members we serve as unseen due to ongoing jurisdictional wrangling between federal and provincial governments; the lack of resources, training and protective equipment; and the fact that we are not being engaged nationally on urban-specific approaches.
Despite these significant barriers, the friendship centre movement has once again demonstrated the effectiveness of its community-driven principles. We remain trusted and culturally relevant, and we continue to provide those holistic supports for all indigenous people living in urban, rural and northern communities from coast to coast to coast.
The NAFC continues to seek funds to ensure that urban indigenous communities are served in this time. We are extremely concerned that reopening parts of the economy will cause the first wave to spill over onto the people we serve. We are still very much in the first wave while trying to prepare for the second wave that may come.
Friendship centres should not be at risk of decimation because we answered the call when others could not or would not, because we spent and served without proper equipment, because we put aside any regular fundraising and social enterprises and because we showed up. This is what's at risk if Canada continues to refuse to develop an action plan based on its own population data.
When this is all over, the communities we continue to serve will still have all the underlying and pre-existing matters to deal with. Properly equipping and resourcing friendship centres to appropriately respond is but one way to invest in restarting the economy. As you know, friendship centres, as civil society hubs, offer or partner to offer supports in such areas as health, education, child care, economic development and training.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Kwe. Tansi. Ulaakut.
Hello.
I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
As of May 5, we have seen 161 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities on reserve and 16 in Inuit communities, focused in the Nunavik region.
I also want to take a second to address what was made public a few days ago with respect to a false positive case in Pond Inlet. This was confirmed, luckily, earlier in the week, to the relief of many Canadians. Again, the lesson from this is that we need to stay vigilant, because we know that the pre-existing conditions in these communities make them exceedingly vulnerable. Vigilance is key, particularly with a pandemic that we have yet to fully understand.
In order to help indigenous communities cope with COVID-19, our government has provided more than $740 million in direct support to help first nations, Inuit, and Métis communities address their public health needs.
So far, more than $59.8 million has been used to buy equipment for medical personnel and to support community-led preparation measures. This money is in addition to the investments made in budget 2019, in which our government provided $79.86 million for health emergency readiness. These investments helped in developing a network of regional coordinators and enhancing the ability of first nation communities to deal with health emergencies and pandemics.
Indigenous Services Canada continues to maintain a stockpile of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer to give to first nations communities dealing with a health emergency situation. This stockpile is available to first nations communities that might need personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of health care workers and others supporting the delivery of health services in an emergency health situation, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
As of May 5, yesterday, we have shipped 731 orders for personal protective equipment, including hand sanitizers, N95 masks, isolation shields and gloves to first nations communities with five orders in progress. The amounts constitute more than 167,850 gowns and more than 202,000 surgical masks to complement supplies provided by provinces and territories. We continue to respond quickly to requests and to assess them within a 24-hour turnaround time.
I would like to underscore that many communities and service providers are adapting their operations to respect the requirement for physical distancing. National indigenous organizations, such as Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and First Peoples Wellness Circle, have developed a series of resources related to COVID-19 that are available to everyone 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. 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 or chats a week linked to COVID-19. This experience of self-isolation and physical distancing of family members who may be at higher risk or might fall ill can have a significant and real impact on mental health. We recognize this and are engaged with partners to support solutions to address and bolster mental health, particularly for youth.
Support for aboriginal youth is another priority sector. The department is working with its indigenous partners, including youth organizations, to support and promote indigenous resources for young people.
For example, 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. Similarly, We Matter is an indigenous-led youth organization focused on life promotion and messages of hope and resilience. They have developed tool kits for youth, teachers and support workers to help youth and those who support youth.
We are aware that post-secondary students are facing an unprecedented situation because of COVID-19. On April 22, the Prime Minister announced up to $9 million in funding for post-secondary students and recent graduates, including aboriginal students.
Nevertheless, we know that many aboriginal students are dealing with specific and unique situations either related to financial stability, job opportunities or simply the chance to continue their studies as planned. That is why an additional $75.2 million will be provided specifically in support of first nations, Inuit and Métis post-secondary students as they deal with COVID-19. This amount is in addition to the existing financial aid programs for aboriginal post-secondary students. This support could be used to cover the cost related to buying computer equipment as courses move online, registration fees, groceries, support payments, housing and transportation, and, should graduation be delayed, cover an extra year of university and related expenses.
At the end of the day, this assistance is meant to ensure that post-secondary aboriginal students can continue or begin their studies as planned despite the obstacles put up by COVID-19.
We are 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 during 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 their current challenges. Taxable indigenous government-owned corporations are already eligible for the wage subsidy.
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. Some indigenous businesses may be able to leverage these solutions as well.
As you may recall, 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 among urban indigenous populations. This funding is part of the COVID-19 economic response plan and is in addition to needs-based support for first nations and Inuit health and emergency management.
As part of this indigenous community support fund, we are working to support first nations off reserve and urban indigenous populations. We recently concluded proposal-based processes to distribute $15 million to organizations that provide critical services to first nations off reserve and to indigenous peoples living in urban centres. So far 94 proposals by organizations from coast to coast to coast have been supported through this fund. This includes support for friendship centres as they continue their important work to serve urban indigenous communities in the face of this pandemic. We know that friendship centres are playing a crucial role in providing key support, which ranges from delivering food to families, young people and elders to responding to calls for assistance to providing support for mental health and cultural support for urban indigenous communities.
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.
I want to take this final moment, Mr. Chair, to express again my deepest sympathies to the Canadian Armed Forces. Our thoughts and prayers go to the military personnel who lost their lives in the helicopter crash in the Ionian Sea, and their families. Canada is grieving with them as we all try to come to grips with this tragic accident.
Let me conclude by saying that the government has designed and supported the measures I've described earlier today to provide timely and direct support to all Canadians in response to this unprecedented crisis. These measures offer timely financial support to indigenous peoples in Canada in particular, no matter where they reside. We are working with our partners for all Canadians.
Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Merci. Thank you.
View Marc Miller Profile
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.
View Carolyn Bennett Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is an honour to appear virtually before this committee for this important study on COVID-19 in indigenous communities.
While the House of Commons is on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin people, I am joining you today from my constituency in Toronto, on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We honour all the indigenous people who paddled these waters and whose moccasins walked these lands. I would also like to recognize the traditional territories from which all of you are participating today.
Our officials—Daniel Watson, Ross Pattee and Jeff Moore—will be on the next panel supporting us, but I, like Minister Miller, want to thank our parliamentary secretaries, who meet with us every morning at 9:15. Pam, Gary and Yvonne have done extraordinary work, which has been spread out, and important suggestions have been brought to us.
We know that from the beginning of the threat of this pandemic, all Canadians were concerned that first nations, Métis and Inuit would be disproportionately affected by COVID-19. We know that long-standing social and economic inequalities and inequities mean that indigenous communities are more vulnerable to COVID-19 and that the impact of an outbreak in indigenous communities would be greater.
We continue to be impressed with the impressive response of communities that since H1N1 have worked hard to develop their pandemic plans. They have now been able to execute their plans and keep their communities safe. Our hearts are with those whose communities have lost a loved one, particularly the 'Namgis First Nation, which recently lost a beloved elder.
Our primary focus has been to ensure that we all work in partnership with indigenous communities, as we know they are the best placed to act on the needs of their members so they can ensure that everyone is safe and healthy.
We are seeing community-driven solutions that are working. We were very proud to support the initiative of Dene Regional Chief Yakeleya in the Northwest Territories. Families there chose to return to the land as a way to protect themselves from the virus and promote healing and mental health.
Having strong leadership and strong collaboration and coordination across the board is how we have been addressing this pandemic. Indigenous leaders have demonstrated their tremendous resilience, innovation and leadership, and they must continue to be involved in decision-making at all levels to ensure that the supports the Government of Canada provides to address COVID-19 meet the real needs in their communities. We have worked the First Nations Financial Management Board, the First Nations Tax Commission, the First Nations Finance Authority and a broad range of indigenous organizations that are developing the measures they need to support communities.
Protecting women and children from domestic violence during this pandemic has also been an important issue that needed to be addressed. We invested an additional $10 million to support shelters in first nations communities during this pandemic. I am working with Minister Monsef and her provincial and territorial partners to further the work on the shadow pandemic of violence against women and the need to address the calls for justice on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, two-spirit people and those who are LGBTQQIA.
COVID-19 underlines the importance of reflecting on the difference between the medical model, in which I was trained, and the medicine wheel. It is time to reflect on achieving more health—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually—so that we reduce the burden on our health care systems. That's what flattening the curve means. It is the knowledge keepers and healers focused on the well-being of all in a very holistic way. It's time that we listen to them.
Tommy Douglas stated that the goal of medicare was to keep people well, not just patch them up when they get sick. That's what the pandemic is teaching us as we stay home, wash our hands and physically distance. Flattening the curve means reducing the number of those who get sick so that we can stay within the capacity of our beloved and cherished health care system. It means more health so that we need less health care.
COVID-19 has finally convinced all Canadians that health promotion and disease prevention must be our priority.
Thank you for all you are doing in your communities. You set the example of coming together while remaining apart for everyone's good during the COVID-19 pandemic. I look forward to your questions and your advice. We are indeed stronger together.
Meegwetch. Marci. Nakurmiik. Thank you. Merci.
View Dan Vandal Profile
Lib. (MB)
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and everyone online, for this important meeting.
It's a great pleasure for me to appear before the committee today. I'd like to begin by acknowledging that Canada's Parliament is on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people, and I am speaking to you from my office in Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, which is in the homeland of the Métis nation as well as Treaty 1 territory.
Today, I'd like to give you an update on the situation of COVID-19 in the north. Since the beginning of the crisis, I have been in regular contact with territorial partners, premiers and first nations, Inuit and Métis partners across the north. I know that the only way we have any hope of preventing the spread of COVID–19 in the north is by taking an approach informed by northerners. They have the ideas, the innovations and the solutions we need to implement in order to prevent and stop the spread of the virus. We are committed to listening and doing everything we can to support territorial governments in preventing and responding to COVID. Territorial governments have done a tremendous job of protecting their communities and keeping people safe, and I support their efforts and continue to work with them throughout this pandemic.
Canada is directly addressing these unique territorial needs with more than $130 million of funding toward four key priorities: health and social services, essential airline services, supporting small and medium-sized businesses, and ensuring access to adequate nutrition and essential goods.
To support health and social services, the Government of Canada has provided $72.6 million to the territories, which builds on the $15 million in funding to provinces and territories through the initial Canada health transfer. It is helping territories to address the critical priorities they have identified to minimize the spread of COVID-19. The government is helping territories to put in place solid measures in order to prepare and respond to COVID-19.
To support essential airline services, which are a critical link in maintaining the supply chain for the movement of essential goods, services and medicines to the north, Canada is providing an initial investment, covering a three-month period, of up to $17.3 million among the territories.
This investment, along with investments by the territorial governments, will help northern air carriers to maintain a basic network of routes and services. These services are vital to ensuring that people living in remote fly-in communities have continued access to food, medical supplies, and other essential goods and services.
Like in the rest of Canada, many businesses in the north are already struggling with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assist businesses with operating costs not already covered by other Government of Canada measures, the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency will provide $15 million in non-repayable support for territorial businesses through the northern business relief fund. The fund will provide up to $100,000 to businesses struggling to cover their operating costs.
As the COVID crisis continues to evolve, we also recognize the increased costs of many essential goods in the north, and the increased financial pressures that families are facing. That's why we are providing an additional one-time investment of $25 million to nutrition north Canada to increase the federal subsidy rate for essential items such as nutritious food and personal hygiene products. This makes these essentials more affordable for northern families, including indigenous families in the north, during these very challenging times.
We've also, as you know, implemented the harvesters support grant, which has been allocated to indigenous partners, and we are working diligently to flow the next wave of money very quickly. This grant, which was codeveloped with indigenous partners, helps northerners who return to traditional harvesting and food-sharing practices by alleviating the high costs associated with traditional hunting and harvesting of foods.
Furthermore, we've announced a distinctions-based funding of $45 million through the $305-million indigenous community support fund for Inuit-designed and implemented community-based solutions to prepare for and react to the spread of COVID-19 within their communities.
The Government of Canada is committed to supporting the health, the safety and the well-being of northerners through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, to ensure that they are able to recover and thrive in the future. That means that we will keep listening carefully to and working closely with our territorial partners, our provincial partners, our indigenous partners and others to determine the best responses and approaches in our ongoing efforts to fight COVID-19.
Meegwetch. Marci. Nakurmiik. Thank you. Merci.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Boozoo. Aaniin.
As-salaam alaikum to Muslims observing Ramadan.
Many thanks to my colleague for her collaborative efforts. We have worked with provinces and territories to validate the list, to ensure there is not duplication of efforts and that we are working to address the gaps.
John Borrows
View John Borrows Profile
John Borrows
2020-03-10 12:23
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you.
The issues I want to raise have to do with the application of indigenous law. I'm grateful for understanding that aboriginal title is the issue that lies at the heart of our current disputes out here in British Columbia and that the recognition of title belongs with the rights-entitled holders, who are the hereditary chiefs. What's required, of course, is the recognition of that title and then the jurisdiction to be able to implement what's involved in the content of that title.
When that jurisdiction is recognized, that includes Wet'suwet'en law and the internal dispute resolution structures that they can bring to bear to deal with the challenges they face between the elected and the hereditary councils. I'm sure you'll hear more about that as we go along.
This is to make the point that this is law, and this law is recognized in the Constitution.
The other things we need are, of course, the inter-societal recognition mechanisms, things like section 35 and the sui generis approach that's there; UNDRIP and the statutory action that the government can take to recognize rights and title as an economic development and sustainability issue; needing to reform the way injunctions are done; and thinking about rule of law in the broad way.
However, my main contribution is to try to bring to bear a law from the Anishinabe. I'm from Cape Croker, which is a reserve on the south shores of Georgian Bay on the Bruce Peninsula. The Wiikwemkoong reserve, for instance, has a constitution, and in that constitution they talk about how their laws should be applied to deal with the questions that come before them. These laws are organized as the Seven Grandmother and Grandfather Teachings. I just want to read them to you for your consideration, so you can think about using these kinds of approaches in resolving the disputes that we're all so concerned about.
The first law is the law of respect, which is to “accept people for who they are”. It says in the constitution, “listen openly to other opinions and be sensitive towards people's feelings. Also respect all living creatures, and Mother Earth.” Imagine that law as a standard, principle, criteria, authority, precedent, tradition, guidepost and signpost for regulating our affairs and resolving our disputes.
There's humility. “Strive to become a modest person.”
There's truth. “Be a trustworthy individual. Discuss only factual information, and in turn, seek out knowledge that is accurate.”
These are constitutional principles.
There's bravery and courage. The constitution says, “Take responsibility for your mistakes, and meet unknown circumstances head on. Be a risk taker, and do not let short falls discourage you.”
There's love. “Show affection and fondness for those around you.” Imagine that being a part of the way we go about resolving our disputes, constitutionally speaking. “Allow your friends and family to know you adore them unconditionally. Most importantly, love yourself.”
There's honesty. “Be upfront about everything that you say and do. Your words and your actions should not have a hidden agenda or motive.”
Then the seventh grandfather/grandmother rule here is wisdom, which is: “Be wise and gain knowledge through life experiences. Furthermore, learn from your mistakes. Expand your wisdom to include teachings from elders and children.”
These are principles that are akin to life, liberty and security, peace, order and good government. They are, of course, general. They are aspirational, as are hopes for equality and mobility and freedom in Canada's Constitution.
What I suggest is that, as a part of the law of Canada, we draw upon these kinds of principles and make them the standards by which we conduct our business. These can be given meaning in specific terms and in statutes—as with this constitution—and in court judgments. They can also be the way we comport ourselves.
Here at the University of Victoria, we're teaching indigenous law alongside the common law. We have a “JD” and a “JID” degree—a juris doctor and juris indigenarum doctorate. Also, the students here are learning transsystemically. When I teach constitutional law, they're learning about federalism, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and aboriginal and treaty rights, but at the same time they're also learning about Anishinabe law all along the way.
The same thing happens when they learn criminal law; they learn Cree law in relation to that. When they learn about property law, they learn about Gitxsan law. Tsilhqot'in law is combined with contract law. Hul'q'umi'num or Cowichan Law is combined with tort law.
We are a multi-juridical country. We have many legal traditions to draw upon that can be authoritative in guiding our actions, and these principles of respect and humility, truth, bravery, love, honesty and wisdom contain guidance in the etymology of the words. For instance, the word “love”, zaagidiwin, comes from a river mouth. We learn about how to live in love by looking at what happens at a river mouth that is enriching the earth, and the standards by which we should live are honesty, gwayakwaadiziwin, which is having a clear path between us, no obstruction when we're talking with one another, or humility, dibaadendiziwin, which is to measure our thoughts in a precise way. The idea of respect, manaaj'idiwin, is to go easy on one another. The notion of wisdom is nanagadawenda/nibwaakaawin, which is to bend toward or study things.
These are Canadian laws. These are laws of the land, and the Wet'suwet'en have laws they could express that have similar sorts of principles attached to them. So do the Blackfoot and the Salish, the Mi'kmaq, the Inuit, the Métis and the Haida, any group you look at have these laws written and unwritten, so it is important to talk about title and jurisdiction and internal dispute resolutions and inter-societal dispute resolution mechanisms, but understand that a part of what will give those life is indigenous understanding of law.
I look forward to further questions or comments that you might have about that.
There is lots to say, but I hope I have made the point about indigenous law being a part of a resource for reasoning and action in our country.
View Maryam Monsef Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
Hello everyone, bonjour, aaniin, as-salaam alaikum.
Congratulations on being appointed to this very important committee in these very important times.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we are on unceded Algonquin territory.
I will spend the time you've provided me, Madam Chair, talking a little bit about what my mandate is and talking a bit about supplementary estimates (B) and how they help advance gender equality in Canada. Hopefully, we'll have an opportunity for some discussion.
This committee in the past has helped inform significant policies and programs that have come out of my department. This committee's work on violence against women and girls informed Canada's first federal strategy to address and prevent gender-based violence. I know that folks around this table, like so many parents and youth across the country, are concerned about online violence, and the work that this committee did in its previous iteration to address revenge porn on social media sites provides a really good benchmark for what can happen in terms of significant change when we work together across party lines.
I look forward to continuing the work and the partnership.
When the Prime Minister appointed me as the Minister for Women and Gender Equality last fall, he entrusted me with the mission of driving systemic change that promotes a fairer and more inclusive society for women and for LGBTQ2 and gender-diverse peoples—when I say women, I mean the broad intersections of women—by improving the quality of their life, by working to ensure that this country is safer and by working to ensure that more of us end up around decision-making tables such as this one.
To advance systemic change, one of the tools that the Government of Canada has at its disposal—and Canada introduced the tool at Beijing in 1995—is gender-based analysis. We apply an intersectional gendered lens to the implementation, design and evaluation of our programs and services. Doing this provides a better understanding of the intersections of sex and gender but also of the ways in which various other identity factors—rurality, indigeneity, disabilities, age, whether you are a francophone living in an anglophone majority community or vice versa, your immigration status, and who and how you love— affect the way that society treats you, as well as the barriers and the opportunities that are in the way. That's what GBA+ allows us to do.
We have, over the past five years, been able to bring forward significant change. I'm going to talk a little bit about that change, recognizing too though that we have much more to do. For every step we've taken forward and those who have come before us have taken forward, there has been backlash. That backlash is alive and well here in Canada but also around the world, and it impacts our ability to progress and to achieve equality for all.
Right now, I can tell you that over the past five years, Canada has moved up 11 places in the World Economic Forum's gender equality index. That's significant. There are plans, programs, and laws in place now that didn't exist before. For example—and I know colleagues debated Bill C-16—there's protection for trans individuals and non-binary gender individuals in law now. We have a national housing strategy with a carve-out set aside specifically for women and girls, especially those fleeing violence and abuse. There is a gender violence plan to address and prevent this. We have a comprehensive national action plan to address and prevent human trafficking and we have a poverty reduction plan.
The small but mighty agency that was Status of Women Canada, thanks to the advocacy of so many across the country, is now a full and equal department under the law, with the same authorities, responsibilities and powers as other departments. It is now the law of the land for a federal budget to have an intersectional gendered lens applied to it.
These are some of the ways that we have made significant progress. We have built on the foundation that those before us have built, and we need to build upon it further.
This is an important year. We've discussed it. It's considered a super year for gender equality. It marks 75 years since the United Nations was established. It marks 50 years since the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada began its historic and significant work. It marks 25 years since the platform for action was agreed upon by the international community, the most comprehensive blueprint for gender equality. It's been 25 years since gender-based analysis started to be applied here within the federal Government of Canada. We have five years to look back on sustainable development goals, and a recognition, too, that we have five years to go until the next review of the sustainable development goals happen, and 10 years until the sustainable development that the international community agreed to are due.
This is an important year. The way to move forward, I remain convinced, is through partnership and by empowering grassroots and local leadership in communities across the country. One of the ways that we've done that is by enhancing our investments in women's organizations and equality-seeking organizations. Some 630 organizations have received over $250 million over the past five years from only my department. That doesn't include other government departments. This allows them to build capacity to sustain their efforts, to address and prevent gender-based violence, to enhance women's economic security and work to get more women and diverse individuals in positions of power, like the ones around this table.
The year 2020 is also significant because the calls for justice, the response to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, are due. This is one of those initiatives that didn't exist in the past five years. There was no national inquiry. Now we find ourselves as a country working hard to operationalize reconciliation. Recognizing that whether the work is to advance indigenous women and girls' rights and well-being or other women and diverse populations, the work will be difficult. It will require courageous conversations. It will depend on smart partnerships. I'm really grateful that our constituents have given us the power and the opportunity to be here in Ottawa at this critical moment in time to move our communities and our countries forward.
I'll wrap up there, Madam Chair. I know you'll be asking me about supplementary estimates and I'm happy to talk about those adjustments.
Tabatha Bull
View Tabatha Bull Profile
Tabatha Bull
2020-02-25 18:40
[Witness spoke in Ojibwa and provided the following text:]
Aanii, Tabatha Bull n'indignikaaz, Nipissing n'indoonjibaa, Migizi Ndoodem.
[Witness provided the following translation:]
Hello. My name is Tabatha Bull. I am from Nipissing First Nation, and I belong to the Eagle Clan.
[English]
Thank you, Madam Chair and all the distinguished members of the committee.
I want to begin by acknowledging the Algonquin peoples for hosting this meeting on their ancestral and unceded lands.
I am the chief operating officer for the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, CCAB. I'm honoured to speak here on behalf of our association regarding Bill C-4.
CCAB supports corporations and governments to engage directly with indigenous businesses so that they may take advantage of mutually beneficial opportunities. Our work is backed by data-driven research, recognized by the OECD as the gold standard on indigenous business in Canada, on the barriers and opportunities for indigenous businesses, business capacity and supply chain analysis that has informed both government and corporate policy.
Through our research, programming and events, CCAB has earned the confidence of both indigenous and non-indigenous businesses in Canada, established a leading procurement platform and achieved meaningful results for indigenous companies over the past 37 years.
Our research work has led to a threefold increase in corporate commitments to improve indigenous relations and procurement—over $100 million in provincial government funding commitments to indigenous businesses.
We currently have close to 1,000 indigenous and non-indigenous business members working toward a more prosperous and diverse Canadian economy.
We were very pleased to be invited to participate as a member of the Global Affairs indigenous working group on trade.
We were also extremely pleased to see the involvement of National Chief Perry Bellegarde in the renegotiation of NAFTA and in the invitation to us here today.
As a result of this inclusive approach to trade negotiation, this work resulted in the most inclusive international trade agreement for indigenous peoples to date.
I echo the comments by National Chief Perry Bellegarde, when he testified on June 18, 2019, and those of Judy Whiteduck and Risa Schwartz, when they testified on February 20, 2020, that this agreement is not perfect but to date it is the best we have in Canada.
With the ratification of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, we would take a step to make international trade more aware of and more equitable in its treatment of indigenous peoples, and especially indigenous women entrepreneurs.
The aboriginal trade interest is not presumed but instead strongly asserted through the positive economic trends that have been observed by the CCAB within the aboriginal private economy.
In 2016, aboriginal peoples contributed over $30 billion to Canada's GDP, $12 billion of which was generated by aboriginal businesses.
Through trade agreements and treaties, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business finds immense value in promoting and supporting the distinct demand of the aboriginal private economy to facilitate and substantiate economic growth.
By reducing barriers and creating fair, equitable and inclusive trade conditions, the aboriginal private economy will be provided with equal footing to Canadian and North American business and service providers through trade exclusions, intellectual property and provisions and by expanding labour mobility policies to honour the unique barriers and operations of aboriginal service providers and enterprises.
With the levelling of the economic playing field through targeted trade policies, aboriginal enterprises and service providers can benefit from increased market access, procurement and investment opportunities.
Importantly for the CCAB, we believe that with specific preferences to carve out procurement benefits and other opportunities for indigenous businesses and service providers, there is also a promise of future co-operation to enhance indigenous businesses.
Procurement is of interest for the CCAB, as our research has found that indigenous businesses can supply 24.2% of the goods and services purchased by the federal government annually.
We appreciate that the Government of Canada has committed, through the mandate letter to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada, to have at least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed and led by indigenous peoples. This target is achievable, and the CCAB wants and is willing to work with the Government of Canada to meet and exceed this target.
CCAB believes that trade with the United States is directly tied to the future economic success for aboriginal business and hence directly tied to the prosperity of indigenous peoples across Canada.
Our research with Global Affairs Canada showed that indigenous businesses are twice as likely as non-indigenous businesses to export. Of indigenous companies, 24% export today, which means more than 13,000 indigenous firms are exporting. As well, indigenous women are more likely to export than indigenous men.
While the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement is a new example of the difference it makes to engage with indigenous people at an early stage, there must be increased opportunities for participation of indigenous peoples not only in international trade negotiations in decision-making as per UNDRIP but also in trade missions.
Programming and support need to be provided to indigenous communities and leaders to build capacity in trade to ensure that their participation is meaningful and resourced appropriately. The CCAB looks forward to continuing our important work on the Global Affairs indigenous working group to support the inclusion of language in Canada's current and future trade agreement negotiations, including with Mercosur and the Pacific alliance countries.
The CCAB also welcomes the opportunity to be more actively involved in the planning and execution of trade missions to increase indigenous exports.
Thank you for the time. Meegwetch.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2020-02-25 11:45
Mat'na.
I have a couple of comments, and then some very basic questions.
To start, I'm pretty disappointed with the lack of mention of the Inuit and Métis in both of these presentations.
Eighty-five percent of my constituents are Inuk, and my colleague from the Bloc Québécois also has a lot of Inuit in her constituency. We continually see the lack of services for Inuit and Métis. It's hard to talk about things like training for maintaining water system infrastructure when that infrastructure isn't even there to begin with.
There is also a lot of inconsistency with the wording in the document. Sometimes it refers to “indigenous peoples”, and sometimes to “indigenous people”. Sometimes the word is capitalized; sometimes it's not. I would recommend going by the UN declaration and mimicking whatever wording is used there.
I would like to know from both departments how many individuals in each department are indigenous, and how many of those indigenous peoples are in actual leadership roles where decisions are being made.
Then in both departments, are there definitions for things like, what is reconciliation? What is reconciliation to the Department of Indigenous Services and Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs? How do both departments define a reserve, a first nation, an Inuit or Métis community?
I will leave it there for now.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2020-02-25 12:47
Mat'na.
I'm wondering whether the department has a role to play in looking at reserves, treaties, or territorial agreements when we have natural resource extraction happening in Nunavut.
Do you have any space at the table in decisions on where mining is going to happen?
Judy Whiteduck
View Judy Whiteduck Profile
Judy Whiteduck
2020-02-20 12:05
[Witness spoke in Algonquin as follows:]
Meegwetch. Kwey Kakina. Nidonjabà Kitigan Zibi Algonquin Aki. Nindijinikaz Judy Whiteduck.
[Algonquin text translated as follows:]
Thank you. Hello everyone. I come from Maniwaki; my name is Judy Whiteduck.
[English]
I wanted to acknowledge all of you, myself and the territory before we begin. We have a brief set of remarks that we'll share, which I will start with.
Thank you, first of all, for the invitation to the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations to appear before your committee to inform the study of Bill C-4. The national chief has sent his regrets due to other commitments, and we are pleased to be here on his behalf.
My name is Judy Whiteduck, and I am the director of the economic sector. I am joined by Risa Schwartz, our legal counsel on international trade matters.
The AFN is a national organization advocating for first nations citizens in Canada, which includes more than 900,000 first nations people, both living on reserves and in towns and urban centres.
First nations leaders direct the work of the Assembly of First Nations through resolutions passed at chiefs' assemblies. In 2019, the AFN passed resolution 37/2019, which was continued advocacy on Canada's international trade agreements to achieve economic reconciliation. It urged greater participation of first nations in international trade negotiations, and called upon Canada to include a trade and indigenous peoples chapter in future international trade agreements. The AFN has a specific chiefs committee on economic development, which includes first nations trade relations.
In 2017, the national chief was welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland to be a member of the NAFTA council. At an official level, Risa Schwartz and I also participate on the indigenous working group on international trade for the Canada-United States- Mexico agreement. While there is more to do, this work has resulted in the most inclusive international agreement for indigenous peoples to date.
I will now ask Risa to provide additional comments on CUSMA and to make a recommendation for an amendment to Bill C-4 as well.
Thank you.
View Rachel Bendayan Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Geist. Thank you, Ms. Marsden and Mr. DiCaro.
My question is for Señor de la Cueva.
[Member spoke in Spanish]
[English]
You discussed a lot the importance of some of the labour provisions that are found in the new NAFTA, and I want to touch on that in greater detail. In particular, as you know, there is a requirement now that almost half of automobile parts be made by workers earning at least $16 U.S. per hour.
We heard from Mr. Angelo DiCaro just a few minutes ago on that point, but from your perspective in Mexico, does this level to some extent the playing field for auto workers in North America? Do you think this is a good thing for both Canadian workers and Mexican workers?
Natan Obed
View Natan Obed Profile
Natan Obed
2020-02-06 11:36
Nakurmiik.
Good morning, ulaakut, everyone.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is the national organization representing approximately 65,000 Inuit in Canada, the majority of whom live in Inuit Nunangat. Inuit Nunangat is our homeland and the term we use to describe the roughly 35% of this country that is governed and controlled by Inuit interests, either through fee simple or through a co-management structure, through modern treaties or land claims.
ITK is governed by the elected leaders of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, Makivik Corporation, and the Nunatsiavut government. These four Inuit representative organizations and governments are Inuit rights holders under section 35 of the Constitution, having negotiated comprehensive Inuit-Crown land claim agreements between 1975 and 2005. Our ongoing relationship with the federal government, especially through budgetary processes, is relatively new and an emerging way in which we implement our modern treaties, but also the way in which we implement reconciliation.
ITK undertook an exercise to quantify Inuit-specific federal government investments proposed in budgets 2010 to 2019. Through this review, we found the following. Prior to federal budget 2016, there were no federal Inuit-specific fiscal investments as part of budgets. Any investments for Inuit tended to be indirect, either through public governments or through indigenous allocations, without any specific mention of Inuit specificity within the text of any budget. In fact, mention of Inuit at all in federal budgets was exceedingly rare. For example, in budgets 2010 to 2014, Inuit were mentioned only twice in each budget, and not in relation to any new investment.
Over the last four successive federal budgets, however, references to Inuit have continued to increase, with budget 2019 containing more than 90 references to Inuit. At the same time, Inuit-specific investment allocations have also increased across a broad range of areas, from health and social development to post-secondary education and early learning and child care. In the last two years, there has been an Inuit priority section within the broader indigenous chapter of the federal budget.
These are positive policy changes. They reflect the evolving and maturing relationship between Inuit and the Crown and better situate the meaningful place of Inuit within broader Canadian society and as one of the three indigenous peoples identified in section 35 of the Constitution. Federal budgets allow for the Canadian government to specifically tell Canadians how it will spend money. Unfortunately, in the past, the term “indigenous”—or the term “aboriginal”, which preceded it—allowed for complete lack of consideration of Inuit within any of the allocated funds.
Budget 2020 should build on progress made in the last four federal budgets by continuing to implement an Inuit Nunangat fiscal policy in the allocation of Inuit-specific funding. The inclusion of an Inuit priority section in the last two budgets was a welcome and positive development and should continue in budget 2020. Continued implementation of an Inuit Nunangat fiscal policy in federal budgets creates efficiency, cost savings and more immediate impacts and benefits for Inuit, which, in turn, benefit all Canadians.
In our pre-budget submission, we have gone through a number of things that we would like to see within the Inuit section of the indigenous chapter of the budget. It starts with a $1-billion investment in an Inuit Nunangat infrastructure fund, to consider eliminating the infrastructure deficit in Inuit Nunangat. It also calls for social infrastructure investments to enhance the health and safety of Inuit Nunangat communities, supporting women and also supporting the emerging workforce, and to create the environmental conditions necessary for lifelong development in children. We need investments in early learning and child care centres, family violence shelters and transitional housing, addiction treatment centres and social housing.
We also need investments in marine and air infrastructure. Inuit Nunangat encompasses all of Canada's Arctic coastline and significant offshore areas, yet its marine infrastructure is almost non-existent. This contributes to lost economic opportunities, greater fossil fuel emissions, as well as a higher cost of living and its associated challenges. In addition, most airport runways date from the 1950s and 1960s and are made up of compacted gravel. They can support only smaller aircraft, and they lack ability to operate in inclement weather or darkness.
We also need investments in renewable energy. No community in Inuit Nunangat is connected to the North American grid, and with the exception of Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, none is connected to the road system. Each community is served by a local power plant dependent upon fossil fuels, predominantly diesel, for power generation. To support the off-diesel transition, there is a need for an Inuit Nunangat renewable energy fund. There is also a need for an Inuit Nunangat feed-in tariff for Inuit-owned power projects serving our communities. This would transcend jurisdictional boundaries and differing energy policies, and provide direct support for Inuit renewable energy projects.
We also need investments in telecommunications. Incremental investment in satellite technologies confuses industrial policy with telecommunications policy and is not cost-effective or a long-term connectivity solution. In order to remedy these challenges, ITK is seeking federal investment in regional fibre projects, beginning with regional feasibility studies. Inuit Nunangat faces a dire digital divide, one that has been noted by the federal government since the 1990s and reiterated most recently in the 2018 report on rural broadband by the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology. Due to remoteness factors, Internet connectivity has a more critical role to play in Inuit Nunangat than in other parts of Canada in enabling access to health, education and justice services, and in reducing the overall costs of public service delivery in Inuit communities.
Other key investment areas include funding for the implementation of our national Inuit climate change strategy; funding for the implementation of our national Inuit strategy on research, supporting Inuit language and culture in schools; and also funding to implement the Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families.
The specific considerations in relation to our funding are contained within our pre-budget submission that was provided to the standing committee and that is also publicly available on our website at itk.ca.
Nakurmiik.
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