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Janet Gobert
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Janet Gobert
2021-06-22 11:57
My name is Janet Gobert, and I am of Ojibwa descent from the Peepeekasis first nation in Saskatchewan.
I currently serve as the community initiatives coordinator with the Bonnyville Canadian Native Friendship Centre located in Bonnyville, Alberta, which I acknowledge is Treaty 6 territory and is a traditional gathering place for many indigenous people.
The Bonnyville Canadian Native Friendship Centre is dedicated to bridging the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people culturally, socially, economically and recreationally by promoting communication and delivering effective programming within our community.
In 2020, I acknowledged a gap in service provision that could be addressed by a project called Iskwew Iskowtew, or “where women heal by fire”. It implements promising prevention and intervention practices that advance knowledge and enhance empowerment supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking in the Bonnyville and Lakeland region.
The objective of this program is to reduce violence against women and human trafficking through evidence-based programming, which includes, but is not limited to, providing a safe haven where clients will have access to relevant programming and support services. Utilizing a wraparound approach, our holistic crisis support mentor, peer support worker, indigenous wellness worker and critical incident stress management coordinator deliver consistent programming with traditional knowledge keepers who share their understanding on site in addition to providing access to land-based activities and cultural ceremonies.
During the development of this program, I acknowledged that assisting indigenous women and girls transitioning out of sex work would require the support of numerous organizations within the community to address issues such as education, housing, employment, mental health and substance abuse issues. Hence, a board indicative of the aforementioned was established.
It was noted within our meetings that there are three essential components that are necessary to the creation of social and political change within the sex trade. These are social services, law enforcement and community education. I would like to address the latter.
With regard to our service area, it was identified that our program needed to concentrate on community education. Within our community and surrounding area, human trafficking is not acknowledged, and this is a barrier that we need to overcome. It was duly noted that opening this Pandora's box within the community would need to be navigated with accurate information, education and promotional tools in order to be effective. This component of our program will be executed no later than September of 2021, with continued ways of change in its wake.
The debate that surrounds laws and regulations placed upon prostitution-related offences is rooted within a framework that distinguishes prostitution as either sex work or sex trafficking. As the former represents a choice in regard to prostitution, the latter represents forcible containment within the sex trade. As legal responses to prostitution-related activities vary depending on a community's social, political and economic commitments, criminalizing sex trafficking victims renders their experiences of violence and labour exploitation less visible, thus producing a tendency to discount the human rights of women involved in sex trafficking.
As sex trafficking in Canada is inherently harmful and dangerous, specifically towards indigenous girls and women, a public policy change must be enacted in order to address such issues. The issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls is a sociological phenomenon in Canada that is entrenched within Canadian policies, laws and institutions. In Canada, indigenous women and girls form only 2% of the total population, yet they constitute 16% of the total population of women who are murdered or go missing.
Traffickers choose vulnerable, exploited women because they are perceived as expendable, thus reducing them to the status of a mere sex object rather than an actual human being. Often we have victim-blamed these women for their own murders due to their high-risk lifestyle, such as working in the sex trade, whether by force or by choice.
By creating a program in the Lakeland region that addresses issues such as education, employment, housing, mental health and treatment services, we make it much simpler to create an exit strategy for women within the sex trade. As indigenous women and girls in Canada face these socio-economic issues, this project could help to reduce the rate at which these women are involved in human trafficking, go missing or are murdered.
Finally, the lack of knowledge surrounding sex trafficking and the laws that pertain to its origin are why it is so difficult to detect the sex trade as well as to exit from it. It is integral to understand that these women live their lives in the community as grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.
I would like to thank each one of you for this opportunity to share our new program initiative with you.
Thank you.
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
Ms. Blaney, I only have about a minute left. Can you expand on what some of the best practices are around what you called “exiting” the trafficking?
What can we do as the government to set up a way to get people out of that in a safe and secure way and in a way that's respectful of indigenous people in Canada?
Fay Blaney
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Fay Blaney
2021-06-15 12:40
Definitely Manitoba is ahead of us on that. I'm sure Hilda could speak about the developments that are happening there.
In B.C. we have religious—like, Christian—services for women when they want to exit.
I'll defer to Hilda on that to talk a bit about what they're doing in Manitoba.
Hilda Anderson-Pyrz
View Hilda Anderson-Pyrz Profile
Hilda Anderson-Pyrz
2021-06-15 12:40
I know that in Manitoba there's a huge reach-out to victims who have been trafficked and are survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation for their lived experience, expertise and agency to kind of guide that process and what the process looks like. I know they also focus on what safety means for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation—coming from that lens. We know that some Christian-based supports are not conducive to what safety means to victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation due to beliefs and barriers.
As an example, I can just say that you're forced to stay in a room. Many victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation have been violated in a room with a closed door. You need to have an open space concept where it's a safe haven for victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, and which is barrier-free, open 24-7 and has readily available resources that are culturally appropriate, such as grandmothers, counselling services and ceremonial practices.
We see that currently happening in Manitoba with the 24-7 safe space that is named after a grandmother who has been very instrumental in supporting many victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. It's Velma's House. It's run by victims who have been trafficked and who have been sexually exploited. They're bringing their lived experience, their expertise and their agency to providing those supports and resources.
Coming from a true place of understanding, removing those judgments and creating that safe space will truly give that individual who is seeking those supports and resources a space to reclaim their spirit and look at other referrals that can help them on their journey of healing. It is keeping them safe away from traffickers, protecting them and giving them dignity throughout the whole process.
It's so critical to ensure that dignity is provided to individuals who are seeking supports and resources, so they're not made to feel that they're a problem and that it is their fault because it is not their fault.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Chair.
Kwe kwe. Ullukkut. Tansi. Hello.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that I am here, in Ottawa, on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
I welcome this opportunity to provide you with an update on our continuing effort to confront the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and to answer your questions on supplementary estimates (C) and the main estimates.
COVID-19 has presented many challenges for all of us, and in particular at-risk or underserved communities. Throughout this time, Indigenous Services Canada has supported first nations, Inuit and Métis to ensure they have the resources they need to keep their communities safe and respond to COVID-19.
I would like to thank the committee for its report, titled “COVID-19 and Indigenous Peoples: From Crisis towards Meaningful Change”, which it presented to the House of Commons at the start of the month.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the government has invested approximately $4 billion in COVID-19 funding for indigenous communities and organizations. And more recently, we have worked with key partners to support self-determination and community-led action for the administration of vaccines to indigenous peoples, in culturally safe settings. Strengths-based, culture-informed strategies have worked, reinforcing our commitment to reconciliation.
This pandemic has heightened entrenched health and social inequities that exist in Canada. It's why our pandemic preparedness response and recovery actions need to prioritize health equity to protect the people of Canada from the threat of COVID-19 and future pandemics.
As we support vaccine administration [Technical difficulty—Editor] vaccine rollout for indigenous adults living in cities and towns across Canada, it's a race to get the last person vaccinated, not the first. With vaccine production ramping up at Pfizer and the recent approval of the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, we can confidently [Technical difficulty—Editor] opportunity before fall 2021.
As of March 18, 2021—for the committee—200,560 doses have been administered in first nations and Inuit communities in the provinces and to residents in the territories. Vaccinations are under way in 586 indigenous and territorial communities.
Over the past two months members of the Canadian Rangers have worked in more than 25 communities across the Nishnawbe Aski Nation in northern Ontario, in particular, helping provincial authorities with tasks related to immunization. This is in addition to the 46 first nation communities that the CAF has supported in recent months to manage COVID-19 outbreaks and facilitate vaccine distribution.
As announced last week by the Prime Minister, my department and the Canadian Armed Forces will soon begin supporting an unparalleled accelerated vaccination program in a number of isolated first nation communities, as well as a select number of larger indigenous communities, starting in Manitoba.
We're currently working closely with Public Safety and the Canadian Armed Forces to expand on an accelerated vaccine rollout in first nations communities in the northern part of Manitoba. Over the next few days we'll be working in partnership with indigenous leadership to assess community needs and ensure the appropriate CAF resources are sent to communities requiring assistance. This deployment may include up to 23 different communities, and more details will be shared as we proceed with planning in the coming days.
Now let me turn to the estimates items. With supplementary estimates (C), the total authorities for 2020-21 will be $17.8 billion. These supplementary estimates reflect a net increase of $1.5 billion. Of this, $1.1 billion is related to various COVID-19 response measures previously announced. This includes $530 million to support surge health infrastructure, primary care nursing surge capacity and urgent public health responses in indigenous communities; $380 million in additional funding for the indigenous community support fund; $63.9 million for supportive care in indigenous communities; and $58 million to indigenous community businesses.
As a clarifying note, several COVID-19 initiatives were previously authorized under the Public Health Events of National Concern Payments Act. Following the repeal of the act, ISC is requesting the unspent amount as voted appropriations through the supplementary estimates (C) to continue these initiatives.
These estimates also include, among other things, additional funding to improve access to safe, clean drinking water in first nations communities and to support the implementation of An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, as well as to reimburse first nations and emergency management response and recovery activities.
For 2021-22, the department's main estimates are $13.5 billion. This reflects a net increase of about $693.9 million, or 5%, compared with last year's main estimates. Our two biggest increases are a net increase of $508.6 million in 2021-22 to improve access to safe, clean drinking water in first nation communities, and an increase of $122.6 million in 2021-22 for supportive care in indigenous communities.
Before concluding and proceeding with questions, I would like to address two additional points. First is the current situation in Pikangikum First Nation. These reports of harassment towards members of the community are extremely concerning and require a thorough investigation by the police. Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of the community members and the staff who support that community.
Due to safety and security concerns, the ISC primary care practitioners were evacuated yesterday evening. The choice to relocate the health care staff, after some time, was not a decision that was taken lightly and was only done after careful consideration and planning to ensure necessary resources are in place to serve community members in the event medical assistance is required. I want to assure everyone that we are working in partnership with the community to find a long-term solution that meets the health and security needs of both community members and health care workers.
Secondly, as this is World Water Day, I would like to take a brief moment to highlight that last week the chief and council in Wet'suwet'en First Nation confirmed that they had lifted their long-term drinking water advisory, which had been in place since 2012.
With this, our government, working in partnership with first nations, has now lifted 102 long-term drinking water advisories since 2015. During the same time, 177 short-term advisories have also been lifted, ensuring clean drinking water to first nations. Projects are also under way in 38 communities to resolve the remaining 58 long-term drinking water advisories.
This commitment to clean drinking water is not just about ending long-term drinking water advisories. It's about building sustainable systems that ensure first nations communities have access to safe drinking water now and in the future. We know that further action is required as drinking water issues remain. We continue to support first nations in meeting this commitment.
With that, I look forward to your questions.
Meegwetch. Qujannamiik. Marci. Thank you.
Johannes Lampe
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Hon. Johannes Lampe
2020-12-10 12:27
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will start with food security background information and key messages.
Food security is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as follows: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
The right to adequate food is a human right affirmed in multiple human rights instruments, and the Government of Canada is obligated to respect, promote and uphold this right. The Government of Canada ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1976. It is a binding international treaty that affirms the right to adequate food under article 11, which states:
1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent.
The committee responsible for managing the implementation of the covenant has clarified the meaning of the right to adequate food as follows:
The availability of food in a quantity and quality sufficient to satisfy the dietary needs of individuals, free from adverse substances, and acceptable within a given culture;
The accessibility of such food in ways that are sustainable and that do not interfere with the enjoyment of other human rights.
I will now turn to food insecurity rates in Nunatsiavut.
The 2014 Nunatsiavut household food security survey found that 61.1% of Nunatsiavut households were food-insecure. In Nain, the household prevalence of food insecurity is 79.3%. It is 83.1% in Hopedale. Rates in the north are over six times higher than the rate for Canada. In Hopedale, 5.6% of households reported that at some time in the past month, children within the household had not eaten for a whole day. In Nain, 13.4% of households reported this situation.
The 2017 aboriginal peoples survey found that 68.3% of Inuit aged 15 and over in Nunatsiavut experienced food insecurity when taking into account low food security, very low food security and marginal security.
We have drivers of food insecurity, which I will point out. They are related to a loss of culture and traditional skills, infrastructure, climate change, wildlife and conservation, poverty, lack of education, training and employment opportunities, costs associated with hunting and gathering, and the cost, quality and availability of food.
We have different scenarios, because we do a lot of research on various types of issues. We do a lot of homework on issues related to the Labrador Inuit to make sure that opportunities like this will give us the chance to help you understand better what we are facing.
There are other examples.
Our small northern communities lack the suite of social support services that would typically be available in a larger urban centre. These are services such as food banks, soup kitchens, thrift stores and emergency shelters. There are few options for families seeking support for food access.
Community freezers, where residents can access wild foods that have been harvested and donated to the freezer, exist in all Nunatsiavut communities, but the freezer stocks typically deplete quickly, and supply does not keep up with the demand. Sharing that works between friends and family is strong in Nunatsiavut; however, many households still suffer from severe food insecurity.
These are just examples of how we try to deal with our food insecurity and try to help Labrador Inuit, at the same time practising our culture and traditions.
Duane Smith
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Duane Smith
2020-12-01 11:28
Thank you.
Thank you for the opportunity. I want to point out that, as you said, my name is Duane Smith. That's my English name, anyway. I'm located just near the northeast tip of Alaska, to give you some perspective. It's roughly nine hours by jet to get here from Ottawa, but I'm still in the same country. The area I represent is almost a million square kilometres, two-thirds of that being the ocean in this area. That's just to give you some perspective on the size and scale of the geography I represent and the distance I'm speaking to you from, which is, again, still a part of Canada.
There was discussion earlier, as we were getting set up, that I'm so far north, in a couple of days we'll be losing the sun for about five weeks. That's part of the process here.
I want to give you an update in regard to the COVID activities we have been implementing. We have been working hard with different federal departments to access funds that are identified for indigenous organizations such as ours. We have been able to allocate funding for food baskets, as we call them, to needy households and families. We have provided support in regard to harvesting and food preservation supplies to try to enhance and/or address the food insecurity in the region. We have provided sewing supplies to communities for them to distribute. That's part of our cultural approach to our activities. We have provided household cleaning kits so that people can further sanitize and get some relief and comfort in regard to how they might be ensuring that their households are clean. We've had supplies for elders.
We have also initiated what we call an “on the land” program. We provided individuals, couples and/or families during the spring, summer and fall with help to get back out on the land. As indigenous people, we spend a lot of time out on the land, either at the coast or in the large delta we have here, which is about 18,000 square kilometres, where people have their camps, cabins, cottages or whatever you want to call them. This was an opportunity where we saw a lot of family bonding, not only parents and children but also grandparents and grandchildren; enhancing their life skills out there; giving them an opportunity to get back out and live more on the land, with nutrition from there; and making it a healthier opportunity and getting away from the communities. We saw a lot of stress and anxiety in people from the remote communities, knowing that if this pandemic gets into one of our small communities, it will spread quite rapidly. There is that concern there.
We were interested in the federal government's announcement in the past on different mobile camps. I can't remember the proper term, but we thought these would be medical camps that would be mobilized if there was a pandemic outbreak in one of our remote communities. A medical team would go in and use these camps for different testing and isolation purposes.
We've also provided activity kits to five different age groups—zero to three, four to six, and that sort of age group all the way up to 18. There are different reading, writing, arithmetic and science activities within those kits. We see the need to keep them occupied and busy. We'll be looking to do that again as we move forward. As I said, we're in a cold, dark period of the year now. People will be spending a lot more time inside.
Housing is a significant issue that we have. We have been working with the federal government to try to alleviate housing issues within our region as well as across Inuit Nunangat. Overcrowding is a significant issue in all areas of the north. That is where there's a major concern about the pandemic spreading quite rapidly.
I would support the previous presenter in regard to the need for improved bandwidth. COVID has demonstrated the dire need and the lack of infrastructure throughout Canada's north.
I would also support the comment in regard to the need for more rapid testing, especially in these isolated areas, because we don't have large hospitals or large medical teams that are easily available or ready. We have small nursing centres. Some of these communities have two nurses. My community is the hub, so we have doctors here.
Again, the other concern is testing and the potential for burnout in regard to the volume of people they're having to see.
I would also point—
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
My next question is for Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith, you said earlier that you have helped your community by making cleaning kits and food hampers, and providing support for fundraising.
What support have you received from the government to help you support your community?
Duane Smith
View Duane Smith Profile
Duane Smith
2020-12-01 11:57
We received approximately $5.8 million to deliver all of those different services, programs, kits and so on.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also want to thank all of the witnesses here today for your testimony. It has been extremely informative.
I will start with you, Mr. Smith. You talked earlier in your testimony about your concerns around burnout among health care folks, the incredible work they are having to do during this time, and the fact that so many in your region don't have a lot of health professionals. You also mentioned very briefly the psychological support that has been available for people.
Could you talk a little about the concerns you have around burnout? I want to recognize that so many community members and everyday people are also struggling during COVID. You have two levels of burnout. There are the everyday folks and then there are the professionals trying to care for them. I'm wondering about the resources available and how you're working collaboratively to manage that burnout.
Duane Smith
View Duane Smith Profile
Duane Smith
2020-12-01 12:02
Thank you for the question.
We're our own indigenous government, so we do provide these types of additional services to try to alleviate the demand on the health system within the region and the territory.
A lot of the medical staff here are transient. They will come up from one of the provinces. A doctor and even some nurses will come in on rotation for say eight weeks at a time, but when they go back to wherever they come from, they are continuing to work. Those demands and pressures are still on them on a daily basis. We're trying to provide other services, such as home care workers who can go into the households to check on the elderly or those who are in need of that type of service. We are able to provide that as well.
I also mentioned the counselling services. We have done that in the past and we have a lot of experience with providing that due to residential school issues. That's where we provided those supports.
We're looking at any and all means. Like I said, we're providing medical kits to the households as well—rubber gloves, masks, first aid kits, hand sanitizer. These are a part of these kits that we're trying to get into the households so that they are readily available to them as well. It is difficult at times to find some of this material, but we're trying to get as much as we can into each household.
Christopher Sheppard
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Christopher Sheppard
2020-12-01 12:26
Thank you, committee. Good afternoon, or good morning in Saskatchewan.
I'm Christopher Sheppard, the president of the National Association of Friendship Centres. I want to recognize that I'm joining you today from Treaty 6 and the homeland of the Métis. I am so thankful for the welcome I've received while being a visitor in their territories.
As is customary, I'm here with Jocelyn Formsma, who is our executive director, We'll field questions jointly and try to answer as many of them as we can.
I want to thank you for the invitation once again to appear before you today on the timely topic of support for indigenous communities, businesses and individuals during COVID-19.
From our previous testimony to this committee, you are already aware that the NAFC represents more than a hundred local friendship centres and PTs—provincial and territorial associations—in every province and territory in Canada, except Prince Edward Island.
Friendship centres are urban indigenous community hubs that are owned and operated by indigenous people and provide a wide range of programs and services for every age and demographic of people. We offer services in justice, health, violence prevention, housing, homelessness, economic development, entrepreneurship, employment and training, children and youth programming, education, languages, culture, sports and recreation. Collectively, we are one of the largest and most comprehensive service delivery networks in Canada, and not just among indigenous organizations.
When the pandemic was declared, friendship centres rolled up their sleeves and got to work. Having to pivot quickly, we moved to collect items—food, supplies, protective equipment—and began delivering kits to community members. We had friendship centre staff cooking food in their own homes to package and deliver and had staff and volunteers going out to pick traditional medicines to include in deliveries.
Delivery of these items also allowed friendship centres to check in on community members to see how they were dealing with the pandemic. In one instance, a friendship centre discovered that a family had a broken stove. The friendship centre arranged for a new one to be delivered to the family so that they could cook their own food.
Friendship centres rented handwashing stations and portable toilets to ensure that people had access to sanitation, especially those who were unsheltered. Friendship centre outreach workers have been ensuring that unsheltered or homeless members of the community know what indigenous specific supports are available.
Friendship centres have spearheaded or joined COVID-19 joint task forces and worked with numerous other community organizations to ensure a joint response in collaboration.
We have secured and delivered more than 400 tablets and distributed them across the country. These tablets went to children and young people for school, families for work, seniors to reduce isolation and foster connections, and to friendship centre staff to transition to providing online support. We are so proud of the way our members network has stepped up and stepped forward in these times.
Our work has not come without challenges. As urban indigenous organizations, we experienced what continues to be an ongoing jurisdictional wrangling that has been noticed since the beginning. Neither the federal nor the provincial governments stepped up early to provide supports specific to urban indigenous organizations, with each inquiring of us what contributions the other level of government was making.
Once friendship centres did receive funding, there were misunderstandings about what the funding was for. While friendship centres applied for and received funds to provide community-wide supports, we received many calls for individual or family financial support.
Despite these challenges, friendship centres' responses have been quite incredible. While we do not expect the level of service to decline any time soon—in fact, we expect it to increase over the next four to six weeks, as the holidays are close—we are also looking to the future.
Current funding is set to end on March 31, 2021, and we are gravely concerned that the community supports that people are now relying on will not be able to continue into the new fiscal year. We forecast that the current levels of support, eventual vaccine distribution and then the “building back better” phase will require heavy engagement with urban indigenous people, organizations and communities.
Indigenous people are a priority population in this pandemic, and we need to ensure that urban indigenous people are not left behind.
The NAFC has offered and continues to offer its perspectives, expertise and knowledge of urban indigenous communities and community members to the federal government to help inform them and to guide effective remedies both now and as we continue on this journey. We look forward to being part of the ongoing conversation and continued investment in this work.
Thank you so much.
Bryan Mark
View Bryan Mark Profile
Bryan Mark
2020-11-26 19:04
I would like to start by thanking you for giving me this opportunity today.
On behalf of the chiefs of the nine communities that make up the Innu nation of Quebec, representing approximately 20,000 members, I want to thank you for the invitation you extended on May 26 to appear before the committee. That was exactly six months ago today. I want to thank my colleague, Chief Mike McKenzie, for participating in that meeting and standing up for the needs of the Innu nation. I also want to thank Dr. Stanley Volant, an Innu doctor and one of our members.
As you know, we have highly knowledgeable experts providing medical support as part of the Innu nation unit in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the first wave, we have been able to protect our communities, and that continues now, in the midst of the second wave. The Côte-Nord is one of the only regions in Quebec that is not considered a red zone—an area deemed to have the highest risk of transmission of COVID-19. The Innu make up 12% of the population in the region. We are convinced that, thanks to the strategic unit, we were better able to align our local efforts with regional measures.
Like our ancestors, we were forward-thinking, anticipating future events and taking initiative to mobilize and better support our community. Our collective leadership is a testament to the pride we have as Innu. Our priority is the health of our people, and we will keep up our efforts. Now, we must continue working to prevent outbreaks that would send us into reaction and response mode.
Our members have made enormous sacrifices. The reality is we are geographically isolated and that puts us at risk. We have many people who continue to come and go in our communities, ranging from construction workers and health care workers to educators and transportation service providers. Understanding our reality is paramount. We accept all essential workers, but we are also confronted with the challenge of keeping our people, especially our seniors, healthy. Luckily, they have been spared thus far thanks to our collective efforts.
The overriding concern of our elected representatives in the Côte-Nord and Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean administrative regions is the vulnerability of our populations to the pandemic given the high risk of spread. That spread would be serious, indeed, if we could not afford to keep the resources we had managed to put in place to protect our communities. Since the second wave began, we have been able to implement co-operation-based protection measures, with the help of our partners.
The question we were asking back in May, during the first wave, was this: What steps has the federal government taken to ensure the continuity of health and safety services in our communities? Some funding supports are in place, but restrictions are in effect, restrictions we have to explain to our people.
We have gleaned bits and pieces about the vaccination strategy that has been so talked about of late, and we urge federal authorities to set out a clear plan for the months ahead, one that goes hand in hand with our local approach. First nations governance must have a hand in developing and implementing the plan. We are calling on the federal government to ensure its short-, medium- and long-term measures support those we have taken, whether in the area of health care, social services, education, public safety, the management and protection of Nitassinan or economic opportunities.
As my colleague Chief Mike McKenzie said back in May, we must be able to rely on the federal government to support our businesses in order to protect what we have. Our economic levers must be maintained and supported to bridge the gaps and stay afloat in the quest for financial autonomy. The economic recovery has nothing to do with us. I would even go so far as to say that a recovery is incompatible with the reality of some of our communities; there can only be talk of an economic beginning.
On a social level, our members need a boost. As you know, winter is long, but it is even longer where we live. We are, for the most part, isolated, but we must encourage our people to keep up the fight against an invisible enemy that few saw coming. We are in solution mode, and we have a plan. We do, however, need help to carry it out.
Come winter, food security becomes a real concern.
Our elders need reassurance that they will be able to eat caribou, that the essential cultural connection between the Atik caribou and Innu will not be broken, that our families will be able to find comfort during the holiday season and celebrate—in accordance with the rules—by at least eating what our people have eaten since time immemorial.
We are requesting substantial support for our traditional food security. With respect for the resource and the rules, our hunters are ready to set off in search of food to feed their families, as our ancestors have always done. That is vital.
Bear in mind that our reality is unique and that we always have to fight for what is obvious. The spectre of federal and provincial authorities is always there and can often delay what is obvious. The fact is political goodwill is the ingredient that will help ensure measures are aligned to make a real difference.
We stepped up as a nation and we are continuing to do so. However, we need support if we are to keep the situation under control. People's lives are at stake.
Tshinashkumitin. Thank you.
Daniel Watson
View Daniel Watson Profile
Daniel Watson
2020-02-25 12:44
In the agreements that we've set up with many parts of the country with the comprehensive land claims, those authorities are there. They aren't always taken up once they exist in those agreements, but that's been a great interest to many first nations for the very reasons you're talking about.
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