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Results: 136 - 150 of 447
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Absolutely. I think that, as we've seen, it's been a learning lesson with proof points. I think that's been said to us often and has been advocated and is self-evident for indigenous communities and less self-evident for federal government bodies. What we've seen through COVID are proof points, such as on-the-land learning and on-the-land isolation for physical health and mental health and the proven tangible results. I think there's something to learn from this COVID epidemic in how we can support local knowledge for protecting their own people, particularly as it relates to mental health. Obviously, that is no excuse for the federal government stepping back when there is a need, but it is a further reminder that we should do so in partnership and not with Ottawa in a top-down position.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is this.
Mr. Miller, you recently unveiled a map on your department's website that identifies the indigenous communities that do not have access to clean drinking water. However, there is one indigenous community that does not appear on that map that also does not have clean drinking water, and that is Kitcisakik, which is in my riding.
Why is Kitcisakik invisible?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
With respect to Kitcisakik, negotiations are underway with the province about moving the community. Obviously, during these discussions about moving, we will still be here for that community.
In Quebec, there is no boil water advisory, and that is the result of the hard work we have done over the years. For identifying a community that comes under what is called federal jurisdiction, in particular, we count the public drinking water systems that have at least five residential connections.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
We were talking earlier about the discovery of the remains of 215 children in Kamloops. We are very well aware that more discoveries may be made in other Canadian provinces.
Do you have an idea of what you can do to help the communities that are grieving and that are having mental health problems right now, as you explained earlier?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, absolutely.
As you said, this is the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada plainly shows that there could be more than 3,000 or 4,000 persons who have disappeared. It could be considerably more, as Senator Sinclair recently said.
We will be here for the communities.
As I said in English, not all communities are ready. There are elders who have not yet shed tears since they were 15 years old, who are still going through their healing process. There are communities that want to speed things up, and for them, we will be there with financial support, obviously, among other things.
I can't subtract the role of the government of Quebec from the equation. I recently spoke with the minister, Mr. Lafrenière, with whom we have an excellent working relationship to support the communities, but we will not do anything without the consent of the communities. That being said, this statement is not an excuse to take our time. We will be there, with respect and with the informed consent of the community.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2021-06-10 13:13
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
The supplementary budget estimates include $1.2 billion in funding for out-of-court settlements for indigenous legal cases. The legal system has failed indigenous peoples countless times. Where do you expect that money to be used?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thanks, MP Qaqqaq.
I will acknowledge that the legal system in Canada has failed indigenous peoples. One of the present challenges we face as a government and continue to face is that where we are in disagreement in a respectful way.... Obviously, out of court is the preferred way to do so.
I'd ask my team to specify those numbers, because I'm aware of many cases. If they could just break down quickly what those numbers comprise....
We can give you a written response, too.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2021-06-10 13:14
I think that out of court is the way that the federal institution has forced this to go. Residential school survivors should be compensated, and they shouldn't have to sue the government to settle out of court to get their money.
Why is the government willing to spend more than a billion dollars on court settlements but not on ensuring that indigenous peoples have access to basic human rights like housing?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This touches on a question that I, perhaps, can't answer in the time remaining, but closing those socio-economic gaps, talking about those issues that have driven the inequities and violations of human rights, is key. We don't want to get into a court process, but again, people who have suffered harm need to be compensated.
Transforming the system is a part of that, and as you note by implication, no single court case can transform the system when it comes to child and family care as Bill C-92 can and aspires to, as well as all the transformative pieces of legislation in and around languages and inherent right and that form of reparations that we need to do to transform Canada into what people believe it to be but that, frankly, with the news in the last two weeks, is not.
View Bob Bratina Profile
Lib. (ON)
Okay, that's a thumbs-up.
DEPARTMENT OF CROWN-INDIGENOUS RELATIONS AND NORTHERN AFFAIRS
Vote 1a—Operating expenditures..........$866,638,152
Vote 5a—Capital expenditures..........$1,553,000
Vote 10a—Grants and contributions..........$136,347,028
Vote 25a—Debt forgiveness..........$1
(Votes 1a, 5a, 10a and 25a agreed to on division)
DEPARTMENT OF INDIGENOUS SERVICES
Vote 1a—Operating expenditures..........$1,370,648,221
Vote 5a—Capital expenditures..........$31,111,298
Vote 10a—Grants and contributions..........$3,985,198,423
(Votes 1a, 5a and 10a agreed to on division)
The Chair: They pass on division. Having adopted the supplementary estimates, shall I report the supplementary estimates (A), 2021-22 to the House on division?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Thanks so much, everybody. That passes.
We will meet again next on Tuesday with witnesses for our trafficking study.
Could I have a motion to adjourn, please?
Valerie Gideon
View Valerie Gideon Profile
Valerie Gideon
2021-06-03 11:36
I can speak to that.
In budget 2021, we were able to obtain renewal of the Indian residential schools resolution health support program, to continue to extend those mental health and cultural supports to communities across the country until 2024. There are additional mental health resources also that were included, so the total is close to $600 million over three years. That's in addition to the other base programming that we have in the department, such as non-insured health benefits.
Christopher Duschenes
View Christopher Duschenes Profile
Christopher Duschenes
2021-06-01 20:24
It will be quick. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The health and safety of first nations has been the primary concern of Indigenous Services and our minister since the outbreak of the pandemic. A wide range of efforts have been made with first nations to ensure the health and safety of their membership is protected.
In March of 2020, it became clear that there were no regulatory provisions to allow chiefs and councils to postpone or cancel their elections, thus no way to avoid community gatherings during the electoral process and thus potentially exposing members to COVID.
As a result, regulations were put in place to allow chiefs and councils to postpone their elections. These regulations are entitled, as you mentioned, the first nations election cancellation and postponement regulations, regarding prevention of diseases. These regulations have been very well received and used since they came into force in April 2020.
However, the legislative base on which they sit has been questioned. This clause simply serves to retroactively validate these regulations to ensure that they are valid and that the community government decisions made pursuant to these regulations are not put into question.
Thank you very much.
Karen Hogan
View Karen Hogan Profile
Karen Hogan
2021-06-01 11:06
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am pleased to discuss our audit reports, which were tabled in the House of Commons on May 26.
I am accompanied by Jean Goulet and Glenn Wheeler, the principals who were responsible for the audits.
The first of the audit reports considers how the government acquired protective and medical equipment during the pandemic. The second looks at how Indigenous Services Canada provided the protective equipment and health care workers that indigenous communities and organizations needed to respond to COVID-19.
Both audits showed that there were issues in planning and stockpile management before the pandemic. For example, in our audit on procuring personal protective equipment and medical devices, we found that before the pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada had not addressed long-standing and known issues with the systems and practices used to manage and operate the national emergency strategic stockpile.
The Agency knew of these issues because they had been raised in audits and reviews going back more than a decade. As a result, the Public Health Agency of Canada was not as prepared as it should have been to deal with the surge in requests for equipment from the provinces and territories triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In our other audit, we found that Indigenous Services Canada had not followed its own approach to procure sufficient equipment. As a result, it did not have enough of some types of protective equipment in its stockpile when the pandemic broke out.
However, both these audits also showed agility and responsiveness.
Overall, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada helped address the needs of provincial and territorial governments for personal protective equipment and medical devices. Indigenous Services Canada did the same for indigenous communities and organizations. Faced with a crisis, these organizations worked around their outstanding issues with the management and oversight of the emergency equipment stockpiles and adapted their activities.
For example, during the pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada improved how it assessed needs and allocated equipment to help meet the demand for personal protective equipment and medical devices from the provinces and territories. It also outsourced much of the warehousing and logistical support needed to deal with the exceptional volume of purchased equipment.
Similarly, Health Canada reacted to the increased demand created by the pandemic by modifying its management of license applications from suppliers for personal protective equipment and medical devices.
Public Services and Procurement Canada also made adjustments by accepting some risks to facilitate the quick purchase of large quantities of equipment in a highly competitive market where supply was not always keeping pace with demand.
If the departments had not adapted their approaches to the circumstances, it is likely that the government would not have been able to acquire the volume of equipment that was needed.
Indigenous Services Canada also adapted quickly to respond to the pandemic and relied on the national emergency strategic stockpile to fill pre-existing shortages of items in its own stockpile, such as gloves and hand sanitizers.
The department supplied indigenous communities and organizations when provinces and territories were unable to provide them with personal protective equipment. The department also expanded access to its stockpile beyond those directly supporting the delivery of health services to include police officers and people in communities who were sick with COVID-19 or caring for sick family members.
Indigenous Services Canada also streamlined its processes for hiring nurses in remote or isolated First Nations communities and made its contract nurses and paramedics available to all indigenous communities to respond to additional health care needs due to COVID-19. While the department took steps to increase capacity, the number of requests for extra nurses and paramedics also increased. As a result, the department was unable to meet more than half of the 963 requests for extra nurses and paramedics that it received between March 2020 and March 2021.
Our audits of the government's pandemic response continue to show that when the people who make up the federal public service are faced with a crisis, they are able to rally and focus on serving the needs of Canadians.
However, these audits also show that issues forgotten or left unaddressed have a way of coming back, typically at the worst possible time.
Canada was not as well prepared to face the pandemic as it would have been if the stockpile of emergency equipment had been better managed and if a long-term solution had been put in place for health care workers, such as nurses, in indigenous communities.
If there is one overall lesson to learn from this pandemic, it is that government departments need to take action to resolve long-standing issues and to see the value in being better prepared for a rainy day.
Madam Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We are pleased to answer questions.
Thank you.
Results: 136 - 150 of 447 | Page: 10 of 30

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