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Results: 436 - 447 of 447
Valerie Gideon
View Valerie Gideon Profile
Valerie Gideon
2020-03-12 11:53
I will speak to it.
The source of that information is the first nations regional longitudinal health survey. It's cyclical, over a four- or five-year period. That is the reason. However, that is a first nations data source that's entirely controlled and driven by first nations. That indicator is crafted by first nations to the First Nations Information Governance Centre.
View Marcus Powlowski Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you.
H1N1, which was the last COVID-19-like virus to go around, disproportionately affected people in northern indigenous communities for the reasons you mentioned, probably the usual social determinants of health, lack of water, overcrowding, those kinds of things. However, I think there was probably also a genetic component. Being a doctor in Thunder Bay regional hospital at the time, we had a lot of ICU beds occupied by people from northern communities. There were young people who got H1N1 and were ill enough that they had to be intubated and put on a ventilator.
The ultimate concern with COVID-19 is the proportion of people who have more serious illnesses. The answer to that, if you're in one of the northern fly-in communities, is to fly them out. In the case of an epidemic, you're probably going to need more planes, better transportation systems. Is that being considered and prepared for?
Valerie Gideon
View Valerie Gideon Profile
Valerie Gideon
2020-03-12 11:55
Air ambulance services are done through provincial governments. Particularly in northern Ontario, it's entirely the Ornge contract. That is entirely an Ontario contract. That speaks to the absolute importance of ensuring that provincial and territorial governments, particularly provincial governments, are factoring in first nations communities in their pandemic planning, because what our department can influence is what's local or in the community, which will not be sufficient at all in response to COVID-19.
View Marcus Powlowski Profile
Lib. (ON)
Some people in certain provinces seem to have provincial governments that are maybe less responsive to their communities' social and health needs than other provinces are to their own. I won't mention any particular provinces.
What can you do for people who may be in a province like, speculatively speaking, Ontario, who may be concerned about their provincial government's lack of responsiveness to something like this, to ensure that people in those northern indigenous communities aren't left out because of a provincial government that maybe isn't as proactive as we might like?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
To the extent that the services and administration haven't been involved—like in FNHA or in territories—we have had an excellent response rate from provinces. We have joint protocols in many measures to augment and coordinate among each other. You don't want authorities tripping over each other. With responsible leadership, I think everyone is cognizant of the fact that we have to rely on science and to check our operational controls and our capacity to surge.
I won't speculate as to unwillingness. I think everyone is on the same page and knows the emergency and urgency of this pandemic and at the very least how to slow it. There is good to very good communication among governments to ensure that communities in need get the services they need when they need them. Should they not, we are prepared to step in aggressively.
View Marcus Powlowski Profile
Lib. (ON)
I want to change gear and ask about water supply.
There seems to be an issue with sudden, unpredicted problems with the water supply and the inability to respond quickly to that. For example, the Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario was evacuated earlier this year because of a sudden problem with the water supply.
I've heard this wasn't the case, that there wasn't an inventory of what each first nations community had in their water purification system. When there was a problem, the people in Thunder Bay, for example, who were providing the solutions, didn't know what equipment they had up there. They suggested there ought to be some sort of inventory so that Indigenous Affairs—though I'm not sure who it would be—would know which community has what equipment, so that when there's a problem they're able to rapidly respond.
The second part is that some rapid water purification systems are available. Have you contemplated trying to see if we could use them to respond to these emergencies so they didn't have to do things like evacuate communities?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We have a wide variety of measures we can put in place when these issues arise. The very strict standards around water are such that issues arise more frequently. Correspondingly, we respond quickly. If you look at what happened in Fort Severn, we're working quite quickly to thaw the pipe that froze.
These things do arise, and we're ready to act quite quickly.
As to the inventory, if we have a second, I'll let my staff respond to the inventory.
Sony Perron
View Sony Perron Profile
Sony Perron
2020-03-12 11:59
We have a good knowledge of recently replaced or built systems. Sometimes additions or changes are made to old systems and our staff are not aware of that. Often when there is a problem, someone with the technical expertise needs to go there to determine the source of the problem. Is it the pump, the filtration system, a maintenance issue?
So at a distance, we have some information. But to be really honest, when no diagnostics can be done at the local level, we sometimes have to fly someone into the community to try to determine the nature of the problem and the potential immediate and long-term solutions.
View Bob Bratina Profile
Lib. (ON)
No, we're not. We have to vote on the main estimates.
DEPARTMENT OF INDIGENOUS SERVICESVote 1—Operating expenditures....$1,949,217,820Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$6,832,498Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$10,741,544,381
(Votes 1, 5 and 10 agreed to)
CANADIAN HIGH ARCTIC RESEARCH STATIONVote 1—Program expenditures..........$29,453,623
(Vote 1 agreed to)
DEPARTMENT OF CROWN-INDIGENOUS RELATIONS AND NORTHERN AFFAIRSVote 1—Operating expenditures..........$1,528,290,836Vote 5—Capital expenditures..........$268,287Vote 10—Grants and contributions..........$3,309,017,994Vote L15—Loans to Indigenous claimants..........$25,903,000
(Votes 1, 5, 10 and L15 agreed to)
The Chair: The votes are all carried.
Shall I report the votes to the House?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen of the committee, we have some—
Yes, Mr. Anandasangaree.
Tom Wong
View Tom Wong Profile
Tom Wong
2020-02-27 11:40
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Our department has no opening remarks, and we are open for questions.
Jean-François Tremblay
View Jean-François Tremblay Profile
Jean-François Tremblay
2020-02-25 11:18
Good morning, Mr. Chair.
It is a pleasure to appear before this committee today.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are on the traditional and unceeded territory of the Algonquin people.
I am joined by Gail Mitchell, Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy and Partnerships.
My goal is to give you a bit of background on Indigenous Services Canada, what we have accomplished so far, and what the road ahead looks like.
The department came into being on November 30, 2017. It brought together first nations and Inuit health services, formerly with Health Canada, with all the other services that were basically inside the old INAC. Those included education, essential social services, child and family services programs, housing, and infrastructure programs. The idea was to replace old colonial structures and to fast-track self-determination, to contribute to closing the socio-economic gaps, and to advance reconciliation.
The legislation that created this department came into force in July 2019, and clearly guides our work ahead, which is first to focus on improving the delivery of services and programs to indigenous communities across the country using a distinctions-based approach, with a particular focus on closing the socio-economic gap between indigenous peoples and non-indigenous Canadians.
Our second goal is to support indigenous peoples in delivering services and improving socio-economic conditions in their communities, because they are best placed to do so.
Indigenous Services Canada works in partnership with first nations, Inuit and Métis to improve access to high-quality services for indigenous peoples, and in doing so, improve the quality of life. The role of Indigenous Services Canada is to listen and support indigenous-led solutions and strategies. This is the only way that we can continue to build a new relationship grounded in the recognition of rights, respect, co-operation, partnership and self-determination. As my colleague noted, our approach is changing from imposing to actually moving toward co-developing.
The ultimate goal is to support the self-determination of indigenous people so that Indigenous Services Canada would no longer need to exist.
The objective is for us to disappear.
To this end, the department is focused on five key priorities: children and families together; quality education; improving health outcomes; reliable infrastructure; and economic prosperity.
We have made good progress in all of those areas.
I will use some examples.
On the well-being of indigenous children and keeping children and families together, which is one of the most important priorities, we have passed, thanks to Parliament, the Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families. This legislation puts into law what indigenous peoples across the country have demanded, which is to have jurisdiction to develop and deliver child and family services, so that indigenous communities, organizations, and governments can decide themselves what is best for their children, families and communities. The goal, of course, is to drastically reduce the number of children in care.
We implemented Jordan's principle, which helps first nations children receive the assistance they need when they need it. Between 2016 and 2019, more than 508,000 products, services and supports, like tutoring, educational supports, speech therapy, medical equipment such as hearing aids, and mental health services, were approved under Jordan's principle. Probably half of that was last year, to show you how much it has grown.
We improved quality education for every first nations child by co-developing and implementing with first nations a new policy and funding approach for education on reserve that provides base funding comparable to provincial systems across the country. It also provides resources to support full-time kindergarten to four- and five-year-olds, as well as language and culture programs in first nations schools.
Jean-François Tremblay
View Jean-François Tremblay Profile
Jean-François Tremblay
2020-02-25 11:22
On improving health outcomes, Canada is working with first nations to advance indigenous-led approaches to mental wellness and to provide better access to effective, sustainable and culturally appropriate services.
There are now 63 community-led mental wellness teams serving 344 communities, up from 11 teams in 2015. In December, Minister Miller announced $2.5 million to the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations to develop an evidence-based suicide prevention strategy.
The goal is to support the development of other regional first nations strategies that would then inform a comprehensive national distinctions-based mental wellness approach.
On infrastructure, we are working to ensure that indigenous people in Canada have access to adequate, safe, healthy and affordable housing and clean drinking water. A joint working group, made up of the Assembly of First Nations and our department, with the support of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, is co-developing a 10-year national first nations housing and related infrastructure implementation plan. Together we have lifted, as you know, 88 long-term drinking water advisories. We are still planning to have them all lifted by March 2021. ln partnership with first nations communities, we are also working toward long-term solutions to improve on-reserve water and waste-water infrastructure and ensure that water facilities operate efficiently and are maintained.
On economic development, we know that closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Canadians in socio-economic conditions could boost Canada's GDP significantly. We have numbers saying that it is $27.7 billion, according to the National Indigenous Economic Development Board. That is why, based on a recommendation co-developed with the Assembly of First Nations to provide sufficient, predictable and sustained funding for first nations, we are working on a 10-year transfer agreement so that first nations can count on predictable funding and have the freedom to design and deliver services based on their priorities. This past year, 85 first nations signed 10-year transfer agreements.
We are also working with all partners and stakeholders to have at least 5% of federal contracts awarded to businesses managed and led by indigenous people. We continue to capitalize aboriginal financial institutions, a key source of funding for indigenous entrepreneurs. Last year alone, these institutions provided $125 million in development loans to indigenous entrepreneurs, helping to establish 1,158 new businesses, 36% of which are owned by indigenous women.
For hundreds of years, indigenous peoples have been calling on the Canadian government to recognize and affirm their jurisdiction over their affairs, to have control over their land, housing, education, governance systems, and services.
There is still a lot to be done. And as we have seen in recent weeks, there will be stumbling blocks along the way, but the work will be worth it.
It is worth it for all of us.
Meegwetch.
Results: 436 - 447 of 447 | Page: 30 of 30

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