Committee
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 1 - 15 of 1825
Coralee McGuire-Cyrette
View Coralee McGuire-Cyrette Profile
Coralee McGuire-Cyrette
2021-06-17 11:07
Good morning, Chair and committee members. My name is Coralee McGuire-Cyrette. I am the executive director of the Ontario Native Women's Association.
This year marks ONWA's 50th anniversary, making us the oldest and largest indigenous women's organization in Canada. With a mandate to address violence against indigenous women, ONWA works on such key safety issues as human trafficking, missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and child welfare.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge the bravery, wisdom and leadership of all survivors on this issue, as they are the experts. ONWA has been working with survivors for many years. This experience forms the basis of our recommendations. Survivors and knowledge-holders have reminded us that motherhood is the oldest profession, and this is what we must reclaim in our work.
I'll be framing my presentation today based on three key points. While I do not have the time today to explore them in depth, it's imperative that they are kept in mind while we continue.
First, in 2019 the United Nations released guidelines on combatting child sexual exploitation. They state that a child under the age of 18 can never consent to any form of their own sale, sexual exploitation or sexual abuse, and any presumed consent of a child to exploitative or sexual acts should be considered “null and void”. Additionally, article 35 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that the government has a responsibility to ensure that children are not abducted, sold or trafficked. ONWA advocates that both principles must, without exception, be adhered to.
Second, the impact of colonization has caused the fabric of strong, self-sustaining indigenous communities to be eroded. Indigenous trauma, together with more recent constructs, has fostered conditions of normalized violence towards indigenous women and girls. Direct links have been drawn between the rates of violence that indigenous women continue to face today and the paternalistic policies emerging from colonization. This systemic discrimination has not been addressed adequately in Canada. This leaves indigenous women and girls at a heightened vulnerability to experience victimization, including human trafficking.
Article 18 of the UNDRIP affirms that “Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters...through representatives chosen by themselves” and to “maintain and develop their own...institutions”. From this, ONWA asserts that it is fundamental that indigenous women have the capacity to participate in a wide range of leadership efforts to support our communities, including leading the prevention, intervention and response to issues that we face.
Third, the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened pre-existing inequalities. By virtue of our gender and our race, we are, as indigenous women and girls, disproportionately experiencing the consequences of COVID-19. This results in an increased risk of indigenous women and girls being targeted for human trafficking, as well as worsening the situation for those already in trafficking situations. The pandemic has underscored that solutions to human trafficking must be part of an equitable COVID-19 recovery plan.
In 2017 we engaged with over 3,360 community members and service providers, including 250 indigenous human trafficking survivors. The storytelling that was heard resulted in the creation of a strategy, titled “Journey to Safe Spaces”, to address this issue.
Survivors taught us what trauma-informed care is and what systems need to be changed. Their intentions were clear. They wanted to protect other indigenous women and girls from trafficking. We also learned that there are often systemic failures that subject indigenous women and children to risk. The relationship between child welfare and human trafficking is complex. In our engagements with survivors, we heard many stories. In some instances, the abuse was not identified by any service provider, and children experienced horrific childhood exploitation. In other instances, sexual exploitation began after child welfare became involved.
Children must be protected from exploitation—period. This will involve systems working together to protect and ensure the safety of our children.
Our report provides clear recommendations for change. All changes must be underpinned by the fact that indigenous women have human rights. The recommendations from survivors provided the basis for our courage for change program, which provides the only long-term, intensive case management and support. Our program supported 176 indigenous women and girls to safely exit human trafficking from 2017 to 2019. Last year, in 2020, we saw a 37% increase in exits.
Before I conclude, I'll highlight five essential recommendations, many of which can be found in ONWA's “Reconciliation with Indigenous Women”. In this report, we recommend actions that are very specific and targeted to end human trafficking while supporting survivors. The missing and murdered indigenous women and girls national action plan does not include our report's recommendations sufficiently.
First, collaborative mechanisms must be put in place to allow for provincial and national data collection on the human trafficking of indigenous women that protects the privacy of survivors who access services with data collected by the legal reform.
Second, sustainable programs and services that address human trafficking survivor-specific needs, including wraparound support and 24-hour services for human trafficking in cities all across the country, must be implemented.
Third, specialized trauma-informed services for survivors who appear in court must be created. When charges are laid against a trafficker, survivor safety must be prioritized throughout the legal process.
Fourth, the federal government needs to clear the records of survivors of any criminal offences for prostitution-related offences and with debt forgiveness for student loans.
Fifth, additional funding is urgently required to address human trafficking well beyond the provision of funds for education-related activities only. This is to include comprehensive human trafficking exiting supports, such as mental health and addictions services, housing, specialized long-term healing and supportive services.
In closing, I encourage the committee to review our “Reconciliation with Indigenous Women” report and our “Journey to Safe Spaces” strategy in full, as they provide a road map to keep indigenous women and girls safe from human trafficking and to the supports needed to rebuild their lives.
Meegwetch.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
You also talked about the consequences of the COVID‑19 pandemic. Can you tell us more about those?
Coralee McGuire-Cyrette
View Coralee McGuire-Cyrette Profile
Coralee McGuire-Cyrette
2021-06-17 11:39
Yes, during COVID-19 not every home was safe to be in, if you had a home. The level of violence increased against indigenous women and girls, and the level of violence in exploiting children and youth also increased during this time. The level of community safety response across Canada wasn't there. There is no safety plan for indigenous women and girls comprehensively across Canada. That's really where we're able to see in the pandemic, for instance, that drug trafficking of indigenous women increased. Because people didn't have access to the usual types of drugs that they use, you've seen an increase in overdoses and increases in deaths due to that.
Who has suffered as a result of that? It is the women and children, those currently being exploited, as well as those being recruited, especially online. When you're looking at online childhood exploitation, everybody's online during this pandemic. We're looking at increasing high-speed Internet to our indigenous communities. We need to build in safety protocols to ensure that, in regard to what they currently don't have access to and they're going to, we protect the children in those communities. We need to make sure that the cyber-services are protecting children.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Kwe kwe. Unnusakkut. Tansi. Hello.
Hello.
Before I begin, I want to acknowledge that in Ottawa, I'm on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
First and foremost, I do want to say a few words for the communities, families and friends impacted by the tragic news of the children whose remains were recently found at the former Kamloops residential school located on the traditional territory of the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc people.
I'd like to thank the members for their continued advocacy and echoing indigenous voices here in Parliament.
While this discovery has shocked and disturbed the nation, for indigenous peoples across the country, these findings are deeply painful, traumatizing and triggering, although they are not surprising, particularly for the indigenous peoples who have known this truth for far too long.
Our thoughts remain with the families and communities impacted not only by this discovery but by the residential school system. It is essential that we respect and continue to respect the privacy, space and mourning period of those communities that are collecting their thoughts and putting together their protocols as to how to honour these children.
We recognize that there is a continuing need for psychological wellness services associated with childhood and intergenerational trauma. We will continue to work with our partners and the communities, first and foremost to ensure adequate access to appropriate services.
The survivors and the families affected by the indigenous residential schools system have access, among other things, to the national Indian residential schools crisis line if they need it. The Indian residential schools resolution health support program also offers access to elders, to traditional healers and to other appropriate forms of cultural and emotional support, as well as to professional mental health counselling.
In addition, all indigenous peoples can access the hope for wellness help line, online or by phone, to get help. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are offering additional support so that indigenous communities can adapt and broaden mental health services.
We also recently announced $597.6 million over three years for a mental health and wellness strategy based, of course, on the distinct characteristics of the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis Nation. The strategy includes continuing support for former residential schools students and their families. It will be based on existing competencies and will help to fill gaps and respond to the existing, emerging and future needs of indigenous communities.
I'm here today to answer your questions on the supplementary estimates (A) for 2021-22 and to provide you with an update on continuing efforts to confront the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. I will also answer any other questions that the committee chooses.
For this year, the total authority will be $18.9 billion, which reflects a net increase of $5.4 billion. This includes support for initiatives such as funding for COVID-19 responses, including, notably, $760.7 million for the indigenous community support fund that has been so welcomed, $64 million for the continuation of public health responses in indigenous communities and $332.8 million for indigenous communities affected by disruptions to their revenue due to COVID-19, which we announced, made official and launched yesterday.
The net increase for the supplementary estimates (A) also includes $1.2 billion for out-of-court settlements to advance Canada's overall commitment to reconciliation by paving the way to a more respectful and constructive relationship with indigenous peoples.
It also includes $1.1 billion for child and family services to support a proactive agreement on a non-compliance motion before the CHRT. The funding is crucial. Since the CHRT issued its first order for Canada to cease its discriminatory practices in 2016, we have been working with first nations leaders and partners to implement the tribunal's orders, and we are in compliance. The $1.1 billion will go to communities that are engaged in activities that prevent the apprehension of kids and contribute to the transformation of the system that has been so broken.
Let me be clear once again. We share the same goal: First nations children historically harmed by the child welfare system will receive fair, just and equitable compensation. The government is not questioning or challenging the notion that compensation should be awarded to first nations children who were harmed by the historical discrimination and underfunding of the child welfare system. The question is not whether we compensate; it is a question of doing so in a way that is fair, equitable and inclusive of those directly impacted.
To this end, we have already consented to certification of the consolidated class action filed in the Federal Court by the Assembly of First Nations and Councillor Xavier Moushoom regarding the same children who were harmed by the system, as contemplated by the CHRT. Furthermore, we are currently in mediation with the partners, but as is set out in the mediation agreement, those discussions will remain confidential out of respect.
We remain committed to providing first nations children access to the necessary supports and services in partnership with indigenous peoples. To that effect, it's important to note that 820,000 claims under Jordan's principle have been processed since 2016, which represents close to $2 billion in funding.
Most notably, in January 2020, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families came into force. It is key to this conversation in transforming the relationship, responding to the calls to action and setting a new way forward. Indigenous governments and communities have always had the inherent right to decide things that people like me take for granted; that is, what is best for their children, their families and their communities. The act provides a path for them to fully exercise and lift up that jurisdiction.
As a result of this work led by indigenous communities, two indigenous laws have now come into force under the federal law, the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations law in Ontario and the Cowessess First Nation Miyo Pimatisowin Act in Saskatchewan. In each of these communities, children will have greater opportunity to grow up and thrive immersed in their culture and surrounded by loved ones.
I will now move on to an update on COVID-19.
Throughout the pandemic, and still today, Indigenous Services Canada has been aware of the particular vulnerability of indigenous communities to the virus.
From the outset, we knew that immediate, decisive measures were necessary to protect the communities as best we could. Our absolute priority was the safety, health and well-being of the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis.
However, without the dedication and determination of all of the leaders of those communities, none of that would have been possible. I want to thank them for their continuous work over the last year, in particular in encouraging the members of their communities to get vaccinated.
With respect to vaccine roll-out, as of June 7, 687 indigenous communities had campaigns underway. In total, that corresponds to 540,581 doses administered, including first and second doses.
This means that 41% of eligible people aged 12 and over in the communities or living in the territories have received two doses of the vaccine. This is crucial in the communities where the population is predominantly young.
In addition, 80% of people have received a first dose, and if we consider those aged 12 and over, we are talking about 72%. So this is tremendous progress.
With respect to the number of cases, as of June 9, in First Nations communities, we are aware of 761 active cases, which is, fortunately, a decline from the previous week. That brings us now to just about 30,568 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Of those, 29,459 people have recovered, and, tragically, 348 others have died.
I see that perhaps that you're flagging me, Bob, or do I have a couple of minutes?
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you.
I have probably one final question. COVID-19 magnified the realities of some of the jurisdictional quagmires around indigenous people in urban settings. You and I have had the conversation many times about friendship centres and the funding. It took some time to kind of make it through the community support funding process for the urban indigenous folks. Friendship centres offer a variety of services that are as diverse as the communities they serve. I know that friendship centres are looking for a longer-term commitment so that they can plan for their future, invest in infrastructure, make sure they have commitments to programs that are ongoing, and make good, efficient decisions.
Is there anything going on with any of the budget work or the estimate work that would provide that long-term commitment for friendship centres that serve urban indigenous people?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, certainly, MP Vidal, in budget 2021 there is a large pot of funding for infrastructure that we are currently parsing out, working with community members to see how that would fold out based on need and based on shovel-ready projects. There is a lot of light and hope at the end of the tunnel.
Certainly, the amounts that we've announced through the indigenous community support fund through COVID, for which there will be four or five waves—the latest one went out last week—has a rubric, an envelope, that is dedicated to the work the friendship centres are doing, serving indigenous communities off reserve, and also with room for tribal councils serving their people who live outside their communities. That's an important element and aspect to it. What we—
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Well, yes, I guess what I was trying to say was that there has been some immense work done under COVID that has been transformative in the work we will be doing going forward in highlighting that relationship. It is a different one from a nation-to-nation relationship, obviously, with friendship centres that have a different form of governance and others that serve community members. It's one that we want to work toward. Knowing the number of indigenous folks who live outside their home communities, it is so key. In budget 2021, although it was not specifically earmarked, there will be some funding for urban indigenous initiatives.
Robert Louie
View Robert Louie Profile
Robert Louie
2021-05-25 11:12
Good day, Mr. Chair and honourable committee members.
I am Robert Louie, chairman of the Lands Advisory Board. My colleague is Andrew Beynon, who works in the First Nations Land Management Resource Centre. He will also be presenting.
We represent the first nations that are self-governing and pass laws under land codes. Some of our first nations have been operational with law-making powers since the turn of the 2000 millennium on January 1, 2000.
We have a serious problem with enforcement and recognition of land code law enforcement by the courts, RCMP and policing authorities. Law-making and self-determination is meaningless without enforcement. Currently, there is a gap. We urge this committee to recommend immediate federal action to resolve these enforcement issues.
The most important message to this committee is the need to solve the crisis in enforcement of first nation laws now, this year—not next year or years later, but now.
This committee has heard about complexity, risks, funding, resourcing, federal-provincial considerations and the need to build partnerships. The focus must turn to answers instead of questions. We urge this committee to sound the alarm by pointing out how much damage is being caused by the failure to enforce first nation laws.
First nations are suffering harm because trespassing, family violence, illegal dumping, violations of COVID-19 restrictions and other offences are occurring right now, and there is no clear enforcement in place. Chief Rempel of K'ómoks First Nation spoke with this committee about the challenges she has faced in dealing with trespassers. Other land code first nations have had to deal with similar trespassing problems, including alleged drug dealers, bikers, homeless encampments and residents of trailers without proper water and sewage hookups. Many land code first nations have faced challenges with illegal dumping and difficulty controlling some environmentally harmful businesses on reserve. The Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management has included matrimonial and real property provisions for decades, but there are major and risky gaps in the enforcement system intended to protect spouses and children.
Land code first nations have tried to control the COVID-19 pandemic on their lands. There has been nothing but failure on this front, with federal and RCMP officials suggesting that old colonial Indian Act bylaws should be used rather than land code authority. Federal officials do not seem to understand that many first nations consider the Indian Act offensive. Land code first nations are past the bylaw phase of the Indian Act. Land code laws are passed by the first nation, not bylaws under the jurisdiction and legislation of the Indian Act.
The crisis in enforcement of first nation laws has consequences for all Canadians. The cost to clean up environmental damage is far more than prevention. Family violence has social costs far beyond individual families. Well-regulated communities contribute to economic prosperity.
We urge this committee to call for a more serious and focused federal report. This committee has heard from five federal agencies. Who has the lead role in the federal bureaucracy for solving the enforcement of the first nation laws crisis? There is a circular firing squad of inaction in the bureaucracy. Questions such as these are asked: What is the source of authority for police officers? What about risk of liability? Too often, the bureaucracy has stopped at questions without driving to answers.
We recommend the appointment of a special federal adviser to help lead the bureaucracy and report to this committee within the next six months. Canada's guidelines for enforcement of Indian Act COVID-19 bylaws excluded the framework agreement and self-government. In our view, this has accidentally sent a perverse message that only the colonial Indian Act works.
We urge this committee to call for federal-provincial solutions. We are seeking to prosecute offences in the provincial courts. The committee should call on federal experts to advise within the next six months on what is needed to unlock provincial co-operation. Federal-provincial discussions will inevitably raise funding concerns, but this should not delay figuring out how to make this work.
Federal funding for land code first nations has increased over the years, but there is still not enough funding to support an adequate enforcement system comparable to other governments in Canada. Funding for enforcement of land code laws should be looked at and increased. Land code first nations understand federal and provincial concerns over resources and funding. We also want an effective and low-cost system and we will work hard to achieve that.
In conclusion, several land code first nations are pursuing pilot projects that we hope will be major successes in the near future. Committee members may be interested in registering at www.indigenousenforcement.com for tomorrow's May 26 discussion of a pilot project led by the Muskoday and Whitecap First Nations in Saskatchewan.
Thank you for your consideration, honourable committee. I will be pleased to answer any questions the committee will have at your leisure.
Thank you.
Leroy Daniel Denny
View Leroy Daniel Denny Profile
Leroy Daniel Denny
2021-05-25 11:18
Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you here from the Eskasoni First Nation community. It's a sunny day here in the beautiful territory of Unama'ki, located on the east coast of Canada. Eskasoni is the largest Mi'kmaq community, with a population of almost 4,700 people.
My name is Chief Leroy Denny, and I am the chief of the community of Eskasoni. I thank you for the invitation to appear before your committee on the motion to study enforcement on first nation reserves.
I was born and raised in Eskasoni, here in my community. My grandfather was also chief of my community. Also, my godfather was a Vietnam vet and a police chief for Eskasoni for many years, and one of the key people who started a police department, the Unama'ki Tribal Police, which I'm going to talk about.
I'm here to address the current policing practices and enforcement in first nation communities.
There is no denying that the impacts of colonialism continue to reverberate in all of our indigenous communities across the country. The costs of policing on reserve remain a source of conflict requiring resolution. Canada's position to hold policing on reserve as a joint responsibility with the provinces has created a jurisdictional confusion that results in inefficient and under-resourced policing, and our community members are the ones who suffer at the end of the day. A special constable program continued on the first nation communities throughout Nova Scotia in the seventies, a program that was underfunded and under-resourced. Since this time, because of these issues, the Mi'kmaq lobby for control over policing in their communities.
As a response to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the Donald Marshall inquiry, the Unama'ki Tribal Police was created in 1994, under the umbrella of the federal first nation policing policy, to provide policing to all five Mi'kmaq communities in Cape Breton, which are Eskasoni, Membertou, Potlotek, Wh'koqma'q and Wagmatcook. I was formerly a employee as a jail guard, and also as a part-time dispatcher at the time, which was one of my first jobs when I was really young.
Attaining control over our policing was a key component in achieving self-determination and enhancing control of enforcement in our communities. This was a decolonized method of offering police services. In it, cultural methodology was used and implemented in community police methods to resolve problems and promote community healing and trust, using our language. In the late nineties and early 2000s, this essential program was defunded, and the RCMP established the Community Aboriginal Diversity Policing Service to serve first nation communities.
Presently, we have RCMP serving our community. I commend their efforts in policing our community, because we have some Mi'kmaq police who are on the force. My own brother served both in the Unama'ki police and the RCMP for our community, and he retired a couple of months ago.
However, as a leader and a community member, I cannot help but see the injustices that we continue to face, not only in becoming self-determined but also in our health and safety on reserve.
When the global pandemic hit last year, there was a directive that the police in indigenous communities and the judiciary would assist indigenous communities to enforce their COVID bylaws, which are the lockdowns we have. However, the reality was not this. What happened was that they didn't respect our bylaws. We had our own curfews, our own lockdowns, and they weren't respected. We had our own restrictions, and we had issues with the police. I ended up calling my MP, to the top office, to make sure our bylaws were respected, but it was very difficult for us for our security and to make sure that the lockdown to keep COVID out was respected.
This issue also hinders our ability to enforce laws made on reserve. Bylaws are not respected and are not honoured by current policing authorities. It makes becoming self-determined within our communities difficult. It was very difficult.
Before I end my submission to the committee today, I would like to discuss the issue of health and safety on reserve in policing. Due to personal experience, I can attest to the issue we face regarding this issue.
At the end of February, February 28, one of my directors, the CEO for Crane Cove Seafoods, was shot. He's my neighbour and also my family member, my first cousin. He was shot next door. To this day, we don't know who shot him.
The first person he called was me because I was next door, down the road. He called me, and I called 911. There was a sound of distress on the phone. He had been shot; there had been two shots.
My family and I all heard gunshots here. I was on 911 for at least a good four minutes. When I got there, 911 told me not to go in, but my family member was in distress, so I had to go in. It had already been 10 minutes, and we were still waiting for the police and still waiting for the paramedics. I had to go in. God knows, I didn't know if there was a shooter there, but I had to sacrifice my own life to save my family member.
After 20 minutes, I had to take him to my vehicle and drive him to the ambulance station. There were no police yet. To this day, I don't know why. I'm still dealing with the trauma. There was a lot of blood I had to deal with. Luckily, he survived. He's recovering.
After 30 minutes—I counted the minutes when I made my statement—the police ended up going to the house to start an investigation. It was poorly done.
He relied on the police and the paramedics. He relied on me. I was the first person to get there. I took him to the ambulance. That shouldn't be. Community members shouldn't be doing that, saving lives in the line of fire. It's the police. We rely on our police and we trust them. That's in the agreements. I shouldn't be doing it; it should be them. I still have a lot of questions about that, and it's not the end of it.
I'll end right there.
Garrison Settee
View Garrison Settee Profile
Garrison Settee
2021-05-25 11:34
Tansi, boozhoo, edlanet'e.
On behalf of the 26 MKO first nations nations under our administration and at least 73,000 people, I am pleased to have the opportunity to share with the committee some of MKO's views on enforcement on first nations reserves.
I will also be making a few references to the MKO book of documents that MKO has provided to assist the committee.
With the help of Mike Anderson, MKO has seven key points.
First, Indian Act bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act are federal regulations under section 2 of the Interpretation Act, subsection 2(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act and subsection 7(l) of the Statutory Instruments Regulations. The B.C. Court of Appeal has confirmed this at paragraph 12 of its 1987 decision in R. v. Jimmy.
Second, and most fundamentally, Canada has failed in its duty to enforce and prosecute these valid laws of Canada. First Nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted for 25 years in Manitoba. This is a quarter of a century.
The protocol relating to the enforcement and prosecution of bylaws adopted pursuant to sections 81 and 85.1 of the Indian Act, mentioned by government witnesses before this committee, confirms that the Indian Act bylaws are not being enforced or prosecuted in Manitoba. Except for the 11 very recent protocol agreements, this has been the case across Canada.
Particularly in remote first nations communities served by periodic RCMP patrols, communities are in crisis due to the uncontrolled bootlegging and drug dealing fuelled by long-term non-enforcement of section 85.1 bylaws.
Communities are also unable to see or ensure that COVID-related emergency measures are being enforced by police and that charges are being laid and offences are being prosecuted. There is no deterrence, and compliance is undermined.
Third, we are making some important progress after a concerted months-long campaign carried out jointly with the First Nations Lands Advisory Board, the Land Management Resource Centre and the Manitoba Public Interest Law Centre.
MKO has been working with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and the commanding officer of RCMP D Division to develop and support operationalizing a protocol that can be applied by all 26 first nations in our territory. The protocol applies only to the enforcement and prosecution of Indian Act bylaws in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the protocol is not a long-term fix of enforcement and prosecution issues.
The Manitoba Department of Justice very recently committed to adopting an MKO recommendation to revise the 2021-22 first nation safety officer programming. These amendments will include a recognition that FNSOs have peace officer powers when enforcing all subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 Indian Act bylaws. These revisions to the FNSO operating agreements are important to clarify the powers of FNSOs when enforcing COVID-19-related bylaws under the protocol.
Mr. Anderson will continue.
Michael Anderson
View Michael Anderson Profile
Michael Anderson
2021-05-25 11:37
Fourth, although we've made some progress regarding the recognition, respect, enforcement and prosecution of band bylaws, First Nations Land Management Act laws have not been enforced by policing authorities or prosecuted by Crown prosecutors for 20 years, since the coming into force of Bill C-49 in 1999.
As to the enforcement of land code emergency laws, the RCMP says, “The RCMP recognizes First Nations' authority under the FNLMA. However, there are concerns as to whether the FNLMA Land Codes provide the legal authority to enact COVID-19 related laws.” Please see page 13 of our documents.
ISC says, “I appreciate the frustration felt by First Nations who have taken on such fundamental aspects of their governance through the enactment of a Land Code, only to be forced to rely on Indian Act authorities”. Please see the MKO's book of documents, page 16.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada says the role of PPSC set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act is inapplicable to FNLMA land codes and FNLMA first nation laws.
Fifth, there's a harmful uncertainty related to the appointment and empowerment of first nation safety officers to act as peace officers. Simply put, you have to be a peace officer to stop, search, seize and detain, and you need those four powers in order to effectively enforce first nation bylaws under subsection 81(1) and section 85.1 of the Indian Act.
Sixth, PPSC and the RCMP do not accept the validity of Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Parliament repealed the ministerial power of disallowance and approval of Indian Act bylaws effective December 15, 2014, with the coming into force of Bill C-428. However, as PPSC witnesses have advised this committee and MKO, PPSC will not recognize the validity of bylaws enacted on or after December 16, 2014, unless reviewed by “an appropriate federal government department.”
PPSC, Indigenous Services Canada and the RCMP have each advised this committee and MKO that they will not review bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. Therefore, there is no federal department that will review existing Indian Act bylaws enacted after December 15, 2014. This means that the protocol will not apply to any existing post-Bill C-428 bylaws, including the health and safety bylaws and their related health orders that have been specifically enacted to address the COVID-19 pandemic. PPSC's acceptance of MKO's proposal to conduct a third party review along with the Public Interest Law Centre appears to be the principal, if not the only, pathway to ensuring that the protocol will apply to the existing first nation COVID-19 emergency laws in the MKO region.
Seventh, the gaps uncovered by the COVID-19 pandemic, including those highlighted in evidence recently presented to this committee, reveal that the legislative framework, the federal civil service and policing authorities are incapable of supporting or are unwilling to support the exercise of first nations' self-determination and law-making powers enacted by Parliament through Bill C-428 and the First Nations Land Management Act.
Grand Chief Settee has a concluding comment.
Heidi Cook
View Heidi Cook Profile
Heidi Cook
2021-05-25 11:42
Thank you for the invitation, Chair, on behalf of the Misipawistik Cree Nation. As I mentioned, we are signatories to Treaty No. 5.
I would like to describe our experience with the COVID-19 pandemic and our difficulties enforcing our land code law.
From the beginning of the pandemic, MCN regularly enacted measures over and above the provincial health orders. They included closing our VLTs, putting up a highway checkstop, introducing mandatory isolation for non-essential travel past city limits, and mandating hand-sanitizing stations and masks in our businesses.
At our checkpoint on Highway 6, we monitored non-essential travel into northern Manitoba. At first we benefited from the perception that the checkpoint was tied to the enforcement of provincial northern travel restrictions. In reality, our first nation safety officer had no ability to ticket anyone on the provincial highway. When people would pull off onto the reserve for gas or a break, he would provide some warnings to travellers, but the checkpoint eventually became very hard to operate. People realized it was the band doing it and not the province. We started to get a lot more dangerous driving complaints and racist insults directed towards our workers. Eventually we just had to take it down.
We enacted our first public health order on October 20, 2020, and then our land code COVID emergency law on November 5, 2020. Our public health orders pursuant to that law included controlling non-essential travel, requiring isolation and putting in gathering and occupancy limits in public and private locations on reserve. Our first wave was in October and November of 2020. We maxed at four cases. During our second wave, which started in January 2021 and extended into February 2021, we needed help enforcing some public health orders. It wasn't forthcoming. People started to know that the RCMP would not do anything to help, so they were much more brazen in defying the public health orders.
We could have had help from the RCMP using the drunk tank, using laws that they could enforce, to stop people, who in some cases were positive, from going house to house looking for a party or a bed. We could have used some RCMP presence on our roads and at the checkpoint just to show support for our curfew and our lockdown measures.
The lack of support from the RCMP got so ridiculous that one of our nurses went to a home to do contact tracing and found herself interrupting a domestic dispute where a woman was being beaten up. The RCMP did not respond. They said it was a public health matter and they wouldn't respond. Our safety officer attended. The RCMP responded only when the second call came in with information, I guess, from somebody who wasn't in the middle of the situation.
During that time, it was expressed by the members of our pandemic emergency response team, our health team and our enforcement team that we felt abandoned. We were struggling to control the spread. Our second wave reached 155 cases and close to 300 contacts. We all suffered personal fallout. I feel that we all have PTSD from the situation we found ourselves in.
We have not enacted any laws after the expiry of our emergency law. The decision was, basically, what good is the law if it's not enforceable? As a result, we haven't done anything since then.
We're now starting our third wave. This time it's the U.K. variant. We might exceed our second wave. It's in our school and our day cares already, and contact tracing or “contact chasing” is under way. If we do better this time, I feel it will be due to our vaccination efforts, not necessarily the enforcement of our laws.
I will end it there. Thank you very much for listening.
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
Chief, I think I only have time for one short question.
You put in significant measures to protect your community during the first phase of COVID. What was the experience like with the RCMP, in terms of helping you enforce some of the laws that you created to keep your community safe from COVID in the first wave? Can you give us a sense of what the RCMP told you?
Leroy Daniel Denny
View Leroy Daniel Denny Profile
Leroy Daniel Denny
2021-05-25 12:01
We had our own lockdown. The RCMP didn't want to get involved. They kept saying we were violating rights because we had a curfew and we locked our community down because there were a lot of cases in the town area. We did a lockdown using our health and safety bylaw. The RCMP didn't work with us.
Our poor security guards were policing it, and they were getting stressed out. They've been after.... They were going after them, and the police didn't do anything. They wouldn't do very similar.... As the chief mentioned here earlier, they didn't really play a role. They said they couldn't use these bylaws because it was violating the rights of people to enter. They didn't want to touch it.
I kept asking with emails to the top officer and even the minister, saying we need the RCMP to work with our people, with our security guards, to keep people safe, saying this is a deadly pandemic happening in our community and we're trying to protect our people and you're not helping.
Once this COVID hits our community, because of the high number of health issues we have in our community, it's going to affect many of our community members, like what's happened to many other first nations across the country where COVID hit. There were a lot of deaths. That's one of the main reasons I'm really upset to this day about how the—
Results: 1 - 15 of 1825 | Page: 1 of 122

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data