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Results: 1 - 60 of 126
Elmer St. Pierre
View Elmer St. Pierre Profile
Elmer St. Pierre
2021-06-15 11:11
Mr. Chair, members of the committee and fellow witnesses, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the issue of trafficking of indigenous people.
As you are well aware, my name is Elmer St. Pierre, and I am the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.
I acknowledge my presence on the traditional and unceded territory of the Mohawk people. At this time, I would like to offer a virtual tobacco tie to each and every one of you for the information that we are going to be exchanging. Thank you.
CAP represents the off-reserve status and non-status Indians, Métis and southern Inuit peoples. Today, 80% of those indigenous people live off reserve. Forty-four per cent are in urban centres across the country.
The biggest human trafficking operation in Canada's history was the residential school system. Off-reserve and non-status people are survivors of this tragic system. Residential schools never ended.
Indigenous people are 5% of the population in Canada. Fifty-two per cent of the children in foster care are indigenous. Indigenous girls face more sexual exploitation in foster care than any other group. Forty-six per cent of our youth in prison are indigenous. In some provinces, over 90% of the youth in prisons are indigenous. Forty per cent of incarcerated women are indigenous, and that number is rising. Fifty per cent of the victims of human trafficking are indigenous women. Of those, nearly one-quarter are under the age of 18.
There are pathways among foster care, prison, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Youth are ripped from their homes, more because of poverty than any other factor. They are abused in foster care. They wind up vulnerable on the streets, living with trauma and struggling to survive. They are denied education and employment. They cycle between homelessness, prison, abusive situations and trafficking and exploitation. Too often it only ends in a road of death. We need to help the boys and girls from starting on that road. We need to make sure that everyone caught in that cycle can escape it and find the healing and community they need.
The government has taken steps to work with some aboriginal organizations, but has shut out others at the same time.
Off-reserve and non-status communities are sidelined. They are denied housing funds to help give vulnerable women shelter. They are denied access to education funding to give kids a future. They are denied justice programs to open healing lodges and use alternative sentences. They are denied status as rights bearers under the indigenous child welfare legislation.
CAP's provincial-territorial organizations work to provide services in spite of being sidelined. Programs like “looking out for each other” partner with shelters in communities to give help to those at risk of going missing. They offer housing, shelter programs, homeless outreach, parenting support and health care support, but they cannot reach out to the need when they don't have the services. I would just add that these programs are run on the east coast. The “looking out for each other” program is in New Brunswick.
We offer the following calls to action. End the exclusion of off-reserve organizations from programs like housing, child welfare and justice. Support capacity building to address the multifaceted issues of the MMIWG. Support affordable, safe public transportation options to replace lost inner city bus routes. End the overrepresentation of indigenous women in corrections and prioritize treatment and community care in an indigenous-led process. Accelerate funding under the MMIWG action plan. Ensure that our off-reserve organizations can access funding for cultural, language and justice services, community safety and other essential services to keep women and girls safe.
Meegwetch. Thank you.
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.
View Randall Garrison Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I too want to thank the witnesses for being with us, especially during National Nursing Week and also Indigenous Nurses Day. I want to thank them, obviously, for the work their members have done over the last 15 months, but also for the work I know they'll do when the rest of our society moves on from the immediate COVID crisis and the impacts are left to their members to deal with.
I want to start with a question, Ms. Nowgesic, about services and supports available to indigenous seniors who live off reserve. In my riding, more than half the indigenous population is urban and off reserve. Certainly, I've heard a great deal, especially during Covid, about the lack of services for those seniors.
Marilee Nowgesic
View Marilee Nowgesic Profile
Marilee Nowgesic
2021-05-13 12:38
That becomes the jurisdictional issue—and, again, we're trying to get it to stop—between the health care provider having certain powers available to them and...why is there no indigenous health care access centre within those areas? Why is there no outreach being defined for that?
That's something we need to address. It is one of those socio-economic and societal factors that the federal government along with their provincial and territorial partners need to provide some recognition of.
Just because they moved off the reserve for a better quality of life, or for whatever reasons, that's their choice, it shouldn't lessen the availability of what they have coming to them as far as benefits and services are concerned. We have them come forward to participate in ceremony, then their old age security is clawed back, and so on, and so forth. It's an exhausting cycle. You can imagine what it's like for a senior who doesn't understand why these...are being placed on them.
Marie-Hélène Guay
View Marie-Hélène Guay Profile
Marie-Hélène Guay
2021-05-11 12:25
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee today.
I am Captain Marie-Hélène Guay, the officer in charge of the Municipal and Indigenous Community Relations Services, at the Sûreté du Québec.
I will introduce the police services offered by the Sûreté du Québec in indigenous communities. I will also tell you about our good practices.
Quebec has 55 indigenous communities, 44 of which are served by the 22 indigenous police forces. The Sûreté du Québec provides services to 11 indigenous communities. Indigenous communities receive the same services as other municipalities and communities served by the Sûreté du Québec. The services provided to indigenous communities are based on the principles of community policing.
It is important to note that seven communities have a public safety committee. The committees help identify issues and determine public safety priorities. They also make recommendations to the band councils in the communities.
As a national police force, the Sûreté du Québec has a role to play in communities that have their own police forces. Its role is essentially to assist the indigenous police forces in a number of ways, such as operations, investigations, specialized services, and administrative or management support.
On average, the Sûreté du Québec receives more than 500 requests for assistance per year. It is important to note that the Sûreté du Québec and the indigenous police forces regularly co-operate on the various operations under way in terms of road safety, investigations, intelligence and surveillance activities.
As for the sharing of responsibilities within the Sûreté du Québec, strategic coordination and partnerships are the responsibility of the indigenous community relations division. The division is composed of 12 indigenous liaison officers, deployed across Quebec by nations. Some of the indigenous liaison officers also work in urban areas. Their role is to develop and maintain ties with elected and non-elected members of the communities, to identify the public safety needs of the communities and to respond to them with tailored solutions or programs, to advise the managers of the Sûreté du Québec and to focus their actions in the indigenous environment and, of course, to act as facilitators during events or operations.
Operational coordination is the responsibility of another unit, the emergency measures unit. This type of coordination takes place during the deployment of special operations, situations or conflicts, and in the assistance provided to indigenous police forces.
It is important to note that services for the 11 indigenous communities we police are provided by the local police stations.
Let me now tell you about the services provided to indigenous people outside communities. As you know, from a cultural safety perspective, many cities have a strong indigenous presence and many of them are served by the Sûreté du Québec. These cities have the services of urban indigenous liaison officers who, along with other members of the Sûreté du Québec, co-operate on a regular basis with the indigenous friendship centres in those cities. The Sûreté also sits on the local urban service accessibility tables for indigenous people.
We are also in the process of creating joint teams called ÉMIPIC, or joint response teams of police officers and community workers. Two of those teams are already in place in our territory.
In the next three years, we also plan to create four other teams. The teams of police officers and community workers are the avenue of choice for responses to people in vulnerable situations.
We also have the joint indigenous community police station (PPCMA) in Val-d'Or. My colleague Captain Durant will tell you about this great initiative.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
Minister, I also have some serious concerns around indigenous housing and the fact that we still don't have a comprehensive indigenous housing strategy for Canada. We know that the member for Nunavut did a housing tour in her riding. It was absolutely horrifying to see the reality—people living in substandard housing, mould, overcrowding—and the many, many challenges that those communities are facing. The NDP is calling for an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy that is governed and led by indigenous peoples and housing providers. This is different and unique from the distinction-based indigenous housing strategy that this government likes to talk about.
How long will these communities have to wait to see housing that is actually reasonable, where we don't see the overcrowding that's across Canada, and that is really led by those communities? That includes rural and urban communities on reserve and off reserve, and of course the northern communities. How long will they have to wait?
When will there be a comprehensive strategy that starts to actually deal with this profound challenge that these communities are facing? It's absolutely horrific.
I'm wondering if you could talk about that.
View Brad Vis Profile
CPC (BC)
You mentioned earlier the challenges that band members had in accessing housing off reserve. Generally, where do band members from Sts'ailes go when they're not living on your traditional territory? What are some of the first-hand challenges you've heard about?
Ralph Leon Jr.
View Ralph Leon Jr. Profile
Ralph Leon Jr.
2020-12-03 18:15
Right now we know of a lot of our people being in Chilliwack and Abbotsford, and a lot of our people live as far away as California or England. They're just everywhere. Wherever a job is created, a lot of them go there. There's no opportunity here; then they'll go elsewhere.
Christopher Sheppard
View Christopher Sheppard Profile
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.
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thanks, Cathy.
I have a couple of questions, and we'll see if we can get to two. I'll get to the first one first. It's for the National Association of Friendship Centres folks, Christopher and Jocelyn, if you would.
I was in Ottawa last week and I raised with Minister Miller the concern about a lack of data, especially as it relates to urban indigenous people. This is also something I raised at this committee way back in April, and Christopher, you talked about even the jurisdictional wrangling that goes on with the people you folks represent.
Our suggestion is that it's time for a coordinated effort, especially as it relates to the rollout of a vaccine strategy. I also raised the point that I think vulnerable people and communities must be a priority as we consider how this happens. My question for you is actually quite simple. Has your organization or have you, in your engagement with the government, been able to be involved in discussions around the lack of data or the rollout of a vaccination strategy as it effects urban indigenous folks?
Christopher Sheppard
View Christopher Sheppard Profile
Christopher Sheppard
2020-12-01 12:35
Thank you, Mr. Vidal.
If you've seen Jocelyn and me present at any federal committee, the lack of urban indigenous health data and other sources of disaggregated urban indigenous data in Canada is, I guess at minimum, shocking, because what you don't know, you don't know. What we do know is that urban indigenous people make up the majority of indigenous people in this country, so you actually don't know how to connect with them, how to support them or what things you need to be doing in health policy.
We've been working specifically with Well Living House on data and maybe a health data strategy nationally, because no one is doing it. If the governments can't figure out the jurisdictional issues and figure out a way to collect that data, then someone else is going to have to. For us, while we wait for the governments to figure out whose jurisdiction it is to count people, we're going to work with our indigenous physician partners and health centres to figure that out in the meantime. When you're on the ground in urban communities, it's shocking that people aren't paying attention to the basic idea that this is where most of us are.
For the vaccines specifically, Jocelyn can answer that, so I'll toss it to her to finish.
Jocelyn Formsma
View Jocelyn Formsma Profile
Jocelyn Formsma
2020-12-01 12:36
Quickly on the vaccine rollout, we've been in conversation with Indigenous Services' first nations and Inuit health branch as well as the Public Health Agency of Canada, just to get in early with some of those conversations. Now it's the same issue in that the rollout of the vaccine will happen provincially. In some of the guidelines that the Public Health Agency of Canada is developing, we're just trying to ensure that they are inclusive of urban indigenous when doing their planning to get the vaccine out to indigenous people.
We're especially concerned about some of those more vulnerable folks who may not feel comfortable accessing mainstream health services, as President Wieman mentioned in her opening remarks. We're experiencing the same thing. We're trying to see if there's a way to see if they would like to utilize the friendship centre network. We just need to know as soon as possible so that we can be clear about the kinds of resources and the capacity we would need to be able to support that kind of rollout. We have halls, gyms, parking lots that community members may feel a bit safer coming to than a mainstream health clinic. All we're asking them is to just be up front in keeping us engaged sooner rather than later.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you so much.
Mr. Sheppard and Ms. Formsma, we've heard clearly, and our offices have had conversations with you, about the resources that are needed and the fact that the minister's office is often referring people to friendship centres, and they don't necessarily have the capacity to address those issues. I'm wondering about how that works, and if you could expand a little on what that experience has been like for you during the pandemic.
Jocelyn Formsma
View Jocelyn Formsma Profile
Jocelyn Formsma
2020-12-01 12:54
I think the FES, as it was called earlier, talked about the $926.7 million. I think about $90 million of that went specifically to urban. What becomes a challenge is that we don't want to be looking at on-reserve in-the-north communities as a comparator group for urban indigenous people. I think there is enough need and enough capacity within the urban settings that we should be thinking about it as a group on its own. We don't want to get into “does it go here or does it go there?” Every resource going to first nations, Métis and Inuit governments for the work they're doing in the communities is absolutely needed. That's probably not enough to build the capacity. We're trying to close gaps from a historical lack of investment in our capacity and infrastructure.
Standing on our own, trying to convince levels of government in different departments about the need for culturally specific urban indigenous supports and responses to COVID, has been a challenge. We work well with Indigenous Services, the group that we have our federal program with, but I had conversations early on with other departments where I was starting from scratch about why it's necessary to fund a network like friendship centres or other urban indigenous organizations.
Our respective provincial-territorial associations were in constant contact with the provincial governments and relaying that information to us as well, as we were relaying information to them. It was quite frustrating earlier, because each level of government was looking to the other: “This is your jurisdiction” or “No, this is your jurisdiction”. Meanwhile, we have friendship centre staff cooking meals out of their own homes to deliver to people.
I don't mind taking up those fights at the national level or trying to get people to talk to each other. Where I think it's unfair is that the local friendship centres, just being out there, providing those supports.... I don't think it's fair that they are the ones who have to fight and really convince people of the needs. They're doing it, and they're going to do it out of their pockets or in terms of the financial health of their own organizations.
We're just trying to make sure that people know the realities and make sure that people making decisions about funding and policy and program designs are aware that this is a very real thing that's happening. Specific responses are needed outside of the current structure that we have.
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the two-and-a-half-minute mark, please transition for us, if you want.
I have one quick question for Mr. Sheppard and Ms. Formsma. It's around the community support funding. The original round of community support funding included $15 million for urban indigenous. I know there was some concern at the time about the recognition of the need. Another $75 million was added to that sometime after that. My question goes beyond that. When we get to the next round of the community support fund, out of about $300 million, about $160 million of that was for an application-based process.
It actually closed just yesterday, if I'm not mistaken. We're well into the second wave, and the application process closed literally yesterday. There was another announcement yesterday of some more money under the community support fund. I don't know how that will roll out.
I'm looking for your comments in regard to the application process. Was it burdensome or helpful? I'm just wondering how you felt about that process.
Jocelyn Formsma
View Jocelyn Formsma Profile
Jocelyn Formsma
2020-12-01 13:00
Early on, because the National Association of Friendship Centres has an existing agreement with Indigenous Services through the urban programming for indigenous peoples, as well as the urban indigenous coalition tables, it was our position that there was already an existing mechanism to at least release dollars immediately. It wasn't going to be a perfect process and certainly there was time to open it up to other organizations, but we felt that would have been at least an immediate release of funds that could have gone to the friendship centre network and the urban indigenous coalition table network as an interim component.
That wasn't utilized in the beginning, so it resulted in our having to wait weeks after other indigenous organizations received funds. It didn't mean that the work stopped. We went ahead and did it anyways without a guarantee that there would be funding.
That was my experience. I'm going to hand it over to Chris to fill in from his perspective.
Christopher Sheppard
View Christopher Sheppard Profile
Christopher Sheppard
2020-12-01 13:01
I think we were in front of committee right around when that was happening in the first round. Being someone who works in the region and works with individual centres every day, I was extremely frustrated that while people were getting direct investment without delay, we were having to contact centres whose staff were working in the now and ask them to stop and start collecting data and information so that we could get an application into Canada to get the support to help people.
I felt frustrated in round two when the same thing happened again. You're delivering funding to indigenous organizations, but you're treating urban ones differently by forcing them to apply.
We're now in round three and it's the same process again. Even if Canada had looked at our pre-budget submission and looked at what we had submitted as a need, in that submission was the request for money to create an urban indigenous health framework. We submitted those things previously.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Mr. Sheppard.
In the spring, you mentioned that the friendship centres were not involved in the national urban indigenous agenda and that Canada needed to start looking at them as partners.
In the context of the pandemic, how has the federal government mobilized friendship centres to adopt urban indigenous-friendly approaches?
Christopher Sheppard
View Christopher Sheppard Profile
Christopher Sheppard
2020-12-01 13:11
I think recognizing that Canada and friendship centres have a 70-year history, a once-permanent program history that has been developed to.... It's a self-determined structure created by our own people to move ourselves forward. We have been a welcoming place to collaborate, to do work and to make sure our people are looked after, not just during the pandemic but at all times.
On the back end, and even in public policy, urban indigenous people aren't included. StatsCan data tells us every year that it's not like urban migration is slowing down or stopping. It continues to happen. However, we as a country seem unable to say the truth, which is “You are all important”, and we need public policy that says that. Why is it that if you did an analysis and a scan of how urban people are funded comparably, it would be nowhere near equitable?
We did an analysis of the COVID response money. Canada says that they want to make sure there's a gendered lens on the work that they do, and there is not. I can tell you that COVID is no different. When we look at how to do work post-COVID, in some regions, we're already looking at a gendered lens response to ensure that indigenous women, who typically are the backbones of communities, are supported to recover their communities collectively.
Christopher Sheppard
View Christopher Sheppard Profile
Christopher Sheppard
2020-12-01 13:13
We have such a long history of working together, but oftentimes, we aren't there in the on-boarding, the development, the creation or the design, which can be extremely problematic when you're trying to measure impact or even to have impact. If you read the statements I've made to a committee, I almost always say that we welcome the opportunity to work with you and to bring our experience. I still genuinely feel that there are so many opportunities that go missed with urban organizations, and not even just our own. We're on the ground making those connections with other indigenous organizations or others—literally anyone who will work with us—just to make it more efficient.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Minister Miller.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the council of Gespeg has taken the necessary measures to reduce the impact of the crisis on its members. However, like many other communities in similar situations, the community of Gespeg was shut out of government support programs.
That is still the case, so should the government introduce programs that fairly and more effectively address all the needs of communities, to give all indigenous people access to supports?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Ms. Bérubé.
Another layer of the challenge I was describing concerns urban indigenous communities. We provided funding to the Gespeg nation to address many of its needs. Whether a community is covered by an agreement or not, whether a community is located in an urban area or not, our goal is the same. All indigenous communities deserve appropriate high-quality health care, something they have been denied for far too long—well before the pandemic. We are endeavouring to do what is needed to keep COVID-19 out of communities.
Juliette Nicolet
View Juliette Nicolet Profile
Juliette Nicolet
2020-11-19 15:38
Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
I am in Toronto, and I would like to acknowledge that Toronto sits on the traditional territories of a number of different first nations who shared this area for all sorts of reasons. My house in particular sits very close to a former Seneca encampment.
I want to thank Ms. Camille, because she gave an excellent description of the work of friendship centres in so many communities across Canada. Her experience is reflected in Ontario.
With respect to the range of services provided and the challenges around housing, in Ontario we have a demographic situation that is slightly different from other provinces. For example, 85.5% of indigenous people in Ontario live off reserve. Ontario has the largest population and the largest proportion of indigenous people living off reserve. Many seek housing and experience extreme housing insecurity. Of course, COVID-19 has made that worse.
The friendship centres in Ontario and the OFIFC have really been at the front line of providing housing for a number of years and have seen that activity increase in the last six to eight months. Friendship centres directly provide 151 units of housing. There are 29 friendship centres across Ontario that directly deliver 151 units of housing. That number is increasing all the time. This is a relatively new development because the need is so great. The friendship centres have actually begun delivering housing directly themselves.
The OFIFC is also one of three shareholders in a housing non-profit, the Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services Corporation, which owns upwards of 2,400 individual units that are supplied in a variety of ways, with preference to indigenous clients.
I think the critical thing to understand is that the success of friendship centres in Ontario in creating a real kind of economic, social and civic shift in the indigenous community relies very much on the provision of culture-based services. When the national housing strategy came out, it was a great disappointment to us that there was no specific indigenous set-aside. This would have created space for culture-based services in housing and self-determination in housing by organizations such as ourselves and others to address the issue of housing in this country. Of course, COVID has come along and has demonstrated just how dire the situation is, so here we are.
It's important as well to understand what “indigenous-led” means. When we talk about things being indigenous-led, we're talking about things being governed by indigenous people, managed by indigenous people, administered by indigenous people, delivered on the ground by indigenous people, research done by indigenous people and evaluated by indigenous people. This approach has led to the great success of the friendship centre movement across Canada, and certainly in Ontario.
With respect to what the OFIFC would like to see, which is the development of a national strategy on urban, rural and northern indigenous housing, it is also important to understand how this might intersect with enabling legislation on the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and that the self-determination aspect is a critical piece to ensure that service providers with the greatest expertise are able to continue to do their work.
I'm going to leave it at that for now.
Thank you very much.
View Leah Gazan Profile
NDP (MB)
Thank you, Chair.
My first question is for Madame Nicolet. You indicated briefly in response to the questions from Madame Chabot how friendship centres support urban indigenous people in securing safe and affordable housing. I concur. I think the funding amount is grossly inadequate.
I know that your organization has done a lot of advocacy on prioritizing an urban indigenous housing strategy as a way to end homelessness and housing insecurity. In fact, you're quoted as saying, “The absence of any reference to urban indigenous communities in the national housing strategy constitutes a barrier to ensuring [that] the needs of urban indigenous people are rendered visible across government.”
Can you expand a bit on that, briefly? I have a few questions and limited time.
Juliette Nicolet
View Juliette Nicolet Profile
Juliette Nicolet
2020-11-19 16:02
I'll try to be brief.
That comment needs to be put in the context of the three-streams approach that the federal government takes as an approach to all indigenous things. Three streams—FNMI, or “distinctions-based”, however you want to call it—necessarily elides the existence of urban indigenous communities in engaging exclusively, at an official or formal level, or quasi-exclusively with only the “representative” organizations.
Juliette Nicolet
View Juliette Nicolet Profile
Juliette Nicolet
2020-11-19 16:04
It becomes very difficult for urban indigenous concerns and legitimate demands to be advanced from a policy perspective and then to actually get any kind of traction around implementation. The fact that it doesn't get mentioned is a continuation of the erasure of urban indigenous realities across Canada.
Does that answer your question?
View Leah Gazan Profile
NDP (MB)
Yes, that's perfect.
Thank you so much. I wish I had a lot of time, and unfortunately I don't.
Madam Camille, since the announcement of the national housing strategy in 2017, the federal government has promised an urban, rural and northern housing strategy. However, there still is no strategy. In my riding, 70% of individuals experiencing homelessness are indigenous and over half were in child welfare.
Given that those experiencing homelessness are mostly indigenous, why do you think the government keeps failing to prioritize the human right of housing for indigenous people?
Carol Camille
View Carol Camille Profile
Carol Camille
2020-11-19 16:04
I believe that concerns the ownership and responsibility of having to deal with our past and bringing it forward. Housing is central to healing from the traumas of the past. I think that once that acknowledgement is out there and we start working on it, there is an opportunity for things to change.
There is never enough money to put into it, especially when it comes to healing. Healing is the very depth of what is needed to answer some of the housing questions of all our indigenous communities and organizations.
It's really challenging when the housing project comes out and there is no strategy for it. Indigenous housing needs to be—and I've heard it said here already today—indigenous-led, indigenous-run and indigenous-operated for indigenous people, because that is where we will get most of our answers.
I hope that answers your question.
View Louise Chabot Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you.
You mentioned the migration of members living off-reserve, which accounts for 20% of the need.
What problems or challenges does this cause?
Lance Haymond
View Lance Haymond Profile
Lance Haymond
2020-11-19 17:15
Well, it causes an increased demand in a community that already has huge housing needs internally. With the young demographics that we have, we see new family formations happening quite quickly, so the demand inside the community is already large. When members want to come back and live in communities, normally they get put on a waiting list, and they will wait in some instances for years—
Lance Haymond
View Lance Haymond Profile
Lance Haymond
2020-11-19 17:16
—unless they have the financial ability to move in the direction of home ownership, which is also an important aspect. Housing is not just social housing. We need to have a spectrum of housing that meets the various realities of communities.
In some communities close to urban centres, you will see that the vast majority of their stock is home ownership, but the further you get away from those urban centres, the more reliance and dependence on social housing increases; it's proportional to the distance away from major centres.
Often people leave because of poor housing situations, but after a while living in the city—as Madam Hache mentioned, with the inherent risks that come with moving to cities—these people want to come back to their home community for culture, for safety, and just for the reality of.... Do you know what? As an indigenous person, it's hard to live in a city after you've spent the majority of your life living in a first nation community.
View Adam Vaughan Profile
Lib. (ON)
Right.
In terms of your building projects, have you ever built housing outside of your reserve?
Lance Haymond
View Lance Haymond Profile
Lance Haymond
2020-11-19 17:30
We have not. No.
View Adam Vaughan Profile
Lib. (ON)
Not in Montreal or in Val-d'Or nearby, say, or in any of the regional centres?
Lance Haymond
View Lance Haymond Profile
Lance Haymond
2020-11-19 17:30
No. Again, it's mainly because the financial resources are not enough for us to deal with on reserve—
Lance Haymond
View Lance Haymond Profile
Lance Haymond
2020-11-19 17:30
—and again, it's really hard to extrapolate and provide services to your off-reserve population when they're spread across the province and across the country.
View Michael McLeod Profile
Lib. (NT)
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I did have a few more comments and questions.
First of all, in the north we don't have reserves, but we have indigenous communities. The community I live in is 95% indigenous, but it's not a reserve. We have a lot of band councils. I think almost every community has a band council, and we have 33 communities. If there are first nations in the communities, there's a band council.
A number of programs have come forward that we're struggling to access, as indigenous governments are trying to put in applications.
First of all, in any of the programs that involve cost-sharing, there are limits to what they can do if they don't have the resources. Under the co-investment fund, we've seen no applications approved under the carve-out for the Northwest Territories. The shelter initiative also needs ongoing operating funds that, in other parts of the country, would come from Indigenous Services Canada.
There is a program that I think is called the ministerial loan guarantee. I want to ask the representative from Indigenous Services about this. This program was set up in 1966 and it was designed to help indigenous communities off reserve to access programs, to do initiatives in the area of housing, but we haven't been successful. We have not been able to get one project approved. Could you maybe tell me why that might be? Is there something in it that doesn't allow the Northwest Territories indigenous governments to be able to access that fund?
Chad Westmacott
View Chad Westmacott Profile
Chad Westmacott
2020-11-17 19:57
I thank you very much for the question.
The ministerial loan guarantees were created predominantly because first nations needed the ability to access financing and markets. Due to the fact that they were on reserve, there were elements within the Indian Act that prohibited the use of the lands for collateral, so that is why most of the ministerial loan guarantees have been directed towards first nations on reserve.
In terms of the specific questions about the access to ministerial loan guarantees off reserve, where they are on Crown lands, that's a question I'll have to get back to you on.
Éric Cardinal
View Éric Cardinal Profile
Éric Cardinal
2020-11-17 11:05
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning to all the members of the committee.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to testify before the committee. I am appearing as an individual, but also as vice president of Acosys Consulting Services, a company that provides services to indigenous organizations, communities and businesses. By the way, I want to say hello to my friend and the firm's president, David Acco.
We have been supporting a number of first nations councils in their management of the COVID-19 crisis for a few months already. During the first wave, we saw a fairly extraordinary reaction from various communities, which took the gravity of the pandemic very seriously and which, at the same time, embraced their responsibilities like true local governments. We have seen a number of communities adopt measures different from those adopted by governments and municipalities. For example, most Quebec first nations closed their borders much earlier than it was done elsewhere. We have also seen first nations keep some services and activities closed, while the province was announcing their reopening.
Therefore, during the second wave, we can expect those communities to reimplement stricter measures. They will obviously have to be supported by the federal government, through things like financial assistance, in accordance with their needs.
When I visited the committee last June, I talked to you about the Mi'kmaq nation of Gespeg, which had received very little government assistance because it is not a reserve as defined in the Indian Act. However, even if the first nation has no community to manage, its council still has responsibilities toward its members, just as other first nations governments do.
Since the beginning of the crisis, the Gespeg council has, therefore, adopted measures necessary to reducing the impact of the crisis on its members. Gespeg, like many other communities in a similar situation, has effectively found itself in a blind spot of assistance programs. That situation has still not changed. Clearly, programs must be adapted to better meet all the community needs in a fair manner for all indigenous citizens.
Where this hurt the most was in terms of economic impact. As in the case of many indigenous communities, Gespeg's economy is based on fishing and tourism, two sectors that have been hard hit by the pandemic and the lockdown measures. However, assistance is not arriving as it should be. That is what I would like to stress today because, during this second wave, the government will have to be even more mindful of the impact on economies in indigenous communities. Subsidies and financial support programs are not the only things being talked about when it comes to helping their economies.
There is another very simple way to help the communities' economies without it costing the government any money or hardly any money. It is simply a matter of ensuring that indigenous communities and businesses can benefit from their fair share of public contracts.
Acosys has the privilege of supporting the Indigenous Business COVID-19 Taskforce, which brings together the leaders of a number of national indigenous organizations: the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers, better known under its acronym CANDO; Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada; the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada; and the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Businesses, known under its initialism CCAB. That team provides the Canadian government with advice and strategic input on two key topics.
First, it is a matter of identifying, engaging and....
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the ministers for joining us today. Thank you to a couple of people who subbed in as well for this extraordinarily late meeting this evening. I'm grateful to say that I am joining you from the sacred territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and I'm grateful, again, to be re-engaging in this important work.
My question is regarding friendship centres and how we are caring for indigenous people in urban and suburban settings. I know that my colleague and friend MP Pam Damoff has recently engaged with a local group in Halton to discuss this. There are implications for COVID, and beyond COVID, I think, but the more services we can provide to indigenous people in urban and suburban settings, the better.
I suppose that's a question for Minister Miller, and potentially Minister Bennett, but I'd love to hear about the progress.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you so much for that important question, because it is a testament to the challenges we faced and the strict policy and legal authorities we all faced within our departments and how we've all had to think a bit outside the box in order to address where the vulnerabilities are expressing themselves, and that includes the 50% or more indigenous population that lives “off reserve”. More often, the typical iteration of that is large urban centres like Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton, but it is also the reality in places like La Loche, where we saw one of the largest outbreaks. This is something that's near and dear to MP Vidal's heart, because I know of his engagement in ensuring that proper resources were deployed in those communities.
We have acknowledged that challenge, because those vulnerabilities exist, but when you're talking about intricate overlapping jurisdictions, obviously there's an execution challenge in the delivery of health care, which is primarily and exclusively, in those cases, the jurisdiction of the provincial or territorial governments. This has been a challenge within the strict authorities of the funds that we appropriated.
We knew from the very beginning that $15 million dedicated to “urban supports” was wildly insufficient, which is why we procured $75 million to distribute across a wide network of organizations and grassroots-based organizations that are really doing some of the key work in keeping people safe, whether that's food security, cultural supports, or keeping doors open. I think of the Native Women's Shelter of Montreal, which is doing incredible work in keeping people safe, alive and well surrounded during this pandemic. I look at some of the mobile supports in downtown Toronto, which I think Pam was instrumental in announcing and pushing for. This is the result of advocacy across parties. There isn't a single party that didn't approach me to say, you have to do more for indigenous communities that are in urban settings. It has yielded results in areas that I mentioned previously, in supporting harm reduction models in various forms, whether it's a wet shelter or other supports for people who are perhaps not getting a safe supply, or the food security I mentioned earlier.
These are all elements where we see what I call a “jurisdictional hole”, where the federal government has not been present, and provincial and territorial supports, for whatever reason, have not been there. COVID doesn't check the Constitution before it infects someone, and where we've seen it, it goes after those who are most vulnerable. The indigenous communities that came together, the Métis, Dene.... La Loche is an incredible example of a very alarming spread at the outset of COVID, where 200 people were infected in a community that has had its challenges, but they rallied together with an emergency response team. We supported it with financial supports, and they were able to stamp it out, and that's amazing work.
In part, it is the federal government's response to a very tricky jurisdictional question where we could not close our eyes to it, but also because of the advocacy of voices that go across party lines. I think we need to keep going together in lockstep on this issue, because we're not out of the woods on COVID specifically, and there are needs that are, we must acknowledge, unmet, and we are not meeting them currently, whether we look at ourselves or at the provincial governments.
Thank you, Adam, in particular, for your advocacy, because I know how you've interacted with our.... This isn't a throwaway thank you; this is a real thank you and I mean it, in every single thing you do, because I know you've been passionate about this.
View Rachel Blaney Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you again for being with us this evening.
One of the questions I have is this. You know, a large part of the response for indigenous people living off reserve, or further from their communities, is to rely on urban indigenous organizations to deliver services. Most of the time, of course, those are friendship centres across Canada, but there are some other organizations. There are communities in my riding, and in other areas across the country, where there isn't any kind of infrastructure for that.
What solutions have you created to really focus on serving those indigenous communities that are off reserve, where there isn't really infrastructure in the community to get those culturally appropriate services?
That question is for whoever is the appropriate person to answer it, please.
Christiane Fox
View Christiane Fox Profile
Christiane Fox
2020-10-27 20:18
I'm sorry.
As the minister noted in terms of urban and off reserve.... The first thing I would note is that when we did our initial tranche of $15 million, we received a number of applications. That was kind of based on friendship centres and other organizations. As you note, it was people we had worked with who had a presence in the various areas of the community. It didn't meet the need. We had to actually increase the funding and go with a second envelope of $75 million.
The reality is that the needs go much beyond that. Part of our work has to be outreach to those communities that would not be represented by a friendship centre in order to determine the need and be able to find the appropriate way to respond to the current situation in that particular part of the country.
With that, I'll turn it over to Mary.
Mary-Luisa Kapelus
View Mary-Luisa Kapelus Profile
Mary-Luisa Kapelus
2020-10-27 20:19
Thank you, Deputy.
Yes, you are correct. In the first wave, we discovered that there were a number of organizations and communities that didn't have that friendship centre sort of support, but through the different waves, and all the proposals that came in, we discovered that there were other organizations in those areas, in some cases hamlets, municipalities and your not-so-traditional friendship centre organization. We had new partners that we had never funded before, and it was a very exciting time for us to get to meet some of these service delivery agents that we didn't even know existed. There's quite a web of them working under the radar.
The other thing we witnessed was that some of them actually partnered with friendship centres through this. We saw this particularly in Atlantic Canada, where there were cases of smaller communities that would link up with the friendship centres virtually and get advice on how to service their members. They were receiving funds from us but working in partnership with other organizations, and we were definitely encouraging and supporting that dialogue.
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Anandasangaree said this morning that a number of the people sitting on this committee today are members of INAN. Over the last several months, we've been doing a study on the government's response to COVID-19, and one of the things we've talked about is the supports for indigenous people who do not live on reserves, those who live in urban centres. We've done a bunch of discussion around the work of the National Association of Friendship Centres and some other groups that serve urban indigenous populations.
In that context, my question is for Madame Michel.
Would you agree that, in the context of that percentage of indigenous people living off reserve in urban centres, declaring first nation policing as an essential service may not represent the needs of that population as well as it would for some of the people who live out in the reserve settings?
Viviane Michel
View Viviane Michel Profile
Viviane Michel
2020-07-24 14:27
Look, I totally agree, but we still need to improve the judicial system. Police forces play a key role in racial profiling, in arresting people, in abusing their authority.
The police are doing things that are truly unacceptable. For example, in Montreal, after a long negotiation with a counsellor on site, a woman in psychological distress finally agreed to call an ambulance because she was in the midst of a suicidal crisis. So we called 911. However, 17 police officers and the dog squad were sent. That is crazy! That is really crazy! It was a woman in psychological distress; it was not a woman threatening to kill someone. I think this situation is really a concrete example of racism, discrimination and racial profiling.
There is much to be done to improve the police system, especially in cases like this. The Armony report says that in big cities, aboriginal women are stopped 11 times more often than white women. For no reason, just because they have the profile of aboriginal women. Is that not systemic discrimination and racism? It is blatant.
We can train these people, but I think that if we do not want to be a good police officer and protect citizens, we have to do something else for a living. Our aboriginal women need protection. Our women need to be safe, to be able to walk around in safety, which is not the case, all around, whether inside or outside.
I think Mr. Picard is going to talk to you about the differences between aboriginal police officers and city police officers, because there’s a big gap in funding. So I’m not going to talk about that; rather, I’m going to talk about the impact this has on aboriginal women.
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you, Madame Michel.
I'm going to follow up with another question for you. I think there's a great difference as well between the needs of indigenous women in very large centres and those in some of the small and medium-sized communities throughout Quebec, and also Canada. Sometimes we forget the realities of some of the smaller urban centres. Again, they don't fall in that on-reserve category, but they're not in the large cities either.
Would you speak to some of the solutions that you maybe would suggest for people who live in those small and medium-sized communities as well?
Viviane Michel
View Viviane Michel Profile
Viviane Michel
2020-07-24 14:30
I’d be happy to tell you about it. You may know that at Quebec Native Women, we do a lot of public education. For example, the word "reserve" has not been around for decades; we now talk about the "community,” and I am simply telling you this to give you this wonderful lesson. It is a community.
Within the communities, there is obviously a great deal to be done. In cases of conjugal violence, for example, we are very much being asked to denounce it. One of the problems we can encounter in cases of conjugal violence or family violence is that there are times when the aboriginal police officer is the aggressor’s brother. We all know each other in a community. You can see where that can lead us.
We don’t have a lot of police officers. I know Mr. Picard will tell you all about it. At the same time, the ties of kinship and acquaintance are very strong. Everybody knows each other, and sometimes, the victim doesn’t even want to file a complaint because the police officer is the brother of her attacker, of her husband and so on. These are difficulties that are found within communities. Moreover, in Quebec, we have 54 communities, and not all of them have their own aboriginal police force.
Recently, I saw a report from a Mohawk nation that had a Mohawk police force. According to that report, for years, there were no deaths, no killings committed by them in their community. I think that’s a good example that shows—
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Thank you for that, Minister.
I would just comment that, from many of the people I've talked to, it seems that some of the support for indigenous businesses came almost as an afterthought and wasn't part of the original consultation. That's just some criticism I'm hearing from people on the ground. I pass that on.
I'm going to move on to my second question, also for Minister Miller. As you're well aware, northern Saskatchewan is home to many friendship centres that offer essential programs to urban indigenous people. In March, the government announced the application-based program for urban indigenous organizations to receive funding, which you referred to in your comments today.
The concern I heard from friendship centres was that it was weeks before they heard from the government, and then they received a small fraction of what they'd asked for. On May 21, you did announce some additional funding for urban indigenous organizations, but again, I'm hearing from these people on the ground, who could potentially be recipients and who have great work to do, but they've heard nothing from the government since the announcement. There's no idea of the timing or the outcome of this.
Can you clarify for us and for these organizations when they might actually get answers and when they might see some of this additional funding to support the urban indigenous people in their communities?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Gary, this is very important. We made this $15-million commitment in an area of jurisdiction that is shared among municipalities, provinces and the federal government, and we realized quite quickly that the federal government had to step up, so in addition to the $15 million we announced an additional $75 million going into urban indigenous centres, serving people who need to be served by all members in all jurisdictions, provinces and territories.
It is a gap that we have tried to fill as quickly as possible. It doesn't necessarily fall under the mandate of Indigenous Services Canada, but it is something we have to reflect on. It hasn't prevented us from moving, and it hasn't prevented us from investing. If you have a particular case that you would like to address, I would be glad to get back to you. We will be deploying—
Marlene Poitras
View Marlene Poitras Profile
Marlene Poitras
2020-06-12 11:08
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
[Witness spoke in Cree as follows:]
????????? ?????
[Cree text translated as follows:]
I thank you all.
[English]
I thank you for the opportunity to address you from the heart of Treaty 6 territory. I represent a region fully encompassed by treaty numbers 6, 7 and 8.
These treaties are more than just agreements between our nations to share the land and live in peaceful co-existence. They are living, breathing relationships that form the basis of your Constitution to this day.
I raise this because many nations are the beneficiaries of the clauses in their treaties, including for the provision of medicine and assistance in times of pestilence. While financial aid and resources have moved quickly to first nations and the collaboration and communication of our regional office have been commendable, Canada continues to fail to meet its commitments and obligations to our treaty relationship, even during a specific circumstance when the Crown promised to support us in a way that we needed.
First nations are being recognized for how they have addressed this crisis. By setting up borders, curfews and other security measures, first nations have fared better statistically speaking than Canadians, but, as one of my colleagues recently said at a meeting, this is not only because of an overabundance of caution, but in fact that the response that so many have celebrated was also born out of necessity.
Our leaders put those extraordinary measures in place because we still have homes that house upwards of 15 people. We have elders who could perish from this disease, and there is never enough time to transmit the knowledge they carry. We have a disproportionate number of people who suffer from chronic illnesses, and we have communities where people can't even properly wash their hands. The list goes on and on.
If it's not a clear sign that systemic racism is alive and well in Canada, I don't know what else this country needs to hear to finally take action on the gross inequality that exists between Canada and first nations.
The fact is that when the indigenous community support fund was rolled out, Canada used a funding formula that only accounted for first nations on-reserve members when it very well has the ability to account for all first nations members both on and off reserve. This is proof that Canada is only willing to recognize our nationhood within the confines of a reserve. How can a government purport to support nation rebuilding when it intentionally finds ways to limit our authority and jurisdiction to borders it determines?
To make matters worse, our leaders scrambled to pass public health orders and laws to safeguard communities from this virus. Some of them in Alberta had to expend exorbitant amounts of own-source revenue to hire security teams to protect their communities. When law enforcement agencies were called to support these public health measures, some refused and said our laws weren't enforceable or, worse, were unconstitutional.
How can we ever be true nation-to-nation partners if Canada is unwilling to accept our laws as equal to its own? This country already recognizes two legal systems, civil and common. It is not unreasonable to expect the same for ours. Let me remind you that if Canada didn't recognize our treaties, you wouldn't have a Constitution.
As we begin the phased reopening of our societies and start working toward economic recovery, we recommend that there be increased availability of testing for first nations people; that first nations-specific assessment guidelines for testing, contact tracing, treatment and vaccinations be designed with first nations technicians, leaders and knowledge keepers; that first nations be able to determine their data needs and that those be responded to appropriately for planning subsequent health crises.
This latter point is critical to self-determination because first nations have not been the first to find out when a confirmed case is in their community. The province continues to hold that information, which then goes to Canada, and finally to the first nation.
Moreover, tracking of cases by Alberta Health reflects first nations on and off reserve, yet the source of information is outdated and is still based on the old Alberta health care data arrangement. Similarly, census data from 2016 is still used as the base number of our populations. Those numbers aren't accurate because many first nations don't actively participate in the census.
Last, distinct funding must be provided to support first nations businesses with the recovery, and we must be active participants in the rebuilding of our economies. I say this because I keep hearing that people can’t wait until things get back to normal, but there’s a part of me that says normal didn’t do us justice. Normal meant injustices for our people; it meant underinvestment in our communities; it meant the exploitation of our lands without our consent.
We now have an opportunity to work together to make things better: to develop our solutions, to develop our laws and to develop whatever it is we need to ensure our people can benefit and thrive. The only way that is going to happen is if our treaty partners come to the table and we work together effectively and efficiently in true partnership.
Thank you. Ay Hiy. Nanaskomin.
View Bill Morneau Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Before I begin, I'd like to once again thank the members of the committee for their continued work during this particularly challenging period for all of us.
The pandemic continues, obviously, to have serious economic impacts across Canada. For many Canadians, the pandemic has brought about unprecedented uncertainty: uncertainty about their jobs and their financial security and uncertainty about making ends meet.
Today marks three months since the Prime Minister announced the first elements of Canada's COVID-19 response plan. From the very beginning, we've maintained an unwavering commitment to supporting Canadian households and businesses. We've rolled out measures for workers and businesses across all sectors and for employers of all sizes. We've worked and are continuing to work closely with local, provincial, territorial and indigenous partners to minimize the health, economic and social impacts of COVID-19.
Now, three months into the crisis, there are some encouraging signs in Canada that the spread of the virus is slowing down. Many provinces and territories in Canada are beginning to cautiously reopen their economies, something that the finance ministers are telling me in my weekly calls is really beginning across the country, but we're not out of the woods yet. COVID-19 continues to pose significant risks to Canadians and, of course, to our economy.
That is why our government continues to take action to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Our goals remain the same: to protect Canadians, support Canadian workers and businesses, and support our communities to ensure that Canada is ready to bounce back when we emerge from this crisis.
I'd like to highlight some of the measures we've recently announced.
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister announced that funding for the federal gas tax fund has been brought forward this year. The gas tax fund is a permanent source of funding that is provided to the provinces and territories. The provinces and territories then disburse the money to municipalities to support various local priorities.
Usually, the federal government transfers the money in two instalments, one during the summer and the other a few months later. We know that this year the municipalities need the money now so that they can deal with the crisis caused by COVID-19.
In the next few weeks, $2.2 billion from the federal gas tax fund will go to Canadian municipalities: money that will help municipalities move forward with infrastructure projects that will improve quality of life, help restart local economies and create good jobs. We understand that more will be needed to help municipalities, as many are facing significant COVID-19-related financial pressures, but we know that this is an important first step. We'll keep working with provinces and territories in order to help support municipalities.
As the provinces and territories gradually get their economies back on track, our top priority remains protecting the health of Canadians. That is why we have begun negotiations with our provincial and territorial counterparts to ensure that any reopening takes place while protecting the health of Canadians and minimizing the risk of transmission of the virus.
In particular, we are working with the provinces and territories to ensure that all Canadians can have paid sick days. People need to be able to stay home if they have symptoms of COVID-19 without worrying about how they're going to pay their bills.
We also continue to ship equipment across the country, such as surgical masks and gloves, and provide support to the provinces and territories in testing for COVID-19.
As we continue our discussions with our provincial counterparts to make sure Canadians can get back to work safely, we'll also be focused on the following areas: testing and contact tracing; making sure there is personal protective equipment, so Canadians are safe on the job; support for child care; support for vulnerable people, like those in long-term care facilities; and support for cities and municipalities. We know we all need to work together.
Throughout the pandemic, one thing has been clear: we've all been touched by this crisis.
Last week, the Prime Minister announced that seniors eligible for old-age security in the guaranteed income supplement will receive their special one-time tax-free payment during the week of July 6. Seniors eligible for the OAS pension will receive a payment of $300. Those eligible for the GIS, who are the most vulnerable, will receive an additional $200.
The pandemic has also heightened and highlighted the additional challenges already facing indigenous peoples in our country. We're working with first nations, Inuit and Métis communities to address their specific needs. Since we last met, our government has announced additional funding to support indigenous peoples. This includes an additional $75 million in supports for organizations that provide services to indigenous people in urban centres and off reserve, and an additional $650 million to support communities on health care, income support and new shelters for women.
This builds on measures already announced to support the public health response in indigenous communities, as well as the support to indigenous businesses and aboriginal financial institutions.
The measures to help Canadians that were recently announced, and which I just mentioned, are in addition to the measures that were previously put in place. These are measures that we continue to improve. For example, we continue to improve the Canada emergency wage subsidy. Last month, we proposed that the program be extended to August 29.
In recent weeks, the government has also held consultations with representatives of business, labour, non-profit organizations and charities. We want to see what improvements can be made to the program. The Canada emergency wage subsidy has already helped more than 2.6 million Canadians keep or return to their jobs.
The key objectives of any potential changes to the Canada emergency wage subsidy would be to maximize employment to ensure that the program reflects the immediate needs of employers and to support the post-crisis economic recovery.
Overall, our government's swift and comprehensive actions through the COVID-19 economic response plan are providing more than $150 billion in direct support to Canadians. This, coupled with liquidity support of $85 billion through tax and duty deferrals, represents support equivalent to more than 10% of our GDP. This has put Canada at the forefront of our international peers in the robustness of our response. We've done this because we believe that, by investing in Canadians now, we stand well prepared for success in the economic recovery to come.
While there is reason to be optimistic, we must all continue to take precautions to control the spread of the virus. As provinces, territories, municipalities and businesses begin to gradually reopen, we'll stand ready to support them to make sure Canadians remain safe and supported. Our government will be there with Canadians every step of the way.
I would now be pleased to take questions from the members.
View Kristina Michaud Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I would like to thank the witnesses.
My question is for Mr. Cardinal.
Mr. Cardinal, I would like to say a few words about the divide in the regions. You touched briefly on this subject earlier when you brought up the third example. You said that members not living on a reserve do not have access to federal support, and that this particularly affects them in times of crisis.
Could you tell us more about that?
Éric Cardinal
View Éric Cardinal Profile
Éric Cardinal
2020-06-09 18:33
Everywhere, but especially in the regions, First Nations people live either in communities—on reserve, as they say—or outside of them. They receive services from either the provincial or federal government. So there is already some confusion, sometimes, as to who should provide services to members of certain First Nations. With the current crisis, members are looking to their government, which in most cases is the First Nations council. The council has to ensure the health and safety of its members, which creates competition of sorts between governments. Ultimately, it is a question of resources, especially financial resources.
The people of La Nation Micmac de Gespeg, as I mentioned, do not live on a reserve because they do not meet the criteria of the Indian Act and that means they do not receive the financial support that other First Nations receive. Therefore, the council cannot help its own members. These First Nations members are then referred to other forms of government support—provincial, municipal or federal. This is a major challenge right now, in my opinion.
View Kristina Michaud Profile
BQ (QC)
How can we rectify this problem? We talk about recognizing the council and that form of government. Of course, the crisis underscores this difficulty, but it was there long before the crisis.
What should the government do to help these people who are not sure where to turn at this point?
Éric Cardinal
View Éric Cardinal Profile
Éric Cardinal
2020-06-09 18:34
To the question of recognition we must add the question of concrete resources.
It is a pervasive issue: because of the way government works, it is very difficult to recognize First Nations self-government. Not only do we have to look beyond the Indian Act, but we also have to go even further. It takes a truly political relationship between federal officials, governments, and First Nations representatives.
Your role as a committee is very important, and I thank you for the work that you do. It is useful right now.
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