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Results: 106 - 120 of 126
Jocelyn Formsma
View Jocelyn Formsma Profile
Jocelyn Formsma
2020-05-13 12:27
I'll be quick with a little sneak peek on the policy paper we're going to be releasing.
We say that first nations, Inuit and Métis living in urban settings have multiple, intersecting diversities that make up their identities. We are looking at when you're applying a distinctions-based lens you're not just looking at first nations, Métis, Inuit, you're looking at where they're geographically located and their residency, as well as a gendered lens, so looking at the effects on women, as well as two-spirit, LGBTQ+ individuals. We're saying by applying these lenses, you'll be able to see people a lot better and have better policy decisions.
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Frost, Madam Cloutier, Ms. Formsma and Ms. Kretschmer, thank you very much, as well, for your essential work across the country. I extend my condolences to your communities for the loss you've experienced.
I am also speaking to you from ancestral lands, the land of the Mississaugas of the New Credit Nation here in Halton, Ontario.
My question is a short one, and I'd like it if Mr. Sheppard and the others who provide services on the front lines could answer.
With respect to indigenous people who live in suburban areas—my riding is primarily suburban and not in close in proximity to some of the friendship centres as in Toronto—there are families in my riding who are indigenous and require services as well. Could you elaborate a little on the suburban aspect? I apologize if I cut you off, but we're going to try to stay on time.
Could we start with Madam Cloutier?
Edith Cloutier
View Edith Cloutier Profile
Edith Cloutier
2020-05-13 12:50
Thank you for your question.
As I understand it, you are talking about indigenous families who live outside major urban centres and how we can foster relationships and provide services.
That is kind of it. Friendship centres like the Native Friendship Centre in Val-d'Or, a city with a small population compared to Toronto or Winnipeg, are a crossroads and meeting place for indigenous communities, which brings the presence of indigenous people to the fore.
It is often in small communities like Val-d'Or that the native friendship centre becomes an outreach hub. We are not in the business of political representation. We are organizations providing front-line community services. That helps us to establish community contacts and foster a community, cultural and identity connection between families. With a pandemic like COVID-19, those families turn to a native friendship centre because the centre has already established a relationship of trust and communication with them.
View Adam van Koeverden Profile
Lib. (ON)
Thank you very much, Ms. Cloutier.
Ms. Kretschmer, could you provide any context on the suburban indigenous population that you undoubtedly serve?
Lindsay Kretschmer
View Lindsay Kretschmer Profile
Lindsay Kretschmer
2020-05-13 12:52
I'll pick up in just a moment. I'd like to turn it over to Larry to respond further.
I would recommend that you familiarize yourself with what the friendship centre is in your respective neighbourhood. For Halton, I suspect that you're sort of sandwiched between Peel, Hamilton, Niagara and Fort Erie, where there are friendship centres.
As to how to respond to the needs in the context of suburban, I think it's organizing transportation, communicating virtually, thinking through how to approach this differently and allowing for those local self-determined needs to emerge through contacting those leaders directly.
I'll turn it over to Larry.
Larry Frost
View Larry Frost Profile
Larry Frost
2020-05-13 12:53
To add to what I said earlier, we're willing to help everyone. We all work together. But if you want to contact TASSC and if funds are available, we're always going to help anybody who needs food or even housing.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for President Natan Obed.
The Makivik Corporation spent $500,000 of the $11.25 million transferred to it for Inuit living in urban areas, particularly in Montreal. This is money that will not go to the people of Nunavik.
Without wanting to borrow from Peter to pay Paul, does this not show that the $15 million budgeted by the federal government to help indigenous people living off-reserve will be clearly insufficient?
I'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
Natan Obed
View Natan Obed Profile
Natan Obed
2020-05-08 16:14
The indigenous community support fund monies that were received by Inuit are not only for Inuit Nunangat communities, but for wherever Inuit live. Each of our four land claim regions has devised implementation programs and supports for urban Inuit.
There are other urban indigenous funds, but, again, the rollout could be quicker. There is a desperate need for more money for urban indigenous people writ large beyond just the Inuit communities. There are large urban Inuit communities in places such as Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton. It has been a challenge, and we have heard a lot of urban Inuit say that the money has not flowed fast enough. However, there are different programs and we have been able to access them, so there is some bridging of the need versus the [Inaudible—Editor].
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Kwe. Tansi. Ulaakut.
Hello.
I would like to acknowledge that we are on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
As of May 5, we have seen 161 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities on reserve and 16 in Inuit communities, focused in the Nunavik region.
I also want to take a second to address what was made public a few days ago with respect to a false positive case in Pond Inlet. This was confirmed, luckily, earlier in the week, to the relief of many Canadians. Again, the lesson from this is that we need to stay vigilant, because we know that the pre-existing conditions in these communities make them exceedingly vulnerable. Vigilance is key, particularly with a pandemic that we have yet to fully understand.
In order to help indigenous communities cope with COVID-19, our government has provided more than $740 million in direct support to help first nations, Inuit, and Métis communities address their public health needs.
So far, more than $59.8 million has been used to buy equipment for medical personnel and to support community-led preparation measures. This money is in addition to the investments made in budget 2019, in which our government provided $79.86 million for health emergency readiness. These investments helped in developing a network of regional coordinators and enhancing the ability of first nation communities to deal with health emergencies and pandemics.
Indigenous Services Canada continues to maintain a stockpile of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer to give to first nations communities dealing with a health emergency situation. This stockpile is available to first nations communities that might need personal protective equipment to ensure the safety of health care workers and others supporting the delivery of health services in an emergency health situation, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.
As of May 5, yesterday, we have shipped 731 orders for personal protective equipment, including hand sanitizers, N95 masks, isolation shields and gloves to first nations communities with five orders in progress. The amounts constitute more than 167,850 gowns and more than 202,000 surgical masks to complement supplies provided by provinces and territories. We continue to respond quickly to requests and to assess them within a 24-hour turnaround time.
I would like to underscore that many communities and service providers are adapting their operations to respect the requirement for physical distancing. National indigenous organizations, such as Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and First Peoples Wellness Circle, have developed a series of resources related to COVID-19 that are available to everyone online.
One of our supports has been to financially assist the First Peoples Wellness Circle in developing an online platform for its network of local, multidisciplinary mental wellness teams that are currently offering services to 344 communities. We've increased the number of crisis intervention counsellors on shift at the Hope for Wellness helpline, which is now receiving more than 100 calls or chats a week linked to COVID-19. This experience of self-isolation and physical distancing of family members who may be at higher risk or might fall ill can have a significant and real impact on mental health. We recognize this and are engaged with partners to support solutions to address and bolster mental health, particularly for youth.
Support for aboriginal youth is another priority sector. The department is working with its indigenous partners, including youth organizations, to support and promote indigenous resources for young people.
For example, the Canadian Roots Exchange has set up the creation community support fund to support youth mental wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic with local solutions. Similarly, We Matter is an indigenous-led youth organization focused on life promotion and messages of hope and resilience. They have developed tool kits for youth, teachers and support workers to help youth and those who support youth.
We are aware that post-secondary students are facing an unprecedented situation because of COVID-19. On April 22, the Prime Minister announced up to $9 million in funding for post-secondary students and recent graduates, including aboriginal students.
Nevertheless, we know that many aboriginal students are dealing with specific and unique situations either related to financial stability, job opportunities or simply the chance to continue their studies as planned. That is why an additional $75.2 million will be provided specifically in support of first nations, Inuit and Métis post-secondary students as they deal with COVID-19. This amount is in addition to the existing financial aid programs for aboriginal post-secondary students. This support could be used to cover the cost related to buying computer equipment as courses move online, registration fees, groceries, support payments, housing and transportation, and, should graduation be delayed, cover an extra year of university and related expenses.
At the end of the day, this assistance is meant to ensure that post-secondary aboriginal students can continue or begin their studies as planned despite the obstacles put up by COVID-19.
We are also taking steps to support indigenous-owned businesses during this crisis. The Government of Canada will provide up to $306.8 million in funding to help small and medium-sized indigenous businesses through the network of aboriginal financial institutions that offer financing to indigenous businesses. This measure will help an estimated 6,000 indigenous-owned businesses during this difficult time and will hopefully provide the stability they need to persist.
Indigenous businesses, including indigenous government-owned corporations and partnerships, are also now eligible to apply for the Canada emergency wage subsidy to support them in their efforts to retain and rehire laid-off employees and weather their current challenges. Taxable indigenous government-owned corporations are already eligible for the wage subsidy.
The government has also established a business credit availability program to provide $40 billion in additional support through the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada, which are working together with private sector lenders to coordinate credit solutions for individual businesses. Some indigenous businesses may be able to leverage these solutions as well.
As you may recall, on March 18 the Government of Canada allocated $305 million towards a new distinctions-based indigenous community support fund to address immediate needs related to COVID-19 in indigenous communities and among urban indigenous populations. This funding is part of the COVID-19 economic response plan and is in addition to needs-based support for first nations and Inuit health and emergency management.
As part of this indigenous community support fund, we are working to support first nations off reserve and urban indigenous populations. We recently concluded proposal-based processes to distribute $15 million to organizations that provide critical services to first nations off reserve and to indigenous peoples living in urban centres. So far 94 proposals by organizations from coast to coast to coast have been supported through this fund. This includes support for friendship centres as they continue their important work to serve urban indigenous communities in the face of this pandemic. We know that friendship centres are playing a crucial role in providing key support, which ranges from delivering food to families, young people and elders to responding to calls for assistance to providing support for mental health and cultural support for urban indigenous communities.
As our response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues and adapts to new data, we ask indigenous communities and partners to continue to assess their evolving needs. We ask them to reach out to their regional departmental contacts so that we may assist them in supporting community members.
I want to take this final moment, Mr. Chair, to express again my deepest sympathies to the Canadian Armed Forces. Our thoughts and prayers go to the military personnel who lost their lives in the helicopter crash in the Ionian Sea, and their families. Canada is grieving with them as we all try to come to grips with this tragic accident.
Let me conclude by saying that the government has designed and supported the measures I've described earlier today to provide timely and direct support to all Canadians in response to this unprecedented crisis. These measures offer timely financial support to indigenous peoples in Canada in particular, no matter where they reside. We are working with our partners for all Canadians.
Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Merci. Thank you.
Robert Bertrand
View Robert Bertrand Profile
Robert Bertrand
2020-05-05 17:30
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, committee members and fellow witnesses.
My name is Robert Bertrand. I'm the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, or CAP, as we like to call it.
I would like to extend my thanks for this invitation and to those who have worked to bring us here this afternoon.
Mr. Chair, we appreciate your invitation to appear.
We would also like to thank Peter Julian for his recent work in Parliament to ensure that the urban indigenous population is heard.
Since 1971, CAP has fought for the rights, interests and needs of off-reserve status and non-status Indians, Métis and southern Inuit people.
In 2016, in the CAP/Daniels decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that non-status and Métis people are Indians under the Constitution and that this is an area of federal responsibility. In 2018, CAP signed a renewed political accord with the Government of Canada to ensure our people are included in federal policy.
CAP is the national voice for our 10 provincial and territorial affiliates. They work with their respective provincial and territorial governments to advocate for their constituents. They are service providers in areas such as housing, education, employment and language, among others.
Our communities have been historically known as a forgotten people. This has not changed, even during the present pandemic. In the past, this term referred to the indigenous peoples excluded from the Indian Act, treaties and land claim agreements. Today, we also have to add to the list those who are excluded from the government's distinction-based approach.
In March, the government announced a $305-million support package for indigenous peoples dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Of this amount, $290 million was designated for distinction-based organizations, which represents about 500,000 indigenous people across Canada. Less than 5%, or $15 million, was designated for supporting off-reserve and urban indigenous populations, a group of over one million people.
Fifteen dollars per person is not enough for any meaningful support programs for one of the most marginalized groups in Canada. I don't need to reiterate the poverty and chronic health issues, the over-policing and the discrimination faced by our indigenous people.
CAP was told that it will only receive $250,000 after a competitive bureaucratic process that pitted off-reserve organizations against each other. This amount would be enough to provide those in need among our people with approximately three dollars. That is per capita.
We were encouraged to hear the government acknowledge that the initial $15 million for urban indigenous communities was insufficient. CAP said as much when the funding levels were announced back in March.
Despite the promise of more funding, we are left with a few pressing questions. First, how much more will be made available? Second, when is it going to reach our people, who have been waiting since mid-March? Finally, when will the government address the distinction-based approach that created this problem in the first place and include all the national indigenous organizations as equal?
Our people should have known about funding levels and timelines months ago. Implementing programs takes time, time that is wasted while people's health and lives are threatened.
The distinction-based model continues to be a problem and a barrier for our constituents with more recent announcements.
New funding is rolled out without representatives of urban indigenous peoples being consulted. Government has announced another $70 million in distinction-based indigenous student aid funding that our constituents will not be able to access. Also, $306 million in indigenous business support is flowing through groups that exclude most of our membership as well.
What CAP is asking is that all indigenous peoples be considered when creating public policy. We urge federal and provincial/territorial governments to engage CAP, our PTOs and our constituents to design programs, rather than restricting access to only a handful of organizations.
Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today, because consultation on issues that impact all indigenous people is something that CAP strives for in our work as a national indigenous organization. Mr. Chair, we will not be forgotten.
Meegwetch. Merci. Thank you very much.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to all our witnesses for being here today. We hope your families are safe and healthy.
I'm very pleased to see you here today, National Chief Bertrand. You've been long overdue in coming here. We have had indigenous leaders come forward to the finance committee, and they've also testified at the indigenous and northern affairs committee, concerned about the lack of supports for indigenous communities. Certainly we should have learned the lessons from the past, when indigenous communities received little more than body bags to deal with pandemics. We're facing a similar situation here.
You pointed out that, on average, indigenous peoples living in urban areas will have about 15 dollars' worth of funding. That contrasts vividly and starkly with the supports that have been given in liquidity for some of the country's most profitable and biggest banks, about $20 billion on average.
What is the price of our not providing supports for indigenous peoples who live in urban areas across the country? What should the government be doing to provide support for indigenous people living in those urban areas?
Robert Bertrand
View Robert Bertrand Profile
Robert Bertrand
2020-05-05 18:22
The amount of resources allocated off reserve for this pandemic was a slap in the face, excuse the expression. When we convened our PTOs to tell them that, across Canada, CAP had received only $250,000—if you divide that by 10 PTOs, it's $25,000 per PTO—some of the chiefs were so insulted. One of the presidents said to me, “The federal government is asking me to choose which child or which elder we are going to help, and to not help the other.”
All we are saying is that, whether they be off reserve or on reserve, let's get equal help for everyone because they all need the same help. Because of this funding—I forget what the expression is—the distinctions-based approach, some indigenous people are better taken care of than the rest who are off reserve. That should not be, Mr. Julian. We're all indigenous people. We're all Canadians. We should all get the same help from this government.
View Michael McLeod Profile
Lib. (NT)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to all who took the time to present today.
I want to put my question to Robert Bertrand from CAP. I used to be a member of CAP way back when I was the president of our Métis council, so I certainly can share the concern that the Government of Canada needs to ensure that indigenous supports are inclusive of all indigenous populations.
Too often federal programs are inaccessible to many of the communities, especially in my riding. They don't seem to be able to access the money that is allocated to the NIOs, the national indigenous organizations. Money going to the AFN or Métis Nation does not come to the Northwest Territories, so I was very glad to see the indigenous community support fund flow to the Northwest Territories.
It's been a long time since I've seen so many people out on the land. We have people fishing, hunting, camping and tanning moose hides. They are opening up cabins that haven't been used for years. People are going back to their traditional family hunting areas. It's really good to see, and it's the first time we've been included.
Having said that, the money that went to Dene Nation in the Northwest Territories and the money that went to Inuvialuit flowed directly, and the Métis had to go a different route. They had to apply through the urban and off-reserve stream, and the money they got was certainly not on par with what the other indigenous governments got.
I want to ask if you could speak on the importance of an inclusive federal indigenous programming design and, specifically, if you think the urban, rural and northern streams are where these programs should be adopted. That's my first question.
Robert Bertrand
View Robert Bertrand Profile
Robert Bertrand
2020-05-05 18:36
Mr. McLeod, thank you so much for your question. I'm very happy to see that your people were able to participate in these programs.
By what you have just said, I think we have concrete evidence of why it's important that all groups be included. It is very maddening when you see certain groups benefit from the federal government's largesse, while other people do not. As I stated in my opening remarks, the distinctions-based approach used by the federal government benefits roughly half a million people, when we know according to the government's own statistics, its own numbers from StatsCan, that about a million and a half people are now living off reserve.
We're saying, what's good for the goose should also be good for the gander. There should be no distinction between indigenous people. Everybody should be considered equal, whether they're on reserve or off reserve, up north or down south. We know there are a lot of northern indigenous people who live down south. Everybody should be treated the same. That's why we are meeting with all these groups to try to get the government to change its mind.
View Peter Julian Profile
NDP (BC)
Thank you.
Thanks to all the witnesses today.
My last question will be to National Chief Bertrand.
You've raised very compelling arguments today about the level of support that is required to make sure that indigenous people across the country, urban or living on reserve, have the ability to withstand this pandemic.
Do you believe that you are being heard? Is there a sense that there is movement from the government to provide the supports that are needed?
Results: 106 - 120 of 126 | Page: 8 of 9

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