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Results: 1 - 15 of 136
View Bob Bratina Profile
Lib. (ON)
I call the meeting to order.
Welcome to meeting number 17 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
I would like to start by acknowledging that I am joining you today from the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabe and Chonnonton nations.
Pursuant to the motion adopted on June 9, 2020, the committee is meeting for the purpose of receiving evidence on the subject matter of the supplementary estimates (A), 2020-21.
Today's meeting is taking place by video conference. The proceedings will be made available by the House of Commons website. During this meeting, the webcast will alway show the person speaking rather than the whole committee.
In order to facilitate the work of our interpreters and ensure an orderly meeting, interpretation in this video conference is like that in a regular committee meeting. Choose, on the bottom of your screen, floor, English or French.
If you are speaking in English, please ensure you are on the English channel. If you are speaking in French, please ensure you are on the French channel. As you are speaking, if you plan to alternate from one language to the other, switch the interpretation channel so that it aligns with the language you are speaking.
Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name, and when you are ready to speak, you can either click on the microphone icon or you can hold down the space bar, as I'm doing now, while you are speaking. When you release the bar, the mike mutes.
I remind everyone that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair. Should any members request the floor outside of their designated time, they should activate their mike and state that they have a point of order. If a member wishes to intervene on a point of order that has been raised by another member, they should use the “raise hand” function.
When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute. If technical issues arise in relation to interpretation, or if you are accidentally disconnected, advise me or the clerk, and the technical team will work to resolve it. We may need to suspend as we need to ensure all members are able to participate fully.
Click on the top right-hand corner of the screen to ensure you are on gallery view.
In this meeting, we will follow the same rules that usually apply to opening statements and the rounds for questioning of witnesses. Each witness will have up to five minutes for their opening statement, followed by the usual rounds of questions from members.
Now it's time to get to our witnesses: the Honourable Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations; the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services; and the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs.
Minister Miller, I was informed that you will be starting. Please go ahead for five minutes.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, Chair.
As I am in Ottawa, I do want to acknowledge my presence today on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
Kwe, good afternoon, bonjour.
Before I begin, I would like to say a few words on the current social climate. Right now, we are in a moment when Canadians are recognizing that there's unfairness built into our systems and that these systems have always been unfair towards indigenous peoples.
I look to my colleagues on this committee among others and across government to reflect and question ourselves on why injustice towards indigenous peoples still happens and how we can move forward in the short, medium and long term.
This is obvious. We need to ensure that there is accountability and that policing services are committed to ensuring that they are always worthy of the trust we put in them. Indigenous peoples and their communities are entitled to the best, and the best there is of the RCMP.
We need to constantly question and reflect on the issues of systemic racism in institutions, particularly those that hold exceptional powers, ones, at times, of life and death. The exceptional powers exercised by police services across Canada come with correspondingly exceptional responsibilities. We must keep fighting to remove systemic racism from these institutions, institutions that are meant to serve everyone living in this country equally and fairly.
With that, I welcome the opportunity to provide you with an update on our continuing effort to confront the evolving COVID-19 pandemic and to answer your questions on supplementary estimates (A).
As of June 15, Indigenous Services Canada is aware of 247 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in first nations communities on reserves. Of these, 208 individuals are considered to have recovered. In terms of Inuit in Nunavik, all of the 16 cases reported have recovered.
Our commitment to supporting communities in their response to COVID-19 has never wavered. That is why our 2020-21 supplementary estimates (A) reflect a net increase of $1.7 billion. This was essential to address the needs of indigenous peoples during this global crisis. These supplementary estimates include $950.5 million of statutory funding, mostly related to the COVID-19 response measures, in addition to new funding support for key programs such as Jordan's principle and child and family services.
To date, the Government of Canada has made roughly $1.5 billion in distinctions-based funding available to indigenous peoples and northern communities to support their efforts to successfully battle COVID-19. Specifically, these estimates contain more than $280 million to support Indigenous Services Canada's health response in first nations and Inuit communities. This is essential funding that will help to provide first nations and Inuit communities with additional health care providers; personal protective equipment; health infrastructure, specifically retooling existing community spaces or purchasing mobile structures to support isolation, screening and/or accommodations; and community-level infection prevention and control measures that are essential.
In addition to this, these estimates also reflect $305 million for the distinctions-based indigenous community support fund. Of this amount, $215 million was dedicated to first nations, $45 million to Inuit, and $30 million to Métis nation communities, plus $15 million in proposals-based funding for first nations off reserve and urban indigenous organizations and communities.
An additional $75 million was also sought for organizations supporting first nations individuals off reserve and Inuit and Métis living in urban areas, as well as $10 million in funding for emergency family violence prevention shelters on reserve and in Yukon.
As part of our COVID-19 response, we are also providing $260 million to respond to financial pressures on income assistance.
Outside of funding to support our COVID-19 response, these supplementary estimates also include $232 million to support the ongoing implementation of Jordan's principle, and $468.2 million to support the ongoing delivery of the first nations child and family services program. These investments demonstrate the government's ongoing commitment to fully implementing the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
This investment more than doubles the program's budget, bringing it to nearly $1.7 billion. Funding will be used to ensure that first nations children and families are getting the services they need.
You'll note that we have also made a few other announcements recently. These items will be reflected in future supplementary estimates. These include $75.2 million in new investments to support first nations, Inuit and Métis nations post-secondary recent graduates impacted by the pandemic, and $440 million in funding in support of indigenous businesses and the indigenous tourism industry in response to the hardships created by COVID-19.
I will close by saying that we are committed to responding to the needs of first nations, Inuit and Métis and to stopping the spread of COVID-19. We're committed to getting more nurses, paramedics, nursing stations and health centres to help those who need it most.
I want to take a moment, as I close, to thank all health care professionals working in indigenous communities for their continued dedication and determination to ensure that quality and culturally appropriate care, testing and treatment are provided during this pandemic.
I want to thank members for this opportunity to meet with you today, albeit virtually.
Again, I am happy to answer any and all questions.
Meegwetch. Nakurmiik. Merci.
View Sylvie Bérubé Profile
BQ (QC)
At a previous committee meeting, you stated that, according to Chief Ghislain Picard, Quebec first nations need nearly 8,000 housing units. For more than 20 years, the AFNQL has been asking for changes in this regard. How do you plan to improve the supply of housing?
My question is for you, Ms. Bennett.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
The capital investments our government has made in housing have been for housing in general. In terms of our investments in housing for indigenous people, we have recognized that it has not been enough, and indigenous people are obviously suffering as a result, including through increased vulnerability to COVID-19.
As we emerge from this epidemic, we will therefore have to ask ourselves what level of capitalization exists across Canada, and not only in Quebec, to really address the problem of housing and overcrowding that may exist in the communities. I also include the Inuit communities, who are vulnerable to lung disease, to which overcrowding is a major contributor, especially given COVID-19, and tuberculosis, which is present in some communities.
We must all reflect on this. Above all, we must ensure that we make adequate investments in indigenous communities to overcome this plague.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2020-06-16 17:55
Matna.
Thank you, Chair, and a shout-out to the IT team and translation for always being so great with all of us.
Thank you to the ministers for being here today. With my time crunch, I'm going to ask that you keep your responses to about a minute .
My first two questions are for Minister Miller.
First, the Inuit child first initiative was meant to assist Inuit children and parents. Instead, we hear stories of unbelievable hoops that parents need to jump through. A woman from Iqaluit told the Nunatsiaq News she had applied seven times, writing over 25,000 words, with over 50 appointments with qualified professionals and over 40 supporting letters, among many other items, just in the application process.
That is completely outrageous. We need to ensure Inuit children have access to fulfill their needs. What is being done to make this initiative work for children and parents?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I thank the member for that very, very important question.
I am very conscious about your time. I do recognize that the child first initiative has been undersubscribed and that we need to deliver that flexibility, but I want to allow the time for my associate, Deputy Minister Valerie Gideon, to answer on that point.
Chair, could we pass that over to Valerie, please?
Valerie Gideon
View Valerie Gideon Profile
Valerie Gideon
2020-06-16 17:56
Very quickly, it's just to say that the Inuit child first initiative right now is an interim approach. We are committed to working with the National Inuit Committee on Health on an approach that will meet the needs of Inuit across Inuit Nunangat.
We are consistently approving requests, and we've approved a number of requests related to COVID-19 as well, but we do believe that, working with the land claim organizations, there can be a simpler way to manage the initiative, which would be led by Inuit for Inuit.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2020-06-16 17:57
For my next question, my colleague brought forward motion number 174, a national suicide prevention action plan, in May 2019. Part of that motion stated, “conducting within 18 months comprehensive analyses of high-risk groups”. This was just over a year ago.
We know that Nunavut has the highest suicide rate. What has been done and what is going to be done to assist communities that have needed such resources for years?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
This is part of the undertaking that I undertook towards indigenous peoples when I was asked to serve as minister: to move forward on a national suicide prevention strategy. Some of the leaders in that area were the Inuit, with their suicide prevention strategy.
You will note that the 2021 supplementary estimates provide $5 million in new funding to support the continued implementation specifically of the Inuit-designed and Inuit-led Inuit suicide prevention strategy. This is a long-term solution tailored by Inuit to deal with the effects and the prevention of suicide, and this is something that is done through distribution of funds to Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, which you are well familiar with, and the four land claim organizations.
This is building, of course, as you mentioned earlier, on the first three years of the implementation, and the funding will continue for the strengthening of suicide prevention strategies across Inuit Nunangat.
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
NDP (NU)
View Mumilaaq Qaqqaq Profile
2020-06-16 18:00
I can give you a list to make sure that we are including everyone.
Pauktuutit has requested $20 million to support five shelters across Inuit Nunangat and in Ottawa. In recent announcements, we have not heard of this inclusion. While we know that women in the north are three times more likely to experience violence, over 70% of communities in Inuit Nunavut do not have safe spaces.
The delay in the response to the MMIWG report is nothing but disappointing. When will the federal government assist in providing the much-needed safe spaces for Inuit women and girls?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you.
The member might have noted the undertaking of the government a couple of weeks ago to invest $50 million into women's shelters and sexual assault centres across Canada to help with their capacity over the long term. This is something that does not exclude Nunavut.
This is funding—let me be clear about this—that works with CMHC to deliver that to the institutions and representatives that will administer it, and I have had successive talks with Pauktuutit. This does not exclude their other ask, which is in relation to shelters across Inuit Nunangat, but this can be a partial answer to that request. I am encouraged by the discussions we had, but they will be ongoing as to their capital needs, and we are obviously dedicated to making sure that—
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister Miller, within our budget I was pleased to see an increase in funding for Jordan's principle. I'd like to acknowledge the work they are doing and the difference that these workers are making. Their work has been vital, both on and off reserve, to help those who have slipped through the cracks in health, education and a lot of areas where indigenous people had nowhere else to turn but to them.
How will our recent funding help us reach full implementation of Jordan's principle, and what are some of the challenges that have surfaced during COVID that we are able to address with this funding increase?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, MP Battiste, for what is really an excellent question that goes to the heart of some of the work that Indigenous Services Canada does.
Mr. Chair, at the end of my statement I will pass the microphone over to ADM Valerie Gideon to show some of the daily work that we do at Indigenous Services Canada. I'm going to quote numbers, but behind those numbers are kids whose lives are being transformed by the implementation of Jordan's principle by this government. It's key, as part of our work with first nations, to ensure that this principle is being.... It's a sacred one to be upheld. The children really have access to products and services that they support, need and have the right to have.
The member has noted that supplementary estimates (A) provide $232 million in new funding to support the continued implementation of this principle. It brings the total budget for Jordan's principle up to $668 million. This ensures that children receive access to the health, social and educational products, services and supports they need, as well as speech and language pathology, physiotherapy, mental wellness supports, education assistance and mobility aids.
During this COVID period, those needs have become more acute as schools are shut down. As those needs become more specific, it's tailoring critical needs within the home. That has put pressure on the system, but it's welcome pressure because it is something that we need to fulfill as part of our duty to indigenous peoples.
On that note, I will pass the microphone over to Valerie Gideon.
Valerie Gideon
View Valerie Gideon Profile
Valerie Gideon
2020-06-16 18:10
I'll just say that we were actually able to provide services to children who would have normally relied on services being provided in school, and that would be the same with respect to food for those vulnerable families. We were also able to provide some virtual mechanisms for families to be able to access supports. That included laptop technologies, for instance, or anything that they required, including connectivity supports. Those are concrete examples of what we've been able to do during COVID-19.
In terms of challenges, I would just say that the volume continues to increase. We had a 150% increase in the number of requests approved between 2018-19 and 2019-20, and we are going to continue to see that increase. I think that supporting first nations communities and organizations to really be able to lead the way in terms of addressing more systematically gaps that children are confronted with would be a sustainable approach going forward.
View Jaime Battiste Profile
Lib. (NS)
Thank you, Valerie.
Minister Miller, during COVID, mental health has been something that we've heard a lot about in Canada. We've seen that the most successful models are where the first intervention is done by indigenous people themselves, often in indigenous languages, through social media or phone calls, instead of law enforcement.
With the recent deaths of indigenous Canadians in New Brunswick, I'm wondering if the minister can speak about how our government is making mental health a priority and about what supports our government is providing to ensure that indigenous models of intervention are being utilized.
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