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Results: 1 - 15 of 16
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
View Arnold Viersen Profile
2021-06-22 10:36 [p.8940]
Madam Speaker, the next petition I have to present today is from Canadians across the country who are concerned about the equal application of the law. The petitioners are indigenous members in my riding and are concerned that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which is supposed to enhance financial accountability and transparency, is not being enforced.
The petitioners also point out that the federal government recognizes band membership when allocating funds, yet often off-reserve band members face alienation and are limited in receiving funds and services from their respective bands. They are calling on the Government of Canada to enforce the First Nations Financial Transparency Act to ensure that off-reserve band members are provided levels of funding that are equal to those received by on-reserve band members.
View Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr Speaker, there are many things, but I will highlight two.
First, many indigenous people no longer live on reserve. Here in Beaches—East York, I represent an urban riding, and I think we need to do much more for our urban indigenous population. When I look at my own riding and the leadership of TASSC and the leadership of Lindsay Kretschmer and more, another woman who has entered my orbit, who I have been lucky to learn from, I think we need to do much more for urban indigenous people as a matter of reconciliation. I think we need to do much more, as it relates to ending poverty in the country for all people, including those who are indigenous.
The second thing I will say is in relation to child welfare. We are on the right path in this regard, and we need to heavily work with provinces, because this is not only within federal jurisdiction. I am very concerned that we will wake up in the future and look back and see the number of indigenous people who have been removed from their families, and we are living through that in 2021, and we will say in the future we are ashamed of that history. We are living through that today.
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
View Arnold Viersen Profile
2021-05-31 15:28 [p.7631]
Mr. Speaker, the third petition I have to present today is from indigenous members of my riding.
The petitioners note that everyone is equal before the law and without discrimination. They state that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act is supposed to enhance accountability and transparency. However, when receiving federal funding, official first nation band membership is counted, but off-reserve band members face alienation, and are receiving limited funds and services.
The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to enforce the First Nations Financial Transparency Act and ensure that off-reserve band members are provided with equal levels of funding and services as on-reserve band members.
View Gary Vidal Profile
CPC (SK)
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
I am participating in this debate tonight from my hometown of Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. Right next door to me is the Flying Dust First Nation, one of nine members of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council. On the east side of my riding is the Prince Albert Grand Council, which is comprised of 12 first nations. There are also many Métis communities across my northern Saskatchewan riding along with a huge agricultural sector and tourism.
The reason I highlight this is that all our communities, including the first nation and Métis communities in northern Saskatchewan, are looking to the government for a clear and competent vaccine plan, but they are not finding one.
The text of today's motion indicates that “a vaccine is essential to the health, safety, and economic security of every Canadian.” My constituents are now observing countries around the world as they detail their vaccine plans, with real tangible timelines, and are asking where Canada's plan is.
The Prime Minister naively announced on election night in 2015 “Canada is back.” Now we understand just how true those words were. Canada is indeed at the back of the line, behind one-third of the world population, in getting vaccines.
The attack from the Liberals on this is easily predicted, that we as Conservatives are playing politics. It may come as a shock to the Liberals, but as Canada's official opposition, it is indeed our job to push back, to hold government accountable and, in some cases, even oppose and criticize it. Without the great work of my colleagues in the Conservative Party, Canada and Canadians would be much worse off than they are today in the face of this pandemic.
What do I mean by that? In my role as shadow minister for indigenous services, at many times throughout this pandemic I have identified gaps and serious issues facing indigenous people. This began with many indigenous businesses not being able to access the government's wage subsidy program because of the way it was structured. After weeks of fighting, finally the government modified its program and allowed these businesses to access the wage subsidy.
Next was the issue of elections on first nations. As Canada was dealing with the first wave of this pandemic, elections were scheduled to occur, while many first nations were developing public health measures to ensure their people were kept safe. As members can imagine, contrary to what the Liberals clearly want, the height of a pandemic is no time to hold an election. Therefore, I, with the help of many, pushed the minister and his department to find a solution. They did. They found the ability to delay these elections in regulations created under the Indian Act.
A few months into the pandemic, I was made aware of a major gap in the government's CEBA loan program, thanks to the excellent advocacy of Tabatha Bull of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, Shannin Metatawabin of the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and many others. Indigenous businesses do not often use traditional banking systems. Instead, they make use of the many aboriginal financial institutions, AFIs, across Canada. Alongside many stakeholders, we advocated for the government to create the emergency loan program administered through NACCA. It was eventually announced at the end of April, but still businesses could not access it until over two months later.
Let us not forget that it was the Conservative Party that first raised the idea of closing our borders to international travellers. Our concerns were met with scoffs and suggestions of racism from the health minister. Then what happened? The government eventually listened and closed our borders.
In addition to that, it was our party that fought the government to investigate rapid tests after countries around the world started to introduce them for use. The Liberals at the time, which I predict they will again do today, accused us of being too partisan. What happened? Within weeks of us raising it, the government started looking into and approving rapid tests.
It is clear that if it were not for our strong, principled opposition, Canadians would be far worse off than they are today in the face of the second wave of this pandemic. Here we are today once again identifying a major gap in the government's handling of the pandemic, hoping to receive all-party support and finally receive some semblance of a plan from the Liberals.
Getting back to the motion, the Conservatives, and I believe all Canadians, want to know how each type of vaccine will be safely delivered to Canada, stored and distributed to Canadians; the data on which each vaccine type will be first deployed in Canada and the rate of vaccinations anticipated by month; any intended federal guidance with respect to the deployment of the vaccine by priority group, such as front-line health workers and seniors; and, finally, the plan for distribution of the vaccine to indigenous communities, members of the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans.
For the remainder of my time, I want to focus on the importance of a plan for rural and remote indigenous communities, urban indigenous people and indigenous businesses.
During the first wave of the pandemic, indigenous people experienced far lower positive and mortality rates for COVID-19 because of strong local leadership. While the Liberals were playing politics about closing borders, many first nations did exactly that and were able to control who came into their communities in order to keep their people safe.
It is no secret that there are many unsafe living conditions in many of these indigenous communities across our country. In the face of such adversity, indigenous people weathered the first wave better than any other demographic across the country.
As Canada has experienced the second wave, indigenous communities are now dealing with increased COVID fatigue, leading to people to let their guard down and sometimes make poor decisions, thus increasing the risk to their families and communities. With no plan from the government on when these communities may receive a vaccine, how it will be transported to them and how many doses they will be provided, the leadership in these communities cannot provide hope that this will soon be over. This is precisely why we need a plan from the government.
Eight months ago, I raised the issue of collecting accurate and comprehensive data on urban indigenous people with the Minister of Indigenous Services. The purpose of this would be to reduce jurisdictional wrangling. Unfortunately, as we saw last week, instead of action, the minister decided to point the finger at the provinces and municipalities. Without accurate and comprehensive data on urban indigenous people, how can the government plan to vaccine this vulnerable population and learn from this pandemic?
My office has been in close contact with the Aboriginal Friendship Centres of Saskatchewan as well as its national organization. These groups have been providing much of the care for urban indigenous populations throughout the pandemic and they also have been advocating for better data so they can continue to provide these high-quality services. Without a plan that includes answers on the how, when and who, these organizations are left to fill the gap on which the government should be providing leadership.
An issue that has become near and dear to me, as I have served in the capacity as shadow minister over the past year, is indigenous businesses. I strongly believe that without true economic reconciliation, Canada's relationship with indigenous people will continue to be one of dependence. We need to put our effort and focus on supporting indigenous entrepreneurs who remain so connected to their nations and allow them to reinvest in their communities to provide real and lasting positive outcomes. That means the Liberals making good on their promise of a 5% procurement target for indigenous businesses.
The government cannot continue to operate in silos. This need to be a whole-of-government approach across all departments. Out of all the contracts awarded to businesses across Canada to produce PPE, the fact that indigenous businesses made up less than 1% is unacceptable, especially when hundreds of indigenous businesses lined up to be providers.
Indigenous businesses, like all businesses, need a level of certainty in order to successfully operate and make continued investments. As I pointed out, the government has done a poor job in supporting indigenous businesses throughout this pandemic and now, as these businesses are again looking for a plan, they are seeing a government with no plan.
In speaking with indigenous business stakeholders this week, we heard concerns regarding the lack of a mention of indigenous entrepreneurs in the fall economic statement. This has led them to be very disappointed and concerned with their ability to even survive a second wave, instead of focusing on the critical role they could be playing in the economic post-pandemic recovery.
That is why it is so important today that we pass this motion to provide these businesses and all Canadians some semblance of certainty during this difficult time.
View Arnold Viersen Profile
CPC (AB)
View Arnold Viersen Profile
2020-11-30 15:14 [p.2689]
Mr. Speaker, it is my honour today to present a petition that was initiated by Ms. Denise Whitehead from my riding.
The petitioners say that under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, every individual in Canada is equal before and under the law, and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination. To this end, they are hoping that the First Nations Financial Transparency Act be enforced to ensure the accountability and transparency of bands to their membership, for the receiving of federal funding so that every head counted in the official first nations band membership numbers be included and that off-reserve members of the bands, who have been treated as aliens in the past, be included in the disbursement of funds and services.
They call upon the Government of Canada to enforce the First Nations Financial Transparency Act to ensure that off-reserve band members get equal levels of service from their bands.
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
Lib. (MB)
View Kevin Lamoureux Profile
2020-10-30 10:14 [p.1468]
Madam Speaker, there are numerous issues. It has taken us many years to get to the point we are at today, and not all issues will be resolved overnight. I believe that we need to move more on an urban indigenous strategy and how that would fit into society, moving forward.
It is important that we have faith and trust in indigenous leadership and encourage it wherever we can. I appreciate the question, and the suggestion from the member that he would be—
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
BQ (QC)
View Gabriel Ste-Marie Profile
2020-10-30 12:41 [p.1493]
Madam Speaker, since being elected, I have discovered that the standard of living gap between the Atikamekw people and white people in my riding is vast. Unfortunately, although the poverty level throughout my riding is high, I would not hesitate to say that there are two classes of citizens even though the federal government is responsible for providing first nations peoples with a comparable quality of life. Its failure to fulfill that responsibility over the years has been epic.
The residential school saga traumatized the Manawan Atikamekw community, so I applaud this bill as a strong symbol for first nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We applaud that.
However, much more needs to be done. It is time to revise the Indian Act, an outdated, obsolete and racist piece of legislation. Even its name is racist. Obviously, before beginning that process, the government must provide guarantees to first nations groups and place them at the heart of the process.
We are still reeling from the shock of Joyce Echaquan's tragic death. Our thoughts are with her family and the Atikamekw community. Ms. Echaquan died in conditions that are more than suspicious. The last words she heard were hateful, odious, degrading, unacceptable and racist. Once again, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois and all my colleagues in the House, I wish to offer my most sincere condolences to the Dubé Echaquan family and the entire community.
Unfortunately, this was not the first time racist comments and acts were made at the Joliette hospital with respect to the Atikamekw community. The difference in this case is that we have video evidence of the despicable events.
The Viens commission, which released its report one year ago, heard similar testimony when it held hearings in Joliette. People knew, and things have to change. Federal rules require that the people of Manawan receive care at this hospital. If they want to go elsewhere, they must pay out of pocket. Other citizens do not live with such constraints. This must change.
Manawan is facing a range of challenges related to issues such as housing, health care, education, transportation and the economy. Living conditions there are well below our society's standards. For example, there are often more than 10 people living in each housing unit. These are not big units. We are talking about two- or three-bedroom apartments.
I also want to point out that the community and elected officials are working to make changes, and they are succeeding. One such example is the emerging tourism industry. There is a beautiful inn right on the edge of town and a campground on an island in Kempt Lake. I invite all of my colleagues to visit. Efforts are also being made to promote Atikamekw culture and heritage, and the community is investing in partnerships with the forestry and mining industries, for example in Saint-Michel-des-Saints.
Manawan's remote location remains an obstacle to the economic and social development of the Atikamekw of Manawan First Nation. The community is located just over 90 kilometres north of Saint-Michel-des-Saints and has 2,400 residents. Its population is growing rapidly.
The 90-kilometre road that leads to the community is actually a logging road built on unstable terrain. Entire sections of it are frequently closed. It takes first-hand experience to realize what a problem this is. An announcement was made regarding road upgrades, but there have been many delays. This leaves the community more isolated and forces residents to spend most of their budget buying pick-up trucks that end up having an extremely short lifespan, believe me.
Obviously, cellphone coverage in the area is non-existent, and power outages are a common occurrence. That poses a daily challenge, particularly for the Masko-Siwin medical clinic, which nevertheless manages to work real miracles.
The Atikamekw people have to negotiate with Indigenous Services Canada and Health Canada for the delivery of services. The process is cumbersome and inflexible and leaves very little room for autonomy, despite the community's desire to assume responsibility for itself.
For example, federal rules forced the community to build a housing development on a wetland. The houses deteriorated quickly, and after just a decade, mould problems set in. There is a housing shortage in the community, but they are being told to go build on a swamp, which causes all kinds of problems.
The elementary school is struggling to accommodate too many children, but it gets proportionally less funding than our schools.
A tour of the school reveals that child care and the library are located in windowless storage spaces in the basement. Social workers' offices are overburdened, which makes it hard for them to do their work. The burgeoning population is making matters worse.
The community's mother tongue is Atikamekw. French-language education is underfunded because French is not recognized as their second language, even though it is.
The community wants to self-govern, but it has to justify every one of its decisions to federal authorities, which can approve or reject the proposal based on arbitrary criteria. For example, Health Canada refused to cover travel expenses for a vehicle used to transport patients to the hospital in Joliette. Transportation by ambulance, which is much more expensive, would have been covered. That is the day-to-day reality for people who are not self-governing and who are subject to arbitrary criteria.
According to available statistics, the community of Manawan is grossly underfunded compared to other communities. Funding rules are based on an historical approach that does not incorporate the baby boom or the remoteness of the community. The community is very hard to access. One of the criteria specifies that the distance must be at least 90 kilometres, so under the federal government's definition, it is not a remote community. That is absurd, and it has to change. The government does not want to reopen the funding agreement and is threatening to cut the current funding envelope if the council ever insists on a review. These methods are completely antiquated or are meant to instill fear.
Despite everything, the community still manages to innovate. As I said earlier, the Centre de santé Masko-Siwin Manawan has established a truly impressive telemedicine system, which allows women to have their pregnancies monitored from home rather than having to go to Joliette.
For seniors with diabetes who require dialysis several times a week, the situation is dire. Power outages mean they have to leave their community to go and live in Joliette, near the hospital. People can probably guess how the tragedy this fall affected the community. After they spend a few months outside their community, Ottawa regards them as no longer living in their community and therefore cuts off all support. This causes an incredible amount of stress.
The fact that they have to depend on Ottawa for services normally provided by the Quebec government creates a host of other such problems and people in need often find themselves without any support. Governments pass the buck back and forth, and people fall through the cracks and are neglected. It is not right.
Historically, the people of Manawan have experienced a number of traumas as a result of colonial policies. Of course they were not spared the horrors of Indian residential schools, the tragedy of children being removed from their families, some children disappearing forever, and so on.
Not so long ago, the superintendent of the community was generally a retired soldier who created a climate of terror. For example, an Atikamekw man refused to allow an American forestry company to cut down trees on his family land without compensation. The superintendent told him he had tuberculosis and a plane would be available the next day to take him to a sanatorium. If he refused, the superintendent would call the RCMP to force him to go. When he returned to the community two years later, his land had been cleared and he had contracted tuberculosis at the sanatorium. That is the reality. So much trauma leaves scars and continues to breed mistrust to this day.
In closing, I want hon. members to know how dynamic and smart the Atikamekw nation is and what invaluable knowledge and culture they have. It is worth taking the time to meet them and get to know them.
Hopefully the tragedy experienced by Joyce Echaquan, her husband, their seven children and their entire community will raise awareness in order to contribute to changing views and laws and give the Atikamekw and first nations equal opportunities for growth.
View Michael McLeod Profile
Lib. (NT)
View Michael McLeod Profile
2020-10-09 12:03 [p.807]
Madam Speaker, in cities across the country we are seeing the number of COVID-19 cases rise. We know that first nations, Inuit and Métis face unique challenges combatting the spread of COVID-19.
Could the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services update the House on how the government is supporting indigenous people living off reserve and in urban centres?
View Pam Damoff Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, we understand that indigenous people living off reserve and in urban centres do indeed face unique challenges. That is why our government has provided $90 million through the indigenous community support fund to local indigenous organizations like the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation that provides traditional health and wellness services to vulnerable Dene, Inuit and Métis in the Northwest Territories. We will continue to work with urban and off-reserve organizations to ensure that no one is left behind.
I thank the hon. member for his leadership and advocacy.
View Gord Johns Profile
NDP (BC)
View Gord Johns Profile
2020-09-24 13:28 [p.53]
Madam Speaker, it is an honour today to speak in reply to the Speech from the Throne, which we know is just a speech that, basically, we have heard before. In 2015, there were similar promises made. In this Speech from the Throne, we really got a litany of broken promises from the Liberal Party on things that actually matter, and that are important to Canadians.
Specifically, through this pandemic we have seen the gaps in the social safety net and people are struggling right now. They are struggling to stay employed, keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table for their families. This is not a time for just words. It is a time for action. This pandemic, as I said, has exposed huge gaps in the social safety net. These are things that New Democrats have been talking about, such as the importance of 10 paid sick days so that people are not going to work while they are sick and infecting their colleagues, but instead are taking care of their own health or are able to stay home to look after their children when their children might show signs of having the virus.
We cannot go backwards. We know that so many things are not working right now for people. This pandemic has exposed that. Our health care system is not covering everybody, and people are losing their jobs and not being able to make ends meet. Even with the CERB, many people are still not able to cover their bills. The CERB is set to expire in nine days and we are being told that many Canadians are expected to take a cut on their CERB payment. These are people who have lost their businesses, which they closed to protect public health. Now the government is looking at penalizing them.
People were excited about the Speech from the Throne. They were expecting transformational change. The government talked about building back better, but it missed so many things, and it is heartbreaking. Let us look at the things the government did not talk about. The opioid crisis was just briefly mentioned. The Liberal government still has not even declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. In August alone in British Columbia, there were 147 lives lost. These are daughters, sons, brothers, sisters and cousins. Families and community members are dying from a tainted drug supply and the government still has not rolled out a plan to save those people's lives.
There was nothing in the throne speech for veterans. Can anyone believe that? These are the people who put their lives on the line to serve and protect Canadians, many of them now suffering from PTSD. Some of them are in the growing backlog of over 50,000 claims that the government has not even opened the envelopes of to start working on. We are seeing a growing number of homeless veterans.
The Royal Canadian Legion command wrote a letter to the government asking for help. It is saying that one in 10 legions across the country is looking at closing its doors permanently. The British Columbia/Yukon command wrote a letter saying it might be four in 10 legions that are closing their doors. They received no mention in the Speech from the Throne. That speech is meant to be about where the government is going, so it is clearly going to leave veterans behind. This is absolutely shameful. It should be responding to veterans. They have not even gotten a letter in response to their requests for help. This is highlighting the importance of the people being left behind.
Students were promised they were going to get help. My daughter, on April 24, watched the news when the Prime Minister said the government needed their help, that it knew the businesses they worked at were closed and their summer jobs were not going to happen, and that it needed them to volunteer. My daughter delivered food at the local food bank with her friends, helping to contribute. Then on June 25, the Prime Minister announced a program to help students that was starting that day. Students felt betrayed and wondered how this could be happening. Then the WE scandal emerged and they did not get any help.
There was nothing in the Speech from the Throne targeting students. There is $900 million still allocated for students and it needs to get out the door to them. If we do the math, there is $450 that could potentially go toward tuition for each student across the country. A lot of students do not know how they are going to get through the school year. There is no help from the government. They have questions. They are our future and it is important that we invest in them.
There was nothing about wild salmon in the throne speech. British Columbia has the largest salmon-bearing river in the world: the Fraser. Last year, there was half of the lowest return in recorded history. This year was half of that. We are losing our wild salmon and there was nothing in the Speech from the Throne to address that. We need help. We need the government to understand the importance of salmon to British Columbians.
While I am on the subject of British Columbia, my colleague from Vancouver East had a question on the order paper to find out how the national housing strategy is rolling out for people. I will tell the House how it is rolling out in British Columbia. We have 0.5% of the national co-investment fund, a $1.46-billion fund, and this is affirmed in a question on the order paper. Members should ask the homeless people right now how that is playing out for them. In our communities, it is real.
There is no mention of indigenous urban housing in the Speech from the Throne. Among indigenous people, 80% live off-reserve. Many of them are homeless, and they are not getting the help they need from the federal government. The Province of B.C. knows that it is not getting funding. This is also supported by the minister there, who has been fighting hard to make sure people have a home in British Columbia. We are building half of the non-market housing in the country right now in our province, and I am very proud of our provincial government for the work it has been doing, but it could be doing a lot more with help from the federal government.
There are so many things that are missing in the Speech from the Throne. There is still no fix for the commercial emergency rent assistance program. They are still relying on landlords. That is why they have only gotten a third of the money out the door. Only 15% of landlords have applied for the program. For the rest of the people who need the help the most, the tenants, the program still has not been fixed for them to apply.
I applaud the government for responding to our request when we asked for the wage subsidy to go from 10% to 75%. We appreciate them working with us. Last week we sent a letter asking the government to extend the wage subsidy. It honoured that. These are very important supports for small and medium-sized businesses across our country, and I urge the government to fix the emergency commercial rent assistance program.
The government says its most important relationship is with Canada's indigenous peoples, yet the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls Calls for Justice document was tabled over a year ago. A constituent in my riding, Chantel Moore, died on the anniversary of that document being tabled, and the government has done nothing to respond to the Calls for Justice. It is still failing to address the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
When it comes to respecting indigenous rights, we can look to the Nuu-chah-nulth court case where the government spent $19 million on lawyers fighting it. Right now is no different from the Marshall court decision for the Mi'kmaq in 1999. They're frustrated. They just want to go out and earn a moderate living. They just want to feed their families. They want to be on the water, fishing, not in court, and the government does nothing. There is nothing in the Speech from the Throne addressing that. It has not resourced the tables. It sends its negotiators to the table knowingly empty-handed. How is that the way to treat its most important relationship? People are living in terrible conditions, trying to figure out how they are going to feed their families. This is not honourable.
The Liberals talked about planting trees. They have not planted a tree since their last Speech from the Throne. Regarding clean energy, they have not met a single climate target that they set out, not one. They talked about broadband. They promised that before. Regarding pharmacare, people are living in pain. They cannot fill their prescriptions. The Liberals promised this in 1997 under Jean Chrétien in the Red Book, and they are promising it again today. Regarding child care, we learned from our colleagues and friends from Quebec who have delivered a child care plan across their province. Now 70,000 parents have gone back to work and Quebec's GDP has gone up 2%.
It is critical that the Liberals do this now, that we get action and no more talk. It is time. It is urgent, and we need the government to respond. We will be here to continue to drag the Liberals to follow through with their promises in the Speech from the Throne. They can count on the New Democrats to do that. We have done that through this pandemic and we are going to be here every day fighting for everyday Canadians.
View Karen McCrimmon Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Karen McCrimmon Profile
2020-05-25 15:01 [p.2358]
Mr. Speaker, we know that indigenous people who live off reserve in urban centres often face very different and unique challenges. I would like to ask the Minister of Indigenous Services what the government is doing to help indigenous people who live off reserve during this time of pandemic.
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Mr. Speaker, indigenous people living in urban centres do indeed face a unique set of needs and challenges. We heard loud and clear that more support would be needed for indigenous organizations working and operating in urban centres. That is why last week's announcement by the Prime Minister of an additional $75 million for organizations supporting first nations, Inuit and Métis living and working in urban areas off reserve marks a fivefold increase in that initial funding.
This new funding will support indigenous community-based solutions that address critical needs during this crisis to fight COVID-19 and to serve indigenous populations living off reserve, principally in urban areas.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Madam Chair, it is our understanding that funding for off-reserve and non-status indigenous groups has not been approved for release by Indigenous Services Canada. When will this money flow?
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Madam Chair, these are initiatives that are part of a number of ministries across our government. We are working, as part of the call for submissions for urban indigenous and off-reserve groups, to put forward those submissions. We work with them on a case-by-case basis, and we will be moving quite quickly to get those initiatives out. We will work specifically to prepare for and deal with the COVID outbreak, particularly in urban settings but also for off-reserve communities.
Again, they do not naturally fit into the funding models that we have within Indigenous Services Canada. I have asked my team to be flexible, because we are talking about dealing with an epidemic and it does not discriminate as to whether an indigenous group is on or off reserve.
View Jamie Schmale Profile
CPC (ON)
Madam Chair, which off-reserve and non-status indigenous groups were at the table making the decisions on how to best allocate those $15 million?
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