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Results: 61 - 75 of 195
View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
You are referring implicitly to the 2019 throne speech and the 5% target. It was in either the throne speech or Minister Anand's mandate letter. I am actually meeting with Ms. Anand and Minister Duclos in the next few days to see what the federal government can do to make sure indigenous businesses receive their fair share of federal procurement spending—5%. That isn't happening now. It's very uneven. The target applies to not just Indigenous Services Canada, but also all departments.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
We are maintaining our commitment. Today I spoke with Natan Obed about the specific needs of Inuit, including those in Nunavik. We are putting together a funding package tomorrow for Nunavut, which is experiencing a major increase in cases, as we've seen on the news. In my opening statement, I mentioned that it had 70 confirmed positive cases, and I fear that the number is going to rise.
We are committed to working closely with the Quebec government to provide appropriate medical resources and funding to Nunavik or the Nunavut government.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I have very good co-operation with the supporters and the communities that have signed territorial arrangements. We can always improve our relationship to streamline feedback and resource deployment. I hope it's not too bold of me to say that we have a very good relationship.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
That's a very pertinent question for the entire country. Regional air transportation is an essential service. We have allocated a number of funding envelopes for that purpose. You brought up Nunavik. Discussions with the Quebec government are necessary to ensure the continuity of air transportation in the Inuit territories affected. Discussions with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador are also necessary.
Since the crisis began, we have been working to keep air service going and supply communities with essential goods, especially medical equipment. We want to make sure small air carriers that are struggling financially can survive. There are numbers to back this up, but I don't have them with me.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you, MP Blaney.
First, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment, as well as the recent briefing with my team on Bill C-92, which I know is near and dear to everyone's heart on this committee.
This is an exceedingly difficult topic, and particularly because of what we've seen in the last month or so with respect to indigenous people. While it was a shock to non-indigenous people in Canada, it was not shocking, but a repeating pattern of a lived experience to indigenous people, who are treated badly and poorly and are subject to systemic racism across the health care system.
This is something that, as you well remember, was announced in the Speech from the Throne. COVID, again, like many things, has just exacerbated the reality.
In terms of putting forward health care legislation, we have to do this in proper consultation with indigenous communities. I have asked my team, conscious of the fact that we are operating in COVID times and have to observe physical distancing for people's health and well-being, to take the time to do the proper consultation with indigenous partners and treaty areas. A number of them have different perspectives on health needs and health engagement.
A number of the recommendations, as you'll recall, do exist in a number of reports. The one that comes to mind, obviously, is the Viens report. These issues are intermingled with jurisdictional challenges. The federal government has its role to play, which is unquestionable, but this is something we will need to do not only in partnership with indigenous people, first and foremost, but also in partnership with the provinces.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Ms. Blaney, I'll respond to your conclusion, from before you asked your question, on the timing of the legislation. While it is perhaps the prerogative of the federal government to decide when to introduce this type of legislation, it really will be indigenous communities, after our consultations, that will guide that timeline. I think this is always important to remember, and I know you know that.
On the question with respect to broadband, this is a portfolio that falls under the responsibility of Minister Monsef. I would note that in the announcement by the Prime Minister, $100 million is reserved for indigenous communities—
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I am agreeing with you when I say we have to work with indigenous communities to identify their broadband needs and prioritize them when they are identified as priorities.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
I'm absolutely glad to look into this. These issues are raised constantly and are, as I mentioned earlier with respect to health care legislation, exacerbated by COVID. Students in particular have been asked to study at home, and this isn't necessarily a function of remoteness, although that does pose a challenge.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Yes, it was about communities in Nova Scotia, and particularly the assault on Chief Sack and, two days later, the burning of a fish plant.
I think what everyone saw, and what indigenous communities have seen time and time again, is police services failing to serve them. You can look at the statistics, and I would direct everyone to the report by former justice Bastarache that came out today. I think it was quite clear insofar as it relates to indigenous peoples.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
The answer is yes. Obviously I will not disclose cabinet confidences, but I will point the member to the Speech from the Throne, which I am sure he has read, and the four or five points dealing with policing therein.
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Actually, I appreciate that question, because Indigenous Services Canada does have that relationship with indigenous communities, and we obviously hear, from community members and leadership, about the need for policing as an essential service on numerous occasions, including today with partners from Treaty 7 wanting to be engaged in the consultation in and around police reform, and not only with respect to policing as an essential service.
I think when we say “essential service” for policing in indigenous communities, we should all reflect on the fact that we take our own policing services in non-indigenous communities for granted, as they are not taken for granted in indigenous communities. It is a reflection of where we are as a country—but the answer, MP Viersen, is absolutely yes.
We can also examine, with indigenous communities and Minister Blair and his team, alternatives to policing, particularly when it comes to mental health interventions. I think a lot of the stuff we saw at the beginning of the year are areas where it might not be appropriate to have—
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View Marc Miller Profile
Lib. (QC)
Thank you so much for the question.
As schools were shut down at the very beginning of the pandemic, particularly given the vulnerabilities that I've highlighted earlier on, people were very worried about their children not only getting COVID but also being vectors of spread within the communities. The portrait of indigenous education across Canada is obviously not limited to the on-reserve reality of schools, although it is one reality, and we continue to build schools on reserves where they're requested and needed.
To that end, a month ago the Prime Minister announced, as part of the school support packages, $112 million dedicated to helping kids go back to school as part of a safe return now. It should be an inescapable reality that there are enhanced needs with respect to communities that have taken the difficult decision to keep their kids at home. Not everyone can be plugged in to an iPad or a computer device to do online learning, so some of the supports we've given—for example, under Jordan's principle—have been precisely to give supports to indigenous students in communities that are keeping them at home.
There is also the reality that this has stressed the mental health of children. A lot of the funding support for the stress we see—funding on which the estimates touch—deals with that reality. It is bleak at times, but we're obviously there to help. Wherever communities see that need, we do our best to step in.
MP Blaney raised the issue of connectivity, and it isn't just the reality of remote communities necessarily. It is the reality, for example, in Six Nations, which is between Toronto and Brantford. It is a challenge across communities to deliver the quality service and quality education to which indigenous children are entitled. It is not one we've overcome completely yet, but we're working toward it.
We also have invested, as of October 30, about $200 million in additional funding to provide education-related supports to indigenous peoples in the community. When it comes to the older students, if you recall, I believe in May the Prime Minister announced education supports to all Canadians, and about $60 million or $75 million was dedicated specifically to indigenous students. That's an important aspect of it. This is coupled with the supports for post-secondary institutions, which had been suffering up to now, that we announced a few weeks back.
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Results: 61 - 75 of 195 | Page: 5 of 13

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