Evidence of meeting #142 for Canadian Heritage in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was groups.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dabrusin
You're still not going to get an answer to it, because you're out of time.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dabrusin
We'll have time to get to Mr. Long's questions. Maybe he can share some time to get that one in.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
Once again, thank you Madam Chair.
Ms. Laurendeau, we understand that you went through a consultation process of some sort. Can you clarify when that process started? Obviously, it took some time. It didn't happen last week.
February 19th, 2019 / 5:20 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
I will ask Mélanie and Stephen to tell you that. There were two phases. In the first phase we looked at how we were actually going to proceed. That phase lasted from 2016 to 2017.
5:20 p.m.
Manager, Policy and Research, Indigenous Languages Legislation, Department of Canadian Heritage
It started right after the Prime Minister announced in December 2016 that we were going to enact an indigenous aboriginal law. Following this announcement, I think, the department started working with national organizations to determine how we would go about engaging with people.
In June 2017, there was the announcement of how we would work. This is when the early engagement started. Canadian Heritage and each of the national indigenous organizations started to engage with indigenous language experts. One of the things we all heard through the engagement process was that we needed to go through an intensive engagement; more engagement was needed at the community level. Then it started. I think throughout these engagements, whether in the early days or later on, there was dialogue around self-government and modern treaty partners. There were invitations to make presentations at different conferences, there were different.... Any time anyone wanted to talk to us, basically we would be there. I wouldn't say it was at the end; it was throughout.
5:20 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
Thank you.
We heard about first nations, Métis and Inuit, and all these people belong to a group. You did mention Métis government. To me, that's referring to the settlements where they are recognized as a governing body. Many of them are societies, so I'm not sure.... For example, the Métis Nation of Alberta is a society. There are a lot of people who are indigenous who don't belong to a society.
How much are the future consultations, when we're trying to develop guidelines, going to cost? How are we going to roll it out and so forth? What are your plans? What are the second steps? Who are you going to consult? What's the time frame? There's a large group that you guys are missing and that's the Métis. The Métis don't belong to any particular group because you have to be a member of a society and the only governing body, like I said, was the settlement. How are you going to address this?
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
Part of it will be addressed with.... Earlier I mentioned that there are groups in urban areas that actually support various indigenous people. They're not necessarily doing it based on whether you're first nations, Métis or Inuit. They will actually support various groups, and within them, they often support linguistic programs or cultural programs.
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
I understand that.
Did you meet with the settlements yet?
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
The Métis settlement? I don't think we met with them, no.
5:25 p.m.
Director General, Aboriginal Affairs Directorate, Department of Canadian Heritage
No, but we did hold sessions in Alberta specifically for Métis. I don't know if anyone from the settlement showed up. Certainly people from the—
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
They're a separate body, so a separate invitation would have to be made.
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
Nothing would prevent them from actually engaging with us.
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
I don't get invited to some meetings because I don't know about them.
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
Fair enough. They would, however, qualify to sit down and make an agreement with us; that's for sure. Clauses 8 and 9 would allow for that because they are an organized group; they actually have capacity and they certainly would qualify for that.
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
The Métis settlements are large, the group and the land mass. That would be one of the groups I would have focused on.
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
That's a good suggestion.
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
You're dealing with Métis societies but you're not actually dealing with the Métis government, which is a settlement. I think we missed an opportunity.
5:25 p.m.
Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, CPC
You can get a different perspective, so I would really encourage that you reach out to the settlements. I think you'll get a different perspective on a lot of things.
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
I think that's an excellent suggestion and I thank you for raising it. We will do that.
