Thank you.
Last week at this committee I reflected that, thankfully, there were no major outbreaks of COVID-19 in indigenous communities in Canada. However, this no longer appears to be the case with La Loche and the Clearwater River Dene. There are growing concerns among indigenous communities that there will be more outbreaks, particularly as restrictions are lifted. [Technical difficulty—Editor] to support indigenous steps to protect their communities from COVID-19 and affirm their inherent right to do so.
One of the consequences of the pandemic is to highlight the conditions in indigenous communities, such as overcrowding, lack of infrastructure, food insecurity and lack of appropriate governance, that make indigenous populations more vulnerable. Can the government please explain why we still do not have a recognition of rights framework to support true reconciliation, self-determination and nation rebuilding that would have helped indigenous peoples to be less vulnerable during this pandemic, and when is it coming?