Finance Committee on April 8th, 2014

[Beedahbin (Dawn) Desmoulin]

I've never heard of the cultural connections program, to be honest—

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Yes?

Mr. Smith?.

I'm sorry to interrupt, Dawn, but I want to come back to you about something else.

Mr. Smith, you nodded in hearing about the program. Can you tell me a bit about it?

[Jeremy Smith]

Yes. Cultural connections for aboriginal youth was a program that designated through the National Association of Friendship Centres. Unfortunately, it was not offered to any on-reserve populations. It was more for the urban aboriginal population. One of the criteria was that you had to have a minimum of 1,000 people within your community, so many of the rural and northern communities didn't qualify for the program. Only rural and southern urban centres were eligible.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Right. Is that a defined gap or barrier that exists right now between young aboriginal people, particularly folks coming off more remote, smaller communities, in that transition, whether it's to a high school or a training program or even beyond that, now getting into a job...?

There's that culture shock element that you talk about, Dawn. Is there a role, first of all, that the federal government can play? Or is that role being fulfilled satisfactorily right now?

[Beedahbin (Dawn) Desmoulin]

Absolutely, I would completely agree with that program coming back out. I would be in full support. Something like this.... Or even to be able to look at the planning or the curriculum and how it was laid out or implemented, and to be able to adapt and adopt that program for our Matawa First Nations, would definitely be beneficial.

I'm seeing right now that it's a double-edged sword, because you end up leaving your community and you come to Thunder Bay, and what kinds of resources do you have in Thunder Bay? Technically, how do you qualify for that funding? How do you qualify for that cultural connection for aboriginal youth? You wouldn't be able to. But you need it: you're living here temporarily for the school year. What are your options? Technically, you don't have any options.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Let me pull back one step further. It's a question to you, Noel.

We talk about the wholeness of the young person and the completeness of the family and the community that surrounds.... I'm not sure if it applies as much on the east coast, but certainly in the west there was a program established called the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, and it existed for nine or ten years. It was a program that was meant to deal with the effects of residential schools on survivors, and that generational impact that had been recognized, which didn't just exist for those who survived the trauma and the horrors of those schools. It obviously affected their kids, and then their kids were then affected, so we're still living with this. That program was also cut a couple of years ago.

Is it too much of a stretch to say that when you take away those healing programs that are talking about those events and making the person more whole that it's not connected to the success of young aboriginal people when they go out to seek the training, secure that job, and be successful in the workplace? Am I making too much of a leap?

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Just a brief response, please.

[Noel Joe]

We need those programs. We need the healing programs. I think it's a necessity to bridge that gap to have our youth go and seek employment elsewhere, because there are a lot of barriers there as well. We need those programs for the healing foundation as well.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cullen.

We'll go to Mr. Saxton, please.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Thank you, Chair.

Thanks to our witnesses for being here today.

My first question is for Noel Joe and the Assembly of First Nations.

Noel, as you probably know, our government recently introduced and announced the first nations control of first nations education act. This will provide young first nations people with access to education systems on reserve that are comparable to those that are available in provincial and territorial school systems. Do you agree that the government's $1.9-billion investment in first nations education will have a significant impact on employment opportunities for young aboriginal Canadians?

[Noel Joe]

I'm sorry. Can you repeat that?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Do you think this program.... It's a significant program of $1.9-billion worth of funding for education on reserve. Do you think this will have a positive impact on young aboriginal Canadians and their ability to get jobs after they've been educated on reserve?

[Noel Joe]

I believe that they want the money, yes. I do believe so.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Thank you.

Dawn, how about you? Are you familiar with the program?

[Beedahbin (Dawn) Desmoulin]

I'm familiar with the changes that are coming about and what that is expected to do.

I definitely agree that, yes, for local control of first nations it should be up to our first nation communities to be able to do that. However, I think.... It's definitely going to make a change for our future if the dollars are spent where they're supposed to be. That's the key.

People can do what they need to do with the money, but it has to be spent in the best way possible in order to provide for the future, in order to be able to implement programs that are going to create awareness for our youth in future careers. We have a mining industry that's coming up, and it's going to be everywhere. A lot of our youth have absolutely no idea of what's going on or what's happening. They have no awareness. These types of programs to create and build awareness are going to be really beneficial in order for our youth to be able to understand that these are the kinds of careers that are out there.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

I'm glad you brought that up, because in British Columbia we have the Aboriginal Mine Training Association. I went to one of their graduation ceremonies last summer. It was really remarkable to see the success they had in training young aboriginal Canadians to be successful in the mining industry. They're talking about income prospects quadrupling. These were young Canadians who were looking at incomes, salaries, of around $13,000 to $15,000 before they did the program, and over $50,000 after they did the program.

I don't know if you're familiar with the Aboriginal Mine Training Association—

[Beedahbin (Dawn) Desmoulin]

No, I'm not.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

—but especially with your Ring of Fire opportunities coming forward, I highly recommend that you search them out on the Internet and get in touch with them, because that's a great opportunity. Also, the federal government is funding this association as well.

[Beedahbin (Dawn) Desmoulin]

Great.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

My next question is for Jason Kuzminski from Habitat for Humanity.

You mentioned, Jason, how young Canadians are getting the apprenticeship training necessary to work toward certification on your job sites, on your construction sites. I'm sure you're familiar with our new $100-million Canada apprentice loan program that was just launched in budget 2014. How do you think that might also assist young Canadians who are seeking apprenticeships?

[Jason Kuzminski]

Well, to be frank, Habitat isn't one of the colleges that would actually benefit directly from that. That's really more an answer to be given by our partners, to see how they're tapping into that resource in being able to produce those funds, which we would then leverage to create more of these opportunities. I actually have limited familiarity with the funding.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

For some of the young Canadians who are working on your job sites and who are apprentices, I imagine that this will give them another opportunity to continue their apprenticeships so they can get their certifications that they need so badly.

[Jason Kuzminski]

Again, maybe just to clarify, most of our programs are of course for students who have not quite reached the point of apprenticeships, so they're on their pathway. I think the funding you're talking about would actually benefit them at the tail end of the work they're doing with us.

Some of our students are high school students who are in dual credit programs that earn them credits in their high school and into the college, should they go on to study in a college. Several of them are in skills training programs and colleges. That's where we've been able to leverage the dual benefit of an affordable home and skills training.

At the tail end of that, again, many of those students are choosing to go on to apprenticeships. I'm quite certain the funding you're talking about would assist them to move ahead in that chosen career.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

You're giving them that first opportunity to make a choice. You're exposing them to a potential career opportunity by giving them the opportunity to work on your job sites.

[Jason Kuzminski]

Absolutely. One thing I know—and certainly this would be a conversation more with provincial governments—is that every government, at every level, struggles to attract and retain students in skilled trades. I often wonder what would we be able to do if they wrapped up the budget they spend on advertising to attract and retain and just gave it to Habitat. I think our success rate would be very high. But it's that kind of ability to leverage those benefits and to work creatively and constructively with the resources we get, whether it comes from government or by private donation, that's fundamentally our goal.