Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, committee members and fellow witnesses.
My name is Robert Bertrand. I'm the national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, or CAP, as we like to call it.
I would like to extend my thanks for this invitation and to those who have worked to bring us here this afternoon.
Mr. Chair, we appreciate your invitation to appear.
We would also like to thank Peter Julian for his recent work in Parliament to ensure that the urban indigenous population is heard.
Since 1971, CAP has fought for the rights, interests and needs of off-reserve status and non-status Indians, Métis and southern Inuit people.
In 2016, in the CAP/Daniels decision, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that non-status and Métis people are Indians under the Constitution and that this is an area of federal responsibility. In 2018, CAP signed a renewed political accord with the Government of Canada to ensure our people are included in federal policy.
CAP is the national voice for our 10 provincial and territorial affiliates. They work with their respective provincial and territorial governments to advocate for their constituents. They are service providers in areas such as housing, education, employment and language, among others.
Our communities have been historically known as a forgotten people. This has not changed, even during the present pandemic. In the past, this term referred to the indigenous peoples excluded from the Indian Act, treaties and land claim agreements. Today, we also have to add to the list those who are excluded from the government's distinction-based approach.
In March, the government announced a $305-million support package for indigenous peoples dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Of this amount, $290 million was designated for distinction-based organizations, which represents about 500,000 indigenous people across Canada. Less than 5%, or $15 million, was designated for supporting off-reserve and urban indigenous populations, a group of over one million people.
Fifteen dollars per person is not enough for any meaningful support programs for one of the most marginalized groups in Canada. I don't need to reiterate the poverty and chronic health issues, the over-policing and the discrimination faced by our indigenous people.
CAP was told that it will only receive $250,000 after a competitive bureaucratic process that pitted off-reserve organizations against each other. This amount would be enough to provide those in need among our people with approximately three dollars. That is per capita.
We were encouraged to hear the government acknowledge that the initial $15 million for urban indigenous communities was insufficient. CAP said as much when the funding levels were announced back in March.
Despite the promise of more funding, we are left with a few pressing questions. First, how much more will be made available? Second, when is it going to reach our people, who have been waiting since mid-March? Finally, when will the government address the distinction-based approach that created this problem in the first place and include all the national indigenous organizations as equal?
Our people should have known about funding levels and timelines months ago. Implementing programs takes time, time that is wasted while people's health and lives are threatened.
The distinction-based model continues to be a problem and a barrier for our constituents with more recent announcements.
New funding is rolled out without representatives of urban indigenous peoples being consulted. Government has announced another $70 million in distinction-based indigenous student aid funding that our constituents will not be able to access. Also, $306 million in indigenous business support is flowing through groups that exclude most of our membership as well.
What CAP is asking is that all indigenous peoples be considered when creating public policy. We urge federal and provincial/territorial governments to engage CAP, our PTOs and our constituents to design programs, rather than restricting access to only a handful of organizations.
Mr. Chair, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today, because consultation on issues that impact all indigenous people is something that CAP strives for in our work as a national indigenous organization. Mr. Chair, we will not be forgotten.
Meegwetch. Merci. Thank you very much.