Finance Committee on June 11th, 2026

[Josh Gladstone]

Our data shows that the government is not on track at all to meeting those needs. Build Canada Homes and the build communities strong fund are not going to make any meaningful difference in closing the gap, and right now the Government of Canada does not have a strategy to do so.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

That's quite concerning.

In the opening statement, it was also mentioned that during the past six years, first nations have not seen any nation-building investment that could facilitate infrastructure development in first nations territory. From your position, what has been holding up this investment?

[Josh Gladstone]

I apologize. Did you ask what has been holding up the investment?

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

This issue is not new, so my question is, what is holding up the investment, the progress? Could I have your thoughts on that?

[Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak]

Absolutely.

Look, I think that we have a lot of work to continue to do. We talked about provincial transfers. I know that those are uncomfortable conversations, but a lot of those investments are not trickling down to first nations communities. As for Indian Affairs—I'll never call it Indigenous Services because it is Indian Affairs, and that's what it was supposed to be created to do—I think too much of what little we get to try to fix things on-reserve ends up going elsewhere. We need to make sure that when there is targeted funding, it gets to first nations.

One other issue is that any time government—as of late and maybe in years past—makes investments, there aren't carve-outs for first nations on-reserve, and we always end up getting left out. That needs to change. It's because of the Indian Act. It's because we're first nations communities and nobody wants to.... It's everybody else's jurisdiction when it comes to money, and that's one of the major problems.

We need to come to the table with each other, come up with a proper financial plan with each other and close the gaps by 2030. That was committed to.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Ms. Cobena. That is right on time—great job.

Go ahead, Mr. MacDonald, for five minutes.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses.

Chief Woodhouse Nepinak, I'm not rebutting what's been said, but in budget 2025, the federal government outlined $2.8 billion for indigenous housing, and we are committed to working with all partners on that. We know housing has to develop more rapidly and that we need a more effective delivery process.

You commented twice that there's no strategy. We are working on the strategy with the indigenous community. I don't think it's fair to say there's no carve-out for the indigenous community. A $2.8-billion commitment for housing was carved out in budget 2025.

Further to that, last week there was a rural development conference in Prince Edward Island. That's the province I represent in the federal government. Secretary of State Buckley Belanger was in the province, and we had a tour of the Abegweit First Nation. There are a lot of good things happening at the Abegweit First Nation. Chief Gould and his team are creating commercial enterprises in the community. There are tourism opportunities. There are renewable energy opportunities.

We did a tour, and we saw solar fields and future windmill projects. A new health centre is going to get built there, and it will be used by the first nation and the surrounding communities in that area. Health care is a big challenge in P.E.I., as it is in a lot of small jurisdictions.

The other interesting fact we learned is that the median age of those in Abegweit First Nation is 27 years old, so there are lots of youth who need jobs, and they're building homes in the community. They're starting to fill the infrastructure gap you spoke about. It was a very positive meeting.

I know things aren't great everywhere, but Secretary Belanger was impressed with the progress that was being made at Abegweit First Nation. Are there lessons we can learn from those successful indigenous communities to make things better for other indigenous communities across the country?

[Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak]

Absolutely. You see different cities that thrive more than others, so it's the same way. We are so proud of some of our communities that are thriving and moving, but the unfortunate issue is that there are many that are not.

We hear of programs—you said there was a carve-out of $2.8 billion—but there are always other programs announced, and first nations are not part of the carve-out. We have some communities that are thriving and doing really well. We lift them up and look to them for their best lessons learned, just as any city or town would when it's comparing itself with others.

You always want to do better, but the reality is that in first nations communities, particularly in the west, there's no air conditioning right now. It worries me that this afternoon, there are many kids in many communities going home because it's so hot there. At the same time, you're right that we have a lot of work to do on housing.

I don't know if my colleagues have anything further to add to that. Go ahead.

[Josh Gladstone]

I'd just clarify that I believe the $2.8 billion from budget 2025 was a reannouncement of the urban, rural and northern indigenous housing funding, and that's for first nations off-reserve.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

There was a particular source of funds carved out for indigenous in budget 2025 as well.

Chief Woodhouse Nepinak, we see project-based funding, and I see the Abegweit First Nation moving more towards long-term, own-sourced generation of revenue in their community. Is that model getting carried out across the country? You need long-term funding sources. One project at a time is not going to fix problems and create enough employment. It's a boom-and-bust cycle that we don't want to get into.

[Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak]

This takes me back to what I have to do as a first nations person on-reserve if I want to build a Rexall, a McDonald's or a Petro-Canada in my community. If I go to the bank—any Canadian bank—and say, “I want to build all of this”, a lot of Canadians don't realize that because of the Indian Act, I have to go to the minister of Indian Affairs and get a ministerial loan guarantee. There are all of these extra issues put onto us as first nations that other Canadians don't have to face. It's systemic. It's since the creation of this country, and it shouldn't be like that.

I was with the King last week, and I said, “We signed treaties together to make this place the best that it can be.” I think we have to remember that so that we fix some of these issues together.

I am glad that the Prime Minister called a first ministers' meeting to deal with first nations issues specifically. I appreciate him for that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I apologize, Chief Woodhouse Nepinak, but I have to end it there.

Now we'll go to Mr. Garon for two and a half minutes.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm going to continue with Mr. Deegan, from News Media Canada.

The Bloc Québécois is very concerned about the crisis in the media sector and the disappearance of independent local media outlets that provide local news. There seems to be a consensus across the country that we need to vastly expand the journalism labour tax credit so that we can have more journalists.

We also need to restore funding to the independent local news fund. The Bloc Québécois is asking for $37 million. However, in the last budget, despite this consensus, the Minister of Finance told us, in a very strange sentence, that he is considering maybe holding consultations to eventually arrive at something with the sector.

Can you confirm that there is a consensus in favour of these measures? Given that there was money for just about everyone in the budget, with an $80‑million deficit, can you tell me why you think local and independent media are still being ignored by the government this year?

[Paul Deegan]

Just to be clear, we represent news publishers, not broadcasters.

I would say, first of all, that I very much appreciate the work of your colleague Martin Champoux. He's been terrific to work with. He's a great member of the heritage committee, and he has made many contributions about the Online News Act and other policies that are seeing monies flowing.

The Government of Canada has been terrific over the last number of years with policies supporting the news publishing sector. I think they recognize the value of community newspapers and weeklies across Canada. The major ask that we have is to maintain the Canadian journalism labour tax credit at 35%. It is, I would say, the most important thing that you can do to maintain newsroom jobs across Canada.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Generally speaking, even though you represent print media, are you concerned about the state of all media, particularly audiovisual media and radio? Does that worry you?

[Paul Deegan]

Definitely. The written word—text-based journalism—tends to be foundational, as it is often what is used in radio and television. If you're watching CBC/Radio-Canada at night, often the lead story on The National is something that Bob Fife and Steve Chase broke in The Globe and Mail that morning. It's foundational. We certainly work very closely with our partners, with the broadcasters, and we're concerned.

Another thing I would say is—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I apologize, Mr. Deegan. That concludes the time we have.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank all of our witnesses.

We're going to have a brief suspension while we turn over for the next panel.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Colleagues, we will resume the meeting. Welcome back.

I would like to take a moment to recognize our witnesses.

Appearing as an individual, we have Firdaus Kharas. From Cooperation Canada, we have Kate Higgins, chief executive officer. From Food Secure Canada, we have Aaron Vansintjan, policy researcher. From Frontier Duty Free Association, we have Barbara Barrett, executive director.

I would like to remind participants of the following points. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. I would like to remind witnesses that committee members may ask questions in either English or French. If you require interpretation, please make sure that you have your earpiece in so that we can use the time we have effectively. I remind you that all comments should be addressed through the chair.

You will each have five minutes for your opening remarks, and then we will move to questions from members.

We will begin with you, Mr. Kharas.

[Firdaus Kharas, As an Individual]

Thank you very much.

Good morning, honourable members of the committee, and thank you for the opportunity for me to speak to you today.

My name is Firdaus Kharas. I'm a social entrepreneur, humanitarian media producer, mass communicator and the founder of Chocolate Moose Media here in Ottawa.

For 30 years, from Ottawa, I have created media to improve the human condition. Most Canadians do not know my work because most of it has been used outside of Canada. My work has addressed more than 20 diseases, domestic and sexual violence, refugee protection, anti-racism, children's rights, human rights, violence reduction and many other urgent social issues. I have created or co-created 5,200 media productions on 110 topics in hundreds of language versions, which have been used, as far as I know, in 198 countries and territories. My media carries no copyright. It is free to view, download, broadcast, share, translate and use. From my home in Ottawa, I have reached hundreds of millions of people.

Right now, my four Ebola-related videos on containment, prevention, stigma and safe funerals are being used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. They exist in over 20 African languages. That is not theory. That is using communication tools locally to do a critical job.

Today, I want to make three concrete recommendations about communication and public money.

First, communication is not a soft expense. It is not an afterthought. It is infrastructure. In health, we fund vaccines, doctors, nurses, medicines, hospitals, emergency supplies, protective gear and logistics. All of those things matter, but every one of those investments depends on one prior fact: People must know what to do.

Since this is the finance committee, let me put it in budgetary terms. Prevention communication is cost avoidance. It prevents the much larger costs that arrive after failure. It is far cheaper to prevent a disease than to treat people.

Ebola is the clearest example. A few days ago, the WHO and Africa CDC requested $518 million U.S. to respond to the current Ebola outbreak. That does not include other organizations' asks, like the Red Cross's 29 million Swiss francs. Canada has already announced $8 million and may be asked to contribute more.

Nearly all of that $518 million and more will be spent on doctors, nurses, isolation, medicines, protective equipment, transport, supplies and logistics. All of those things become necessary only after the virus has entered a body. That is too late. Cost per case prevented is a few cents, but cost per case after infection ranges from several thousand to over $1 million, yet very little public money is spent to stop people from becoming infected in the first place. Thousands might die unnecessarily. That is morally reprehensible and financially irrational.

It is much cheaper to prevent HIV than it is to treat it for a lifetime. It is much cheaper to prevent malaria than to hospitalize a child. It is vastly cheaper to have Ebola prevention adopted by at-risk people than to trace infections, isolate patients, transport and employ medical teams, treat the sick and safely bury the dead. We can be leaders in having a prevention focus.

Here's my first concrete recommendation: Canada should not fund any major disease response unless at least 25% of Canada's contribution is dedicated to prevention, public education and behaviour change communications.

Second, communication is not only needed in public health. This is exactly the wrong time for us as a country to weaken diplomacy. Diplomats are not ceremonial figures. They are Canada's negotiators, listeners, relationship builders and early warning systems overseas. They are Canada's communicators.

I have travelled to 146 countries. I have frequently interacted with Global Affairs Canada and our missions overseas. I have seen the value of Canada's voice overseas. I have also seen what happens when that voice is too small, too thinly staffed or totally absent. Canada cannot project its values, defend its interests, build alliances, help citizens respond to crises or compete with authoritarian narratives if it fires the very people and weakens the very institution responsible for doing that work.

Here's my second concrete recommendation: This committee should stop the cutbacks to GAC and recommend an increase in GAC's allocation in the next federal budget.

Third, Canada's spending on creative industries and culture is not keeping up with reality. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars of public money on feature films and television series. I support Canadian films. I support Canadian television. Canadian culture matters—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Mr. Kharas, could you wrap up in about 10 seconds?

[Firdaus Kharas]

Yes, certainly.

My third recommendation is simple. We need to move where the audience is, so my third recommendation is that Canada should initially redirect 25%—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

I apologize, Mr. Kharas, but we'll have to end it there. We've gone over time.

[Firdaus Kharas]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you.

We're going to continue now with Ms. Higgins for five minutes.