Health Committee on Sept. 14th, 2017

[Chief Isadore Day]

I'm going to keep this very straightforward. Again, there is a land tenure/land jurisdiction issue with respect to the Indian Act. That's going to be a very specific study, a very specific exploratory dialogue with first nations, because, as you know, first nations are now developing their own constitutions, for example. There will be a very different set of issues from a legal standpoint that you will have to deal with within the mainstream. Our communities will want to be putting that information forward.

Again, in regard to the previous committee member, on the question of getting out there and having discussion, there are much deeper issues that need to be looked at. This question you raise is one of those.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

The Métis nation community...?

[Clara Morin Dal Col]

That's a difficult one for me to answer. We haven't had many consultations on the four-plant issue.

As you know, our communities are so diverse throughout our nation. We do have community engagement. I travel within the province and across our nation, and we do communicate with our communities; however, it's the funding for education and communication that we don't have. Yes, we talk to them in a one-on-one type of thing, but to get to all the communities can be so difficult, and it's also difficult for them to travel from northern Alberta to Edmonton.

There are these issues that face us, but we haven't gone into that one, so I can't really answer that question on the four plants.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Both of you have concerns with regard to not being ready by the July 1 deadline. You've mentioned a number of issues for what has to be done before you will be ready. Of course, funding is a big part of that, but if the government does provide those funds—they're good at spending money, providing funds—if they do, is the date of July 1 reachable for you to be prepared? Or do you have a specific date for when you think you will be prepared for this new legislation?

[Chief Isadore Day]

I'm going to speak from the perspective of the sequence of our assemblies. Our first nations have almost tiered assemblies. For example, we have two major assemblies, and then we have special assemblies of chiefs and annual assemblies. The next major assembly for the AFN is in December. We will be scurrying and we will be pressured to address the issue of cannabis legislation. The next one is not going to be held until after the legislation has been introduced, so yes, we need the resources.

Secondly, the issue here is going to be that we have not been considered with respect to the decision-making process even in our own assemblies as first nations, so that's going to be a major sticking point. I think it's one that is going to suggest to the committee that they recommend to the federal government that they're going to have to reconsider this, because first nations simply will not be ready from the context of our constituencies, of being our chiefs, and of making decisions in those assemblies where we formally feed back to the federal government.

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

And in the Métis community?

[Wenda Watteyne]

Well, it is an ambitious time frame, but we feel that a lot could be done, particularly when we think about the role of the Métis nation in terms of health promotion activities. Those are things that we can move on right away. The Métis governments have their infrastructure in place. They have networks and infrastructure in terms of working with citizens and communities. Those are things that we could start on right away, but we see this as being a longer-term partnership, particularly when it comes to reviews every five years, reviews of the legislation.

This is an opportunity to reinforce our recommendation for investments in research and surveillance. Of course, surveillance is something that you'd want to see sustained over a longer period of time.

I don't know if that helps.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Thank you.

Now we go to Ms. Sidhu.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, all, for being here and for your valued presentations.

I just want to say for the record that ITK was invited to join us today.

Ms. Col, I was reading your submission, and I came across data that said that incidents of self-harm among Métis girls rose from 27% to 36% from 2008 to 2013. Those are obviously troubling numbers. Can you tell us about the need for instilling a strong cultural identity within indigenous youth to combat mental health and substance abuse issues? When the suicide rate is very high, don't you think there's a need to do something?

[Clara Morin Dal Col]

There's definitely a need to do something regarding suicide. We know that we have alcohol and drug problems within all our communities, as I mentioned earlier, and in the urban areas. As you can see, some of this data is 10 years old. We know that suicide rates are extremely high within our communities. This is going to have an effect, definitely, on these communities. The rates are going up all the time compared with non-aboriginal populations.

I hope I answered that question.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

As we carefully study this bill, we'll be moving into more detail. Is there anything within the federal government's authority that you feel could be added to benefit indigenous communities? The youth are already consuming cannabis. The numbers are very high. It was one of our campaign promises, and we are being very careful in bringing in this legislation. The youth are consuming a lot. The numbers are there. What are your thoughts on this legislation that's coming? It is not affecting those youth in that we're talking strictly about legalizing.

[Clara Morin Dal Col]

The education part is very important to start the prevention as young as possible within the communities, with our youth. I talked earlier about communication and education. For me, it's important to start as young as possible on the education front to try to get these numbers down. Right now it all stems back to mental health. There are many underlying issues. For us, it would be education—

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

In order to bring that number down.... We are hearing that we're rushing. That's why we are taking that step. Can you elaborate on that? Do you think that step is not right?

[Clara Morin Dal Col]

That they're rushing...?

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

I'm hearing that the federal government is rushing. Do you think it's not the right time to take the step?

[Clara Morin Dal Col]

I'm not saying it's not the right time. It's how we approach it, to get this legislation in place, and what our needs are as Métis across our homeland. It's getting communication. There's a timeline, and I'm sure we can work within that timeline. It will be very tight for us. We've been working on communication within our communities, if I'm answering the question correctly, on this issue, but it will be tough for us to work on this any further.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Chief Day, do you want to say something?

[Chief Isadore Day]

Yes. The delineation here, again, is that the Métis community is absorbed by the mainstream. There is no land tenure. There are no treaties. There are no Indian Act issues to address. Much of our problem is the Indian Act. There is going to need to be, for us.... My response will be that, no, it's too fast. We're not ready. We simply will not be ready.

I think it's really important for the federal government and this committee to make the strong suggestion that we need to understand what the impacts are. That's the theme of my presentation, impacts to public health. We need to look at prevention. We also need to look at law enforcement and, overall, the socio-economic impacts in the strategy going forward. That front-end work simply hasn't been done in the context of first nations in Canada in response to dealing with the issues, the systemic problems with the Indian Act and the Indian residential school legacy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Time is up.

Mr. Davies.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Chief Day, we know the federal government has decided to download the questions of distribution onto the provinces. I'm just wondering who will determine distribution methods on band lands or reserves.

[Chief Isadore Day]

First nations are saying it will be first nations. That's the issue right now. For example, being the Ontario regional chief, I don't have the types of delegated authorities that the province has. I'm merely a spokesperson on issues that I have a mandate to speak from, and that is being....

Every first nation has its own authority, its own jurisdiction. Ultimately, those issues and those major concerns around first nations jurisdiction have not been put on the table yet.

There is a lot of work to do to understand from the standpoint of our work in the province. The provincial government is trying to make an effort now to meet the timelines, and they simply don't.... In Ontario, they don't like to have to deal with the time pressure either, but they know they need to do something. So—

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I'm sorry. I'm going to try to understand this.

Is it clearly understood by the federal government and the provincial governments that it will be first nations determining distribution on band lands and reserves?

[Chief Isadore Day]

Yes, that's correct. It has not been discussed yet to any great degree. There will be a push and pull for quite some time until it gets sorted out. There is no mutual understanding yet. That hasn't been an issue that has come to terms yet.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

We're 10 months away from legalization, and the whole question of whether it's going to be in retail stores, dispensaries, or through some form of band corporation or economic body.... None of that has been.... The work on that has not really started.

[Chief Isadore Day]

No, it hasn't. If you look at the continuum of implementing such a law, you not only have the policies, regulations, quality assurance, those types of standards, but you also have the ability or inability to enforce laws. Right?