Procedure and House Affairs Committee on April 7th, 2022

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

That's right, my question has to do with inclusion. Does it necessarily involve ballots? According to the First Nations of Quebec-Labrador Youth Network, there really has to be money paid and help provided directly in the communities.

[Marjolaine Tshernish]

There have to be increasing numbers of small gestures so that it becomes obvious that we are included. The most important thing is really inclusion.

We also have to be consulted and respected. There has to be respect for what we are, and especially for how we do things, for our know-how. Our approach is different in relation to work and our values, in particular. You can see this everywhere. Our way of thinking is also different and it is important that we be respected.

As well, the word "decolonization" is important. We really have to undertake a major process of thinking about what we were before signing on to your institutions, your ways of doing things and your type of administration. Before that, we operated differently.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Ms. Tshernish, you opened a door for me.

I would like to get your opinion about the respect, openness and understanding shown by the federal government.

I would like to ask the witnesses to tell us, in 45 seconds, what they think of the Indian Act. I would like them to tell us, being perfectly frank, what their opinion is on that subject.

I would start with Ms. Tshernish.

[Marjolaine Tshernish]

My personal point of view on the Indian Act is not limited to the Act. It concerns everything that flows from it, like the system of band councils.

It also concerns the relationship with the federal government, which imposes a way of operating on us, of appointing our representatives, of managing our programs and our services. For us, accountability is backwards.

The way we see the exercise of power is different. Normally, the entire population is involved.

We feel that a way of operating is really being imposed on us that doesn't look like us.

I'm afraid that we will end up losing our identity and our collective memory.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Mr. Gros-Louis, you have the floor for a few moments.

[Denis Gros-Louis]

Public servants have a number of tools available to work on reconciliation, to rebuild trust, and, most importantly, to enable the communities to develop, in spite of what the Act requires. Sticking to the framework of the Act takes too long. Today, we want fast, concrete actions.

The Indigenous Languages Act and Bill BILL C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, made it possible for the communities to get their languages back, to reappropriate them and to preserve them.

I won't talk about the Indian Act today, because we don't have enough time. But I could come back.

Each of the tools available has to be used. We have to reverse the trends.

What can Canada do to enable the communities to get out of the framework imposed by the Act? It has to get involved with the languages, work with us to produce translations and manuals. That is how trust will be rebuilt. The Act doesn't create an atmosphere of trust, but the people who administer it have a responsibility and a duty to maintain that trust with us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you very much.

The review of the Indian Act is not really the mandate of our committee. We have allowed this conversation to keep going, because it is relevant to the discussion.

Ms. Idlout, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut as follows:]

ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᐃᒃᓯᕙᐅᑖᖅ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᕐᒥ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐅᓂᒃᑳᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᑐᑦ ᑐᓐᖓᓱᒃᑎᒃᑐᒪᕙᒃᑲ ᑐᓴᕐᓂᖅᑐᐃᓐᓇᐅᓵᕐᒪᑕ ᐋ ᐃᓕᒃᑎᒍᑦ ᐊᐱᕆᒍᒪᕙᒃᑲ ᑕᒪᕐᒥᒃ ᑭᐅᖁᓪᓗᒋᑦ. ᑖᓐᓇ ᓯᕗᓪᓕᖅ ᐊᐱᕆᔪᒪᔭᕋ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᓄᓇᖅᑲᑎᒌᓕᖅᑎᑕᐅᓯᒪ-ᔪᓄᑦ ᐃᑎᓂᖓ ᐊᒃᑐᐊᓂᖃᕐᒪᖔᑦ ᑖᒃᑯᐊ ᐊᒥᓲᓂᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᓂᕈᐊᕆᐊᖅᑐᖅᑐᓂᒃ.

[Inuktitut text interpreted as follows:]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

First of all, I want to thank the witnesses for appearing, and I ask them, through the chair, to respond.

The first question I have is this. Have the depths of the impacts of colonialism affected voter turnout?

I'd like both of you to respond to my question.

[Marjolaine Tshernish]

I was waiting for Mr. Gros-Louis to speak.

[Denis Gros-Louis]

I can't hear the interpretation. So I'm going to ask for a translated copy of the member's question. I could answer it in writing.

Nakurmiik for asking your questions of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

This is part of our learning and working.

Ms. Tshernish, I'll give you a moment to answer.

In English, we were able to get the translation from Inuktitut, but we did not receive it in French. I want to note that for the record.

Mr. Gros-Louis, we'll make sure you get that information so we can get answers.

We'll go over to you, Ms. Tshernish.

[Marjolaine Tshernish]

I think I can give you part of the answer.

After Confederation, we had to wait 84 years for registered Indians and other indigenous groups in Canada to get the vote.

Today, the First Nations peoples don't just vote, they are also engaged in local, territorial, provincial and federal politics.

Of course, having been excluded for a number of years meant that we were able to implement our own local policies and have our own way of administering our affairs.

Having been faced with exclusion probably meant that we didn't feel involved in the entire process. We were not included in the decisions, we were not included in developing the policies. Obviously, that had an impact on turnout.

That's my interpretation of the question.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut as follows:]

ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦᒃ ᐋ ᑕᒪᑦᓯ ᑭᐅᔪᐃᓐᓇᐅᔪᓐᓇᕈᑦᓯᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑐᑭᓯᔪᐃᓐᓇᒍᑦᓯ ᐅᓇᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᐊᐱᕆᔪᒪᒻᒥᔭᕋ, ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᓂᖓ ᓈᒻᒪᒃᓴᖃᑎᒌᓕᕐᓂᖅ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐋ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᒐᒃᑯ, ᐄ, ᒪᒥᐊᓇ.

[Inuktitut text interpreted as follows:]

Thank you for your response. I would like to hear a response from both of you to my next question and the importance of—

[The Acting Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Excuse me, Ms. Idlout. Mr. Gros-Louis, are you hearing the interpretation?

[Denis Gros-Louis]

Yes, I've put my self on the English channel so that I can hear. I figured that out.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Ms. Idlout, you have the floor.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

[Member spoke in Inuktitut as follows:]

ᐄ, ᖁᔭᓐᓇᒦ, ᑕᒪᒃᓯᑦᑕᐅᖅ ᑭᐅᔪᓐᓇᕐᒥᒍᑦᓯ ᐋ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᐅᒻᒪᐃᓛᒃ ᓈᒻᒪᒃᓴᖃᑎᒌᓕᕐᓂᖅ ᑖᒡᕙ ᑖᓐᓇ ᐃᓱᒪᒋᓪᓗᒍ ᒫᓐᓇᐅᕆᖕᖏᓛᒃ ᑕᒪᓐᓇ ᐃᑉᐱᒍᓱᒃᓯᐊᕋᓱᒃᑐᑦ ᐱᒻᒪᕆᓐᖑᑦᑎᑦᓯᓗᑎᒃ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖑᓕᕐᓗᑎᒃ.

[Inuktitut text interpreted as follows:]

On the importance of reconciliation, is it not time to turn empathy into action?

[English]

[Denis Gros-Louis]

Absolutely, Ms. Idlout.

As I said earlier, there have been concrete gestures of reconciliation in the last couple of months—years probably—and we're going to witness that today with the federal budget, with all of the rumours that Indigenous Services Canada will become the wealthiest department.

My point is not so much about money; it's about changing the culture of behaviours. You had representatives of Election Canada saying that it's expensive to translate. It's not expensive. It's the price of freedom. It's the price of working together. It's the price of collaborating together and growing together on our lands.

I would say that the gestures are more important than the money, and from Elections Canada's point of view, reaching out to our communities and developing documents like the one I keep showing off will be....

If all departments, not only Indigenous Services Canada—because some of their old-school public servants are still reluctant to understand that they're working to enable our communities to grow. They are still in the old fashion of trying to protect the Crown, and every time they do that, they lose in court. That's why I'm hopeful that the education agreement for Quebec will be such a positive move forward.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Ms. Tshernish, would you like to say something?

[Marjolaine Tshernish]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Reconciliation is important, with the communities' neighbouring towns, precisely in terms of their relations with each other. Those relations is where we could feel a lot of racism and exclusion, and experience occupying the territory without knowing one another, without visiting, without considering each other.

Reconciliation is for everyone. It means taking an interest in the people you share the territory with and with whom you are developing a region, for example. It also means considering our relationship with the town, the province, and Canada.

That is really how reconciliation happens, but also by apologizing, forgiving, continuing to work on development, but hand in hand, considering everyone and respecting everyone's differences.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

Thank you.

Thank you for your time today. I have to say that it's probably one of the best gifts anyone can receive, and on behalf of PROC committee members, I would like to thank both of you for sharing with us.

Please do not hesitate to provide us anything additional in writing, including the Elections Canada document, which we would like to have as part of the items we will reference as we draft our report.

With that, I hope both of you keep well and safe. We look forward to continuing this work together.

For PROC committee members, I would like to put two things on the record.

The first is that on March 31 we were not able to have Inuktitut interpretation for this study. I would like to notify all committee members that the Translation Bureau has sent us an official letter of apology and is working to ensure that there are better resources, and to ensure that we can actually have adequate resources when it comes to ensuring that interpretation is available. I want to make sure that we put it on the record that they instantly followed up on that. They're taking it very seriously. We will continue to push to ensure that the resources are there. I'd like to thank everyone for the way we were able to handle that and move forward.

Secondly, subcommittee members received an email regarding how we can move forward when we return from the two constituency weeks. I have asked that when we return on April 26, we continue with the report on the Conflict of Interest Code. I'm not going to say that we'll complete it, but we're going to try. On Thursday, April 28, we would actually be starting with both the intent of the motion from Mrs. Block as well as—as the committee had agreed—the intent of the motion from Mr. Turnbull. I am asking that we have lists of witnesses for Mr. Turnbull's motion by April 14.

We've laid out a way that we can all work together to make it work. I want to thank everyone for that. We're not in camera, so we can't really get into the details of it, but please do share it with your members.

Madame Gaudreau, did you want to say something quickly?

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Madam Chair, what is the deadline for submitting our witness list?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bardish Chagger]

You have until Thursday, April 14, 2022, but if there are problems, let us know. If you want, we can receive it on April 12.

Are we all good with that agenda? Perfect. Thank you.

I hope everyone keeps well and safe. Happy April. We'll see you at the end of this month. Take care.