Good morning, and thank you.
First of all, welcome to the Treaty 1 area. I'm a chief of a Treaty 1 community, the Sagkeeng First Nation, an hour from here. I want to thank the panel for giving us this opportunity.
Of course I bring greetings from the grand chief, and I speak for 64 first nations today--that's who I'm speaking for. I'm also speaking for the person on the street, the first nations person down the street here on Main, the person back home, the hungry people back home. There's a lot of weight on my shoulders today, and I hope my message strikes a chord. I hope something comes out of this. I hope it's not another broken record that's saying the same thing over and over. I've been saying the message consistently; that's my duty. Sometimes it's not the record that's broken, it's the record player. You have to give it a kick. Hopefully we can give the government a kick with this. I'll try it again, anyway.
We first nations obviously bring a unique perspective, because we're obviously the most impoverished in Canada. We don't have to go to Africa; we don't have to go to Bangladesh. We don't have to go to these countries; it's right here in our own backyard, and the invitation is there to come to look at any reserve. I think we actually did offer an invitation to one of the committees to come to Sagkeeng and to have a look at poverty first-hand. Again, you don't have to go overseas to see poverty.
Of course, when you look at poverty from a first nations perspective, you have to put it in the context of all the government policies since the treaties have been signed. We know about RCAP and all the studies even prior to that, and post-RCAP, all the millions that have been spent studying things we already know. It just confirms one thing after another. We are impoverished, and treaties are not being implemented. I think that's the primary issue with first nations poverty; it's the implementation of treaties. Of course, we know the main things that are talked about often are residential schools, all the systemic things coming from government policies under the Indian Act.
Of course, we know about the contribution to Canada of our veterans; we have to applaud them. We also applaud the groups here that speak on behalf of poverty, on behalf of disabilities. But I think we have to go further in those partnerships. We have to engage the province as well, and the private sector, and we must look at the roots, not just the systemic and band-aid things. We must look at the roots. Why are there high incarceration rates? Is it cheaper to put a kid through university or to incarcerate them for three years or two years? Is it cheaper to give them upgrading or is it cheaper to put them in a detention centre? As for chronic diseases, is it cheaper to amputate or is it cheaper to treat and create some awareness and prevention?
I know one of my colleagues said it very, very well, and he hit the nail on the head. Chief Ross from Opaskwayak stated, “Our people are not waiting for care, they're waiting for amputations”. That's the reality. They're lined up at home or they're lined up in the dialysis units. The plight of and the outlook for our people are not good.
I think it's all interconnected. Health is connected to housing. Overcrowding is connected to poor health. Poor housing is connected to poor learning and retention in schools. It's a very vicious cycle to get out of once you're in it. By saying “in it”, I mean there is no way out for many of our people because of the reserve system. The reserve system destroyed a lot of things we had before. A lot of independence, a lot of government, social structures, our own economies, access to land, access to resources--all that was taken away. It's the easiest way for the public to just look at it and say, “Well, why don't they work? They get all these billions.” It's not that easy. That's another myth perpetuated by the media, by the public.
So a big awareness and education campaign has to be brought forward in all the schools. I think that's going to come forth from the truth and reconciliation commission. We hope our story is going to be told in every school in this country. That will go a long way towards getting rid of these myths that we have all these billions of dollars, when in fact I think we get $6 a day. And on the reserves, it's even worse. The opportunities are in the city. So I wait with optimism for what is going to come out of the truth and reconciliation commission.
Nothing but full involvement of our people in policy-making, true high-level consultation, will lead to adequate progress. This morning I was reminded by my legal adviser that this is in consultation. It's another message I have to bring forward. I have talked with many people over the years, and they chalk it up to consultation. Like poverty, it has to be dealt with at a high level and we have to be at the table.
There are examples of why we should be at the table. We have some results. The youth in our province of Manitoba are connecting with their culture and learning who they are and where they come from. Eagle's Nest is here this morning. That bodes well. We have to walk two paths now. As much as we didn't like assimilation, MTV and hip hop are here. We have been somewhat assimilated, and now we have to manoeuvre in both worlds. A lot of our people, if given the right tools and the right opportunities, can manoeuvre in both worlds. They're finding out who they are and where they come from.
One of the biggest things in my life has been learning my language a little. I went to university and I have degrees. I have a few certificates. I've accomplished a few things in life. I've travelled the world. But one of the most important things that make me feel good in this part of my life is learning my language—a few sentences, a few phrases, some socializing, things learned from eavesdropping. That is one of my greatest accomplishments.
I can imagine how these young kids feel. Most of them were probably born in the city, and their outlook wasn't great. They wake up to gloom and doom. But the connection to our culture is going to go a long way. Those programs have to be funded. It's not just concrete and bricks in the city. There is a vibrant first nations community in Manitoba. Winnipeg is probably the largest reserve in Canada.
I spoke briefly about diabetes. We have a partnership in a pilot project that could be duplicated elsewhere. It's significantly successful. It's a partnership with Saint Elizabeth Health Care. It's in regard to a patient wait time guarantee. It's a pilot project for prevention, care, and treatment of foot ulcers among first nations people. It came from Health Canada, from the first nations and Inuit health branch. Almost half a million dollars was invested, but it's only the tip of the iceberg. I think it's only covering about 30 of our communities, and it's not necessarily getting to the real issue, which is the amputations. Still and all, we're going to identify the problem. With more programs like that, I think the suffering will lessen and the cost savings will go up. If there are partnerships, cost savings would be split between the two governments and possibly the private sector.
Part of the challenge is getting rid of the jurisdictional football and no longer throwing it back and forth. In the meantime, when you throw those issues back and forth, our people perish and there are amputations. I think that Jordan's Principle is one bill that's going to address this, and it is our hope that this principle will go into education, health, and housing.
We know about the natural resources transfer of 1930 and how we weren't consulted. There is a long list of things that were off-loaded from the feds to the province. These things have to change now.
Right now, as I speak, we have an issue with respect to the CEAP stimulus program. We have the stimulus, and the remote and northern communities are finding it very difficult to access this program because of the seasonal roads. They have to access the materials, the supplies, and they can't get it up there. With something as simple as a letter from the government saying that they're approved, that they're getting the money, they could take this to the bank and somebody could provide bridge financing for them while the road is in so they could move their materials. But they're finding that they're having trouble getting that done.
I knew I wasn't going to get through all this stuff. There are so many important things, and seven minutes is pretty quick.
Again, I don't want this to fall on deaf ears. I want something to come out of this. Since forever, I've been hearing about these same issues on housing and health. When is it going to change? I think the system breaks us down; it breaks us down as first nations leaders. There's divide and conquer between our organizations. A little bit of money is thrown here and there, and the results have been minimal. But I do believe we can do good things with the crown and the provincial governments. Partnerships are the key. As I hear some leaders say, we are not anti-development, we just want to be part of the fabric of this country. We have a lot to offer, if given the opportunity.
Meegwetch.