Evidence of meeting #13 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 40th Parliament, 3rd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
I know that with drugs and alcohol, they say that every person who is an addict touches at least seven other people in their lives. If you don't heal the whole group, it's difficult to heal just one individual.
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
That's why a number of our projects are not just dealing with the individual, but also with the family, with the spouses, and with everybody who is affected. I can think of the Hinton Friendship Centre in Alberta, where the core of their program deals with the community, the family, and so forth, and not necessarily just with the individual.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Thank you very much, Ms. Crowder.
Now we'll go back to Mr. Rickford for seven minutes.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks to the witnesses for coming today.
I must qualify any questions that I ask by first directly addressing my colleague who said that the mood in this room was “sombre”. She does not speak for me, especially, or for members of our caucus here.
I think we need to be proud of the record we have with respect to a number of key components, not just the Indian residential schools agreement at the time, because we were not in government, but subsequent to that, with the recognition and a further infusion of resources to a myriad of activities that occurred under that agreement. Most recently, as of 2010, in fact, we added a number of key resource allocations, with more than $285 million for a number of programs that may mostly indirectly, but directly as well, impact and deal with a number of health and mental health issues in first nations communities.
I take that seriously, sir, because, like you, I worked for Health Canada for a great deal of time. I'm not sure I share your view that in the final analysis Health Canada, as this legacy is dealt with under the agreement and as a matter of policy within Health Canada and INAC, isn't well served by an incorporation into its existing government services.
I know that in the great Kenora riding we have 25 isolated communities with nursing stations situated. I'm wondering then if you, as the executive director, can tell me, then, how many communities in the Kenora riding, for example, are you aware of that the Aboriginal Healing Foundation had direct contact with.
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
In your riding in particular, we have Eagle Lake. I did a site review there about a year and a half ago and it's just incredible, the work they are doing with the youth. The focus was primarily on the youth. The reason was the intergenerational effects. They integrated that program with their whole health component, which obviously is funded by Health Canada,so it really showed the complementary part of it.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
So you're saying, Mr. Goodtrack, that an integrated concept or an incorporated concept is a good thing.
Eagle Lake, by the way, is a great community, and you're right to point out that they do a great job in their service delivery. They're about 25 kilometres outside the city of Dryden.
Let's move, then, if we might, to the 25 isolated communities that cover an area of more than 320,000 square kilometres in my riding alone. Are you aware of how many communities the Aboriginal Healing Foundation reached directly?
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
Yes. I'm going to share with you the projects that we have in your community, sir.
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
Windigo is one. It covers Bearskin Lake, Sachigo Lake, and Cat Lake. That's outreach, too, because for some of our projects, what we try to do as well is increase the catchment areas where we can and provide those outreach services to them. In Windigo, we were able to do that.
In Mishkeegogamang we have a project with the Ojibways of Onegaming and Wapekeka, providing one-on-one counselling, home visits, focus groups, healing centres, and information referrals to long-term support and counselling, including treatment centres and, certainly, the after care support.
So we have five projects covering a number of those first nations. Do they cover all of them? No. There is a coverage issue.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
So you have reached five of the 42 first nations communities that are in my riding?
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
And I do acknowledge, Mr. Goodtrack, that you did have some funding through NAN, which has catchment within my riding—
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
That's right.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
—that delivered, finally and eventually, services to programs to participate in communities within NAN.
I guess the point that I want to make in this is to suggest that there were indeed and in fact good services provided by the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. Nobody disputes that, to a certain degree, although I have had serious residual concerns about how that resource got to a number of other communities.
It's worth pointing out that in the city of Kenora, which has a catchment of dozens of first nations communities, all of which were directly involved in two or three Indian residential schools that were located right in Kenora or not that far from it, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation has really not been present there, which kind of surprises me, to be honest with you, Mr. Goodtrack.
I appreciate that Lac Seul First Nation, which is a road-accessible community and in fact had an Indian residential school program there, did a good job.
But I want to move, as I often do, to talk about the isolated communities and the serious challenges that we face there--
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
Yes. I mean, the question is, have we actually been everywhere in the country? We haven't. When we started this program, it was proposal driven based on what we called “community readiness”. The communities had to submit these proposals, based on what they felt, saying that they were ready to undertake a program like this.
Has every community across the country done that? No. Certainly it was subjected to the funding that we had, so there are certain--
Chief Financial Officer, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
I'll just finish. So certainly, some of those isolated communities, we did the future funding and those are the ones we would be targeting. That's over and above the amount we're currently doing. We're restricted by the amount, because that's what government would fund at. So if we were over and above that amount, we would go to those communities that you're talking about.
Conservative
Greg Rickford Conservative Kenora, ON
Yes. I think what's important is that moving forward there's a responsible decision to incorporate some of the broader funding and certainly departments to be able to administer some of the services where they may not be getting to. That's probably a fairer statement and a better characterization of that.
Just very quickly, yes or no, do you have quantitative and qualitative analysis, including surveys, that can tell us as definitively as we heard from the Health Canada resolution support program of the impact by survivors and their families from those communities—for example, the ones that you directly provided services for?
If you do, could I have those?
Executive Director, Aboriginal Healing Foundation
Certainly. This is funded by Health Canada. We're the ones who did the research.
Executive Director, Aboriginal Healing Foundation
I think it's probably important to realize, too, that it's a part of our mandate, and a very significant part of doing research will be lost as the foundation winds up. One of the important things, as you'll appreciate, is that we need to drag some truths out of what we're doing. If we put money into communities, we have to be able to tell people what it is that we learned—
Executive Director, Aboriginal Healing Foundation
—and we have a 27-piece research project that does that. I'd like to see the same level of detailed research coming out of Health Canada. It'd be an interesting comparison to make.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton
Okay. We'll leave it at that.
Thank you, Mr. Rickford.
Now I'll go back to Mr. Bagnell for five minutes, followed by Mr. Duncan, and that will be our last question.
Mr. Bagnell.