Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
To the committee, I really appreciate your focus and attention to this study. My apologies to the translators: I told them I may go off script a little bit.
I'll start right off the bat to respect, first of all, that we are here at your pleasure.
Mr. Weston, the points that you raised are actually really important. They are not only important for consideration here and for our contemplation, but I think they speak to the bigger issue and the opportunity that I believe strongly is in front of us.
I think the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being endorsed by Canada is a really important step. That declaration, in article 22, talks about the kids and it talks about their needs and their rights. I tell you without hesitation, and I know many of you feel the same, because you've been pulled into public service for your own personal reasons, that the kids slay me wherever I go. I was just talking to Quinn--he's a 17-year-old, an older child, and he doesn't mind me using his name. He's in treatment right now in northern Ontario, and I was so inspired to talk to him very recently. Quinn is going to do well. He's going to make it. I feel that in my heart. These are tough roads that these kids are hoeing out there.
I get to be in these villages and these communities across the country and meet with those kids. They only want things to change for the better. They will express it as wanting an ice rink, or they want to be able to play hockey, or they want a school, or they want their own bedroom. They'll express it in very simplistic terms, but in terms that really inspire you. Shannon's dream is an excellent example of that. That's leadership that's happening on the part of our young people.
Mr. Weston's point is important, because on any given day in this country we have on average approximately 100 cases before the courts that have to do with aboriginal peoples, very often described as first nations title and rights issues. I think about the constituency you serve in your territory. I can think back over the last 10, 15, 20 years in many of your constituencies about the number of conflicts we have engaged in. That's the pattern that we have to break, committee. That's the opportunity the doctor is speaking of here, and I strongly support what she's describing.
We get caught up in this notion of conflict, and the declaration inspires us to do better. It's says that jointly we must accomplish this effort.
This issue of whether we can talk while there's litigation going on is the purview and the privilege of governments to consider. Very much of this is also policy. So I implore you, as we carry out this work, to take the point that was raised here and include that in consideration about the overall relationship between indigenous peoples, in this case my responsibility to advocate for first nations, and the rest of Canadian society. You give effect to that relationship in your work.
So the work of this committee, focusing on children, is incredibly important to me. The question that was asked is not simply a procedural one for this committee. It speaks to the broader relationship challenge that we face. We must break that pattern. Whether it's at the Human Rights Commission or whether it's in the hundreds of other court cases that are before us every year, this is the opportunity that I feel strongly we have in this moment, to break that pattern.
This does require us to sit down. That's the reason why you're called to do a study in this area and your openness to allow us to offer some commentary, at your privilege, is deeply appreciated. Those kids are looking for somebody to advocate for them and we have the privilege to do that. So I wanted to respect and acknowledge the discussion that happened at the outset. I want to link it to the broader challenge we have here in Canada at this moment. Some of the biggest untapped potential that I feel this country has is in the indigenous youth population.
I am very much off script in terms of what I came here by and large to say, which is to build on and to support what Cindy has offered up here, and to recognize work like the endorsement of the declaration as an important step. Let's look at what that compels us to do, to recognize the work.... I think Cindy referenced the directive 20-1. Attached to that is the need for us to acknowledge that the government made some investments in the first nations child welfare program through the enhanced or Alberta model.
Those are examples of first nations stepping forward to be joint partners. In effect, that's like saying we will give effect to article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to improve conditions for our families, in this case specifically for our children.
We're reflecting on directive 20-1. Work on policy is still outstanding and has to be dealt with to ensure that as we jointly develop the systems that will work, we're developing them in a sustainable manner that is going to support success.
Very quickly, I want to point out a few studies that compel us in our work, particularly the report done by the representative for children and youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, and the British Columbia provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall. Their recent study looked at the six aspects of well-being: health, learning, safety, behaviour, family economic well-being, and connections with family, peers, and community.
I think this committee is well aware that the Assembly of First Nations, much to the credit of the chiefs across the country, has made education a top priority. Of course in this report as with others, education is seen as something we can immediately move to address, and as the government said last spring, we would continue to pursue a willingness to strengthen and reform it together. As this report and many others suggest, first nations education is undeniably a key determinant to quality-of-life outcomes for first nations children. The report in British Columbia concludes that aboriginal children have more health risks, fare worse at school, and are overrepresented in the children welfare and youth justice systems.
There are important economic imperatives as well. The study done in 2007 by Bowlus and McKenna articulated that the economic impact of not addressing child mistreatment was in the realm of $16 billion. So there are really important economic imperatives to consider across our entire child welfare, health, and in this case the justice system.
This report talks to us about the issue of complacency, and I quote: “It is easy to become complacent about at-risk child populations--impoverished circumstances and poor outcomes have come to be accepted for some of our children and youth.” But they go on to conclude: “This complacency can no longer be tolerated.”
Therein lies the reason for the importance of your study and for the impassioned intervention here that Cindy Blackstock makes.
We've spoken about directive 20-1. Reference was made to the Ontario welfare agreement and also the issue of the lack of agencies in the north, there being none either in the Northwest Territories or in the Yukon. And although it was already covered, I wanted to emphasize: very often we're challenged by the issues of lack of services in the north and immediate steps toward resolving these gaps are desperately needed.
We do know that funding of child welfare is by no means the whole story. We all know that even if the child welfare program was adequately funded and properly structured, we would still have children in care. Again, we must question the reason why. Cindy's organization has done an incredible amount of work through careful study. The prevailing reason children are in care is due to what is classified as neglect. And when we dig a little deeper, we find out what's behind neglect: poverty, alcohol and substance abuse, and the other social determinants I referenced earlier--education, things like housing.
So we have what some would suggest is complex and what many would say is made difficult because it is complex. It is unrealistic, therefore, to suggest that just one program will impact the changes we're looking for. We know it will require much more. It will require a coordinated, comprehensive approach to supporting, nurturing, and investing in children and their families.
As a country we need to understand the reflection that UNICEF's recent report concluded, as it reflects on Canada as well as other developed countries. The piece called The Children Left Behind documents the plight of children in the world's wealthiest countries. All Canadians should be concerned with Canada's ranking on inequality and child well-being, 17 out of 24 in terms of material well-being. And through further analysis it's clear that first nations, indigenous populations, are one of the key factors in this rate of inequity.
That's exactly what this intervention is about: reflecting that we must, as Cindy says, move to address these issues. In principle we must be committed to the very basic tenet that every child has a right to develop to his or her full potential. That's really the essence of what this comes down to.
I referenced the declaration earlier, so let me conclude in this way and summarize.
As the declaration says, we must really pursue a full partnership in addressing these challenges, as outlined in the original treaties that helped forge this country. The principles that underlie that are mutual respect, mutual recognition, fairness, and equity. We must be assured that services and programs for first nations are funded through fair and equitable fiscal arrangements based on sound economics and realistic escalators that adequately address cost drivers.
I would remind this committee that Canada also signed on to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. As you may know, because of the importance of protecting children, this convention is the first legally binding international instrument. The core principles of the convention include the right of every child to develop to his or her full potential, to not face discrimination, to safeguard identity, to survive, and to have their views respected. To me this is an incredibly important vision.
I believe strongly that we are embarking on an era of reconciliation, if I can describe it as such. The Prime Minister rose in the House of Commons in the summer of 2008 and apologized to tens of thousands of children who were pulled from their families. So I join Cindy Blackstock today in compelling the committee to not be complacent for the kids.