Evidence of meeting #110 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vote.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
By providing economic opportunity, which is exactly what first nations—
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Yes, but what does that look like? Break that down.
Instead of broad words, break it down so that it's feasible and suitable for the everyday Charmaines, and all the families we deal with on the ground.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
Breaking it down means finding access to employment training, skills development, and jobs, and that's exactly what's happening.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
What are you saying to the single moms with five children? How is she going to get day care? Where is she going to put her children while she goes to obtain training?
Again, the government continues to fail first nations because of the lack of commitment to measuring their well-being, a lack of commitment to improving the lives of first nation individuals across Canada.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
I'll be very happy to answer that.
I must say, I think you're conflating a couple of different issues here, but as it relates to the measurement of well-being—
5:15 p.m.
NDP
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
I recognize the reality on the ground. We have made unprecedented investments in improving the lives of—
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
It still affects the day-to-day individuals on the ground.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
Madam Chair, I have a point of order. Will the member please allow the minister to answer a question—any question?
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
MP, you've interrupted me in the past and I didn't say anything, but today I have the right, because I feel that the minister—
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
Mike Bossio Liberal Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON
And the minister has the right to answer the question.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
—is not understanding the question specifically.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal MaryAnn Mihychuk
The discussion should come through me. I would ask that we be civil when we're asking questions.
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal MaryAnn Mihychuk
Your opportunity with the minister is very short. The minister is doing a fine job of responding, and I think she can hold her own. Let's all be respectful.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Absolutely, but don't interject me again, please.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Thank you, Minister.
What I'm getting to is the single mom on the ground who may have a grade 4 education and five children living in home. Her house has already been transferred to hydroelectricity, and she currently has a horrendous power bill. That is the reality on the ground for residents of Saskatchewan, Ontario, and many other places, and they're the ones who are affected the most.
How will the explanations you're providing meet their needs?
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
You've raised a number of things: funding for income assistance, the Auditor General's report, and skills development. I'm going to first answer the one around income assistance. This is a very important program of our government, and budget 2018 speaks to it with an investment of $87 million to support some of the really effective work that has happened around case management to deal with exactly the kinds of circumstances you're talking about.
Again, I'm always happy to help look into specific individual cases you might want to bring to my attention, but we have made more investments in income assistance. We're continuing to review the program to see how it can be expanded, but it can't be expanded in isolation. It has to be done also in the context of not desiring that people will be on income assistance forever, because most people want to be able to build skills and look for the opportunity to find meaningful work in their communities.
We are absolutely making investments that will help this individual woman, and if you'd like to give me the details on her circumstances, I would be happy to look into it further.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK
Again, you're misunderstanding the realities on the ground.
Going back to TB, throughout my years as a municipal leader I've been involved with community groups and the health authority—first nations and the municipality—to help work specifically with existing and potential new TB patients and the kinds of programs to eliminate it.
How realistic is the government being when it says that with the amount it has provided, it will eliminate TB by a certain amount in the far north? How can you justify that?
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Jane Philpott Liberal Markham—Stouffville, ON
We are firmly committed. I believe you're referring to the announcement around the elimination of tuberculosis in Inuit Nunangat by 2030. We are the first government that's ever made a commitment to anything like this. You're referring to the fact that in the budget we had $27.5 million. That's federal money on top of money that was also given in the budget of 2017 in the order of millions of dollars. That's on top of the $400 million for housing, which is part of how you're going to solve the tuberculosis crisis. That's on top of what territorial and provincial governments will contribute to supporting the elimination of tuberculosis.